Working Hard or Hardly Working

Employment is unfortunately such a necessity these days. I'm a huge fan of Eminem, and his new album (Still Crazy, No Recovery) recently leaked and a couple of his tracks are just straight up moving. I'm no thug, I'm a 22 year old white girl who grew up in the suburbs of Boston, as well as Cape Cod. Being on my own for the last four years in Rhode Island has been quite a culture shock. But back to the point--one of these songs is about Em's relationship with hip-hop, but you don't find that out until the end. Up until that point it sounded like a romantic relationship. Which a person. Which brings me to my next question--what exactly is the relationship we keep with work? To me, at least at times, it appears as quite an abusive relationship. I remember a teacher saying "Do something you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." Really? Never, ever do you have a bad day? I realize I'm reading a little too much into this but there may be something. My psychology classes taught us that work (career and employment in general) play a large role in our self-esteem, and how we view our accomplishments and place in society. But, being the skeptic I always seem to turn out as, what about the reverse? Aren't these the very things that at times decide what exactly we choose to do for a living? Or how we grew up? I'm sure you can see the pattern between the last two posts and the overall status of my thinking--I'm stuck in the middle of two poles all the time now, unable to pick a side and fight for it. Rather, I try to argue for both until I muddle the details enough to think there is no clear answer. Which in many cases there may not, but it deems more thought and investigation.
But back to some analysis. I work for a fast growing quick-service company. Part of their slogan preaches integrity. When hired in, us hirees are told that promotions from within were commonfold and if one worked their ass off, most likely they will end up in a position higher than they began. Well, low and behold, for some reason this same company has been hiring in outsiders, with a background in hospitality (NOT FOOD SERVICE) as future general managers! If they put half the effort into their current employees than they did hiring and scouting these incompetent people, this place would be golden! Integrity needs to have an umbrella meaning if a company is going to place such heavy emphasis on it. Absurdity. I return to work day after day, because I need it to survive, but all it does is knock me down and drag my hope away. I work harder and harder each day to no avail, and watch others waltz around and bask in their own selfish, pride-filled glory. Competition is one thing, cut-throat is another, and kissing ass is yet another. I can compete with the best, but I'm not lowering myself or compromising my own integrity to get where I want to be at the expense of others. Perhaps that's why I entered the Human Services field rather than the food/beverage industry....