Strangely enough, most people I've worked with, seem fairly content to do as you described.
I've heard it justified as 'earning a living', 'for the mortgage', 'for my family' and so on.
I've heard it justified as 'earning a living', 'for the mortgage', 'for my family' and so on.
The worst part is that they rely on my skill when stuff goes wrong, which happens very rarely, although they've just assigned me a high end graphics project (I'm not a graphic designer by any definition of the term), a $10,000 project that they've promised to pay me about $100 for.
Most days, I'd rather just drive into the oncoming truck than go there.
In itself this is valuable for the company. If the system was more transparent, you could be called once a month, stay at home the rest of the time and be paid the same amount.
If you are the guy fixing everything in emergency, what would it cost to the company if you left for good and worked somewhere else ?