Quote Originally Posted by DJ Arendee View Post
hmm, well, I was smothered. I don't know if the line between the two sayings is thick enough for it to make a difference though. My grandfather was a 4 star admiral, so gaining admission into the naval academy was a cake walk. That caused some resentment in others. I never felt like I had a sense of entitlement, although I expect a lot of things to happen. When I get accepted into a prestigious institution, I expect a lot from it. But I suspect my "sense of entitlement" was the upperclass way of telling me to drop my expectations. Its possible they were trying to help me even if they had some spite in their tone.

@Animal...

I think part of my attitude problem... was the fact that I was bored in the military. Doing nothing in the office for 8 hours a day makes me crazy bored, like painfully bored. Having no responsibility on a ship makes me crazy bored and lethargic and this rubs off onto others.

But other times accusations on my attitude problem are very sporadic and upredictable, oftentimes when I'm in my best possible moods.
It sounds like this goes beyond just boredom, though. It's one thing to be bored. It's another to allow the people around you to pick up on that boredom. Most jobs are boring. But we put up with the boring parts so we don't end up on the streets. It sounds like you are indifferent to a job as your primary income stream. There's nothing inherently wrong with that so long as you aren't being foolish. If you have enough in the bank to keep you afloat, aren't facing daily hunger or imminent homelessness and your current income allows you to sustain the lifestyle that you want, it's perfectly understandable to be indifferent to working. If that's not the case, you may want to let the threat of losing the lifestyle to which you've become accustomed sink in a little.

In 19th century Europe, there was a class of men who basically lived off their family's wealth, ate big meals, smoked opium, hired courtesans, and generally lived it up until they'd squandered all the money, and had to become a fat barrister or civil servant of some kind, which office they attained usually through nepotism. Most people today are not those guys, however. Fear of sinking into poverty makes them grateful for what work they can get. Even if they're not particularly happy, they put on a cooperative front to save their hide from being sacked. Perhaps some of the people who have said you need an "attitude adjustment" are just people who are generally grateful for the work they've arrived at. Either through necessity or genuine interest in the field they're working in, they are willing to put up with whatever coincidental boredom or discomfort the work entails. And, especially from the perspective of necessity, your apparent indifference can be construed as... insulting. The only way to avoid this is to at least pretend to enjoy the work that you do, or drop out of the game altogether (which sounds like the path you've chosen anyway).