Oh, my aching back

I have a bad back.

It’s an old heavy-garbage-can injury, and it flares up at the worst possible times for my friends, like when they’re over to help me lay a foundation for my garage.

Luckily, I have a great chair in my office. That probably doesn’t give my friends much solace, but anyone who shares my pain knows that a bad back needs a good chair.

Also, when I’m typing, my wrists get a little sore. Now, I’m not saying I have carpal tunnel or anything, but, I have to admit, I’ve thought about getting one of those squishy foam strips that you see by keyboards all the time.

I have a friend who threw his neck out of whack talking on the phone all day at work. He ended up getting a nice headset so he could stop walking around like he was squeezing a penny between his cheek and shoulder.

Ergonomics, I’m beginning to realize, applies to people like me, and I don’t mean the whiny ones. I don’t necessarily mean the older ones either, although I’m no longer a part of the work force’s new generation.

I think everyone, no matter the age or profession, at some point starts to care about comfort at work. I also think people are starting to care about those things at a younger age, and they’re letting it factor into where they decide to work.

And for the new generation, ergonomics is a given. A nice chair, headset or squishy foam strip is pretty much automatic. If you want it, you got it.

People entering the work force now are more interested in mental ergonomics, a sort of comfortable chair for the brain. They’re looking to inhibit any stress, and the companies competing for their services are buying into the concept.

Suddenly, we’re seeing banks, dry cleaners, day cares, massage therapists, nice restaurants and fitness centers at work. Some human resources departments offer mortgage services and in-house psychiatrists.

Why, these companies wonder, shouldn’t we make life as easy as possible for our employees? I’ll tell you why. It’s creepy.

Maybe I’m just old school, or maybe I’m jaded, but trends like this are breeding a work force devoid of any self-sufficiency or diversity. Everyone goes to the same bank, their kids go to the same school, the company handles the finances, and individualism and grit fade into a pool of tranquil surrender.

I firmly believe a little stress is good for the brain. It keeps people on their toes. It keeps them thinking.

There’s no way I could be convinced otherwise, not even if I could get a nice, full-length basketball court in my office building.

Did I mention that I have really crummy knees? It’s this old basketball injury ...