The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense

This may cause a few to take a double-take.
Today, I was afraid of not getting laid off.
Yes, you heard me. I wanted to get fired from my 9 to 5, air-conditioned, pencil-pushing, temporary part-time office job. Why? Because the other person I worked with did, and I didn't (and still don't) want to make up for what they can't do now that they're gone. I'm gonna make a small confession: I hate answering phones and making phone calls. I abhor it. What makes my odd phone-phobia extra nervous about the job? I work at an insurance agency...and I know absolutely nothing about insurance. Nothing. Nada. Nil. For now, I just do the paperwork and mailing. I don't have to deal with equally ignorant clients who depend on me to be their fountain of insurance-y knowledge. I can't wake people up to tell them their birthday's tomorrow and that we "hope it's a good one!" I just sit behind the computer and crunch some serious insurance numbers. Auto quotes are...so fun...
But for now, let's get our minds of me and to the ex-employee.
Why were they fired?
One word: motivation.
They didn't have any. A case as easy as eating pie. Good pie.
Kids these days want to be paid for what they don't do. It's crazy! If you wonder why kids these days are so unappreciative and rebellious, it's because they don't know what the word "responsibility" means (courtesy of lazy parents, no doubt). They don't know the satisfaction of a good day's work. They want the medal without running the race. Sorry, but microwave solutions are nothing compared to slowly cooking them to perfection.
My employer told me that the former employee lacked "conscientiousness," and clearly stated that if "you don't work, you don't stay." Ouch, man.
People brush off their petty jobs all the time, but I seriously question whether that's beneficial to them. I mean, if you have a dream, chances are you're going to have to work for it. When was the last time you saw or heard of a dream come true falling out of the sky and neatly landing on someone's lap? If you have any sort of dream for your future whatsoever, do you really want to waste your time by only just waiting for it? I don't. It's entirely possible that it won't happen at all that way. I want to break free of a job that is slowly wasting me away from behind a glowing computer screen. I dream of watching an African sunset, listening to the night from my jeep or tent. I dream of wide open skies, the wind in the trees, the sun beating down, my cheetah cubs tumbling over each other in the grass. I don't want to work with insurance, but I do it. Because we all have to do things we don't want to do to achieve our dreams. Your dream is more than just a goal; it's a prize that you have to run for. In order to pet my first cheetah, I must first do this job. I have to be responsible and do my job now for my dream job later. I will reach my dream, but only if I persevere and work consistently and do what I need to do now.
But I'm not touching that phone...