If only someone in China could do my job for me…

Wouldn’t it be nice to get paid a decent salary without having to lift a finger? No doubt that’s what went through the mind of a US software developer when he decided to outsource his job to a company based in Shenyang, China.

The 40-something American was reportedly paid a six-figure salary but spent his day surfing the internet while the Chinese company did his work for a fifth of the price. My first thought was, ‘What a genius idea!’

I mean, we already wear clothes that are made in China and sit on furniture from the Far East. So why shouldn’t we take advantage of the cheaper labour offered by its ever-growing workplace?  

1.    It’s dishonest. If someone is paying you to do a job and you are palming off someone else’s efforts as your own, you are lying to them. This also applies if you are in management and take the credit for someone else’s work or ideas. Or if you plagiarise someone else’s research for a university assignment and pretend it is your own endeavour.

2.    It’s exploitative. If the person providing the work is producing a product or service that is of the same standard you would, then they deserve more than 20% of your salary. Whether it is someone in the Orient or a member of your own workforce, we should value people as highly as we value ourselves and ensure that they are paid accordingly.

3.    It’s lazy. If you’ve been given a job to do, you should do it to the best of your ability. This guy was obviously capable of doing the work he was given, but instead he chose to sit around watching YouTube videos. Instead of reaching and even exceeding his potential, he was happy to just ‘get away with it’. There's no pride in an easy ride.

The Bible says a number of things about work: 

• Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”
• 2 Thessalonians 3:10: “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat”
• Proverbs 16:3: “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established”
• 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”

So even if your job is tiring or mundane, you should do it to the best of your abilities; not looking for plaudits or a pat on the back, but knowing that God sees and honours what you’re doing. 

It’s also worth remembering that the American chap got fired for his little scam if still you’re tempted to follow suit!

Anyway, that’s my cue to get back to proofreading the latest issue of Sorted. 

Featuring an exclusive interviews with Sir Anthony Hopkins, you’re in for a real treat! Just imagine if he or one of your other heroes had sat around with his feet up rather than fulfilling his potential!

What happens when a ‘houseperson’ gets sick?

Guest blog from Michael Clark

I say ‘houseperson’ with reason, because everyone knows women are so much better than men at being sick and managing to work.

My poor mum seemed to manage two jobs (one-parent families in the sixties didn't live the high life on benefits) as well as satisfying her houseproudness, which knew no bounds.

We all know that if men feel rubbish in the morning they just phone up work and say, "I’m sick". Of course, this often involves putting on a very husky voice, mumbling a lot and dropping hints about hideous bodily fluids – just so the boss knows this is the real deal and not just a common case of man flu).

Women have always been able to get themselves to work, and – if they lack the useful househusband appendage – come home cook for the kids, help with homework and so on and so forth.

So really, when I ask what happens when a houseperson is sick, I do mean househusband, because (irritatingly) the housewife just says, "So what?"

This question came to mind today by a lack of chipperness in Bozo when Mrs Bozo's alarm went off. Last night was a late one; Mrs B had spent it at a gala dinner hobnobbing with the great and the good (including the heir to the throne).

My own evening was less jolly, thanks to Spain and Portugal whose promised festival of football turned into a yawn fest. Alan Hansen commented: "Let's give extra time a miss and go straight to penalties – they will at least be exciting...". How right he was!

Anyway, having watched it home alone, I can say with total honesty that there was nothing self-induced about my dawn migraine! Poor Mrs Bozo departed sans tea, and I stayed under the covers with a throbbing head, paracetamol supply and a blackout eye mask. Until, at 10.34, a small voice suggested some tea might help nudge the headache off the radar.

Now it’s 1334, and in three hours I have managed to drink three cups of tea, two large espressos and write a blog and a half. Not bad going!

However...

The kitchen looks like it was cleaned by Al Qaeda. The shopping needs doing, especially as I am cooking for our home group tonight and currently all they have to look forward to is a packet of spaghetti.

So this brings me back to the question... what does the godly househusband do when he is sick?

I suppose it is a big disappointment to read this far and see no magic button to press. But all I can recommend is this...

• Take it slow
• Ease into it
• Don't be shy of painkillers!
• Commit to achieving key things. After all, if this was a paid job and you were a driven employee, you know if you had a crucial deadline you’d make sure you met it...
• Well, this is a crucial deadline – not all of it maybe – but some parts of it... So commit to those parts
• Oh, and last but by no means least, pray, pray, pray because (as in any trial) it is not your strength but HIS that will carry you through.

Read about a full range of men's issues in Sorted magazine.