A job that eats your life: a Spaniard's story in the Netherlands

The 8-hour grind that eats your life: a mechanic's complaint in the Netherlands

Work doesn't kill, but it devours. And when it devours every last minute of the day, free time becomes a luxury you can no longer enjoy. That's the complaint repeated by a Spanish mechanic living in the Netherlands, who says that his workday, though within the rules, leaves him with no energy for anything else. "The grind takes up practically my entire day," he sums up, in a portrait of exhaustion many will recognize.

The paradox of the standard schedule

The man behind the lament doesn't work overtime. It's the standard 8 hours, and he even admits that when there's no work, the mechanics idle away with no consequences. And yet he gets home and feels like doing nothing. "I make one meal a day and snack on junk. I'm running on empty," he confesses. It's not the number of hours, but the accumulated wear: the pressure of being far from home, the routine, the lack of stimulation outside the workshop. The feeling that the weekend goes by "in a sneeze" is the clearest symptom.

The price of stability

On the other side of the scale, the man himself admits that his job at Mercedes is a "huge boost" for his career. Some see this complaint as the typical strategy of someone trying to justify their sacrifice, while others believe the problem isn't the time, but how he manages it. "Stop eating burgers on the fly," some snap at him, suggesting the problem isn't the job, but the life he's built around it. Among the few distractions he mentions are fast food — the McKroket, the McFish — and working on his own Sprinter van, which gives him an enthusiasm nothing else does.

Advice and reproaches

Opinions are split between those who advise him to find a job with fewer hours and prioritize his mental health, and those who call him lazy and say he doesn't know how to make the most of what he has. "In the end, mental health comes first," some argue, citing cases of people "wrecked" by 12-hour shifts six days a week for 800 euros more a month. Others, however, see in his attitude a lack of ambition or, outright, a "lazybones" complaining about a life others would envy. The thread even drifts toward life in the Netherlands, the local food and the presence of Ukrainian refugees, without ever quite staying on topic.

With all this, the decision seems clear: either he changes his pace or his body will pay the price. But judging by the enthusiasm he shows when talking about the Sprinter he has to repair, the addiction to work is stronger than the complaint. The prediction: he'll keep grinding, at least until the chassis says enough.