the zurkie show - you got a job, not a life

Episode Date: October 16, 2025

getting a job alone doesn't make you worthy.it's your attitude, the way you go through life and treat people.I'm sending you all lots of love and peaaaaaaaaace!https://linktr.ee/thezurkieshow

My dad would always ask me when I get job. And I would always tell him, I don't know, when I need to. And my first job was, funny enough, working at this cafe that illegally hired me. I literally got the job because I knew how to speak Polish. That was it. And the girl working at the counter, I knew her too. Bar-beam, bar-a-boom, Mr. Worldwide, and I step in the room. I'm a hustler baby, and I was working at this cafe, literally my job was to make chimney cakes.

I don't know if you've heard of this thing called Kirtos, but I think it's a Hungarian or Czech. I'm not sure. Don't start a war over it. Delicacy. It's basically like this pastry that you can take apart. It's awesome. People fill it with a bunch of stuff now. Last time I was in Budapest. I had it with like a Dubai chocolate theme. And it was incredible. Is it going to take years off my lifeline? Probably. Was it worth it? Yes. I was making kurtos and I worked at this bakery. And the entire time that I worked there, I was so appalled as to how the owners were running this business. business because it was literally a it was a car crash one of the owners her her husband was like trying well her husband ex-husband was trying to get in contact with her for the longest time over some kind of money dispute I don't know really what had happened but this was like a common theme on top of it there were other things that were going on like it was crazy one day at work the machine that I was working on just exploded flat out exploded and um I still have my face, which is good.

But when I left that job and I showed my face to my father, he asked the same question. He said, when you get a job? So I got another job. This time it was around when I graduated high school in 2020. I worked at Dick Sporting Goods. I actually worked at the largest Dick Sporting Goods in the country. So I worked at the largest Dick. Either way, working at Dick Sporting Goods was very, very interesting.

I would sell footwear to moms and fathers who, somehow had the time in their day on Tuesday at 11 a.m. to go shopping and I would see them repeatedly. I mean, there were a couple of customers. I would see all the time. And I'd be like, where do you have the money or the time to always be shopping? Then I really learned that, well, some people got it way better than you. And I would tell my dad this. I would be like, Dad, how do people have time to shop all the time and just abuse retail staff? He said, when you get a job? Okay, dad, that doesn't really make any sense. But I kind of understood what he was saying. He was talking about money.

Money, job status. It's an important thing. And it's a thing that I became very, very clued in on. And it's a thing I became very hypersensitive about. Money and status are things that in our society, the way it runs, rules. and it's really interesting because later in my life, not at that moment, but a couple years later, I went to school at a school that had a lot of money. But this money was not money I had experienced. You see, where I came from, the people who made the most money, they had some kind of construction business or they had some kind of law firm that was relatively new dealing with like accidents and stuff.

this was money that was traceable back to ownership. Not of companies, but of people, of land, old money. Some of it was good. Some of it was crazy. I met people that swiping a credit card was akin to breathing, was akin to getting DoorDash every single day.

And it intimidated me. I don't know why, but there is something about when you come from a working class family, which now it's like, does that exist? When you come from a working class family, money is taught to you to be one of the most important things that will fuel your life. When are you going to get a job? when you get job at least in the

Polish-American diaspora money and wealth was symbolized through things through having the coolest stuff the best Michael Coors jacket the best Louis Vuitton bag the fact that you and your family are able to go on a cruise

in Florida every other holidays but here I learned that money was different they're now were people around me who they didn't even know how much money they had. They knew that they had a lot of it, but they didn't dress in the coolest designer. It seemed like they were wearing an outfit from Target, but I swear if you looked up the clothing, it was all expensive and it just boggled my mind. I was happy to get a ticket to go see my grandmother in Fort Lauderdale when she still was alive, rest in peace. they were upset that they couldn't get the right seat that they like in business class when you get job.

But I also noticed something. I noticed that these people were not, they weren't the happiest. And I know you're probably thinking I'm going to go into this whole thing of like money doesn't bring happiness. But it was so gray. in terms of what that happiness meant. Because I think that there were people who I knew, and their family at one point had been broke, and now they had some money.

They had good money. And they were ecstatic. They were really happy, and they spent a lot of time together. I also knew people who were, they had more money than they knew what to do with, but their father was having some kind of affair. And he was also on his fifth marriage. Hey, I don't judge. But five?

You could, like three, it's like three is the golden rule. Our first one's practice. Second one, you figure it out. Third one, it's Hail Mary, you know. Eli Manning, just chucking it. But man, when you get job, it. It still plays in my mind. This episode is brought to you by Tell Us Online Security.

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Learn more at TELUS.com slash online security. No one can prevent all cybercrime or identity theft. Conditions apply. But money is something I've learned to not attribute to. a person necessarily. I think it's important that you can recognize work ethic. You can recognize character and people that maybe don't make as much money or if not more money than you. Because there are people that make more money and will make more money than you that are poor mentally.

They're poor people mentally. As in their approach to their life and the people around them is extremely poor. And yes, they have an Amex Platinum. card that they can, you know, throw down at the end of dinner. But spending time with them is insufferable. So they have to kind of, you know, bait you into spending time with them by giving you a free dinner at a roof chris versus there's somebody in this world that can cook you a home-cooked meal for $20 and you will have the best time of your entire life. You will laugh, you will cry, you will feel human again. And that was probably.

probably their last $20 that they had and they spent it on you. Now there's another issue. When you get job was something that began to creep into my view of life. I stopped working to live and I started living to work. All I did was work. All I thought that I was worthy of was working. And in reality, it would actually make me work less because most of the time I was trying to procrastinate working and I was trying to find a way to procrastinate everything I needed

to do because I didn't want to do it but I had to get job I had to and now I have job I make more money than my dad I work less than him I'd say I live more life than him but I still think my dad is one of the smartest people that I've ever met. And the fact that I make more money than him is not something that I look at as a flex. Oh, look at me. I'm making more than my parents. In reality, there's this dream. I think every immigrant child has in a, you know, a Western country is that you can you can save your parents, you can buy their mortgage just to flex on all the haters. But my parents don't even want that. They just want to... want me to live my life and use that money for me.

And they're like, we'll take care of it. We took the mortgage. Like, that's us. Rosen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes. Sounds like Ojo time. Let's play. Feel the fun with Play-O-Joe, the online casino with all the latest slot and live casino games.

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So when do you when do you change that? When do you go from thinking that you need to to have a six-figure job out of college to show your parents that you were grateful for them. When being grateful for them should be just visiting them on the holidays, going more than two times a year to see them in person, give them a hug and a kiss. Because what matters to me now is changing. I want to start a family one day.

I want my mom to be able to hold my newborn child that I've decided to have with my partner. but I'm afraid she won't even be able to do that because she sits in front of the computer probably 10, 12 hours a day. When you get job. I don't know if I want job in that sense. I think what I want is freedom

because I don't think that my self-worth is tied into how much money I make. It's important. Don't get me wrong. You got to pay for things. Unless you find the meta. let me know. You got to put down the Amex at Chili's for $60. But man, all of that time in college, I was stressing about having some kind of perfect job,

some kind of suit and tie, no Justin Timberlake that I could show to my parents. I work for an airline. I work for an investment banking group. I work for a equity fund. I work as a consultant. Whatever that means. Do you know what a consultant does? I don't. Yeah, you know, I manage, um, I manage the client side. What are you, what? You respond to emails and go and tell people that are in another country to do their job. That's what you do. I mean, I mean, it's part of it.

All right. Cool beans. Your life is not your parents' life. The way that you make your parents proud is entirely dependent on how good of a person you decide to be. And sometimes you, your parents won't even accept that. you could spend your whole life chasing that acceptance. Some of us are lucky to have parents that will take us how we are. Some of us, we have to find mentors and those kind of relationships

from people who are not biologically our parents. I know people who their parents are their biggest haters. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and I'm sorry for them. I'm proud to be able to say that my parents, they champion me and they really, really love me. But if that's not you, all hope is not. lost. And no, having some kind of crazy job, it won't fix that part of you. It will give you stability. It will make sure that you won't go hungry and it'll give you a place to live. But that is not the thing that will drive you to live a good life. As I was filming out in this ranch, I had an old man

stopped me. He heard some of the things I was saying. And he's like, I like, I like what you have to say, man. I think there's one thing that's a universal truth for anybody that I think you should share. And I was like, let's hear it, dude. Come on. From unk to unk, let's get on it. He said, you know, this life you need to enjoy. I'm not somebody that has a lot of money.

You know, I, my traveling is the extent of going around here in Texas, but I enjoy my life. And I just lost my wife a year ago. And let me tell you, man, I'm not that old. She wasn't that old. But I enjoyed the time that we had together. I think that's something I need to do more of. And I know that my dad, when he asked me, when you get job, he had the best intentions for me. And I know that he was doing the best he could. He was trying to show me the life he knew through his eyes. But I think instead of asking my kid, when he's

going to get a job, I'll just make sure that he remembers to come visit at least once when he's an adult. Today's episode of the Zerky Show was filmed out in Bertram, Texas. 40 minutes away from Austin, Texas, give or take. It is

so beautiful. It's a part of the Balcona's wildlife refuge. You can see all types of birds, hawks, different things around this area. If you're ever in Texas, maybe Bertram is calling your name. Did you know that the Zirky show is everywhere you go? That is correct. You can watch it. You can scroll it. You can stream it. The choice is yours. If you want to tap in, these are the best ways to tap in. Do the things that bring you joy. Get your heartbroken. Get it broken. You can always repair it. But what you cannot get back is

lost time. And if you know that you will learn from somebody, If you know that you can try at something and it might not work, but there is a chance you should do it. Follow your gut, though. If someone's not good for you, don't go into that situation. If you're trying something new, just know that I believe in you. And as always, Zirky Show, I am sending you all lots of love and peace.