by Ganelle Davis

Created on: October 25, 2009   Last Updated: October 31, 2009

We must first define who the average American is. There are so many factors to consider before answering this complex question. Everyone in America realizes we are comprised of many cultures and ethnicities. Of course the minorities are coming into the majority these days. Many jobs require you to be bilingual, especially in the border states such as California and Texas, The backbreaking tedious farm work was once maintained, solely by the Latino community. The vineyards across So. California employed migrant workers from Mexico to do this tedious laborious work, primarily because of the reduction in labor cost. The average American can not afford the luxury of being lazy. No longer is the man the primary and only bread winner to support his family. It is almost an impossibility. Health care cost alone will bankrupt most families.

We must take into account the African American , who was captured and brought to this country as slaves, primarily to work in the fields, picking cotton or harvesting tobacco. Those work ethics have not been lost on the preceding generations. I know of many families who have survived because an elderly grandparent continued to work, just to send the next generation to college in order to make life less taxing for them

America has always been boastful about welcoming immigrants from other countries. These families have moved to America to work hard and obtain the American Dream. America, is saturated with people from other countries ,working very hard to just feed their families. Let's not forget the lower middle class , who just recently may have lost their footing on the American dream because of this turn in our economy. These past few decades , have seen mostly two incomes in the nuclear family just to survive. A sixteen hour work day is not uncommon.

it has been argued that technology, will make work more efficient for the American worker. However, these workers will have to be trained and who will pay for their education? Once again, we depend on an older generation that has to work way past retirement, just to put their adult children through college to make it easier for them.

Eventually work will become easier for the next generation, but hard work and sacrifice now, may be the only way for the next generation to take a breather. We are all waiting to exhale. Until that time, unfortunately, we must keep our noses to the grind stone. Can you better ascertain, if the American worker is lazy or not? I think we would all agree, they should be extremely fatigued.

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