I'm sure it's heard even in good times, but it reaches a crescendo during an economic downturn. Those who are spared the unemployment ax are reminded constantly to "Just be happy you have a job."

Some people mean it innocently enough, a secular version of "There but by the grace of God go you." But when spoken by others, there's an undercurrent of smugness, even threat, as if to say no matter how unfair or frustrating your work is, you should suck it up, accept it, and be grateful you're not reduced to filing biweekly unemployment claims and scouring the want ads in a desperate search to find something, anything, to stave off bankruptcy, poverty, or homelessness.

But the healthcare industry, like every other industry in America today, needs to tread cautiously here. Today, employers have employees right where they want them: frightened. Many individuals live paycheck to paycheck. They come to work every day anxious, one ear continuously connected to the office grapevine. Some have been reduced to praying for reduced hours, or mandatory time off without pay, or even a loss of some salary if it means at least still having a job to go to.

But I would offer a word of caution to all employers. If history teaches us anything, it's that what goes around does indeed come around, and the economic downturn will someday reverse direction. And when it does, employees with long memories will recall how they were treated when times were bad. When employers find themselves needing good people to join their organizations, they may find that their biggest challenges are not in recruitment, but retention, as some of their best employees decide to leave in search of a more humane, more compassionate work environment.

If we learn nothing else from these times we currently struggle through, it should be that we are all in them together. As tough of a reality that it is to face, Americans understand that in a recession jobs will be lost and those who remain will be asked to do more, often with less. But that shouldn't be an excuse to treat people as if they should grovel and cower while in the workplace. In good times and bad, there should be more to a job than a paycheck. To the best extent possible, it should bring fulfillment, satisfaction, and a sense of pride.

Sure, it's great to have a job. But it's even more important to have a life.

Harvey D. Kart