Bermuda is now deep in the throes of a recession. There could be 1,500 people unemployed. This is scary and something I don't remember in my 46 years on the planet. It's tough out there, yet there are still some persons who have interesting attitudes towards work.

Some people still don't think they have to work hard, be on time, be more productive, do a good job, etc. I have a news flash for these employees – there are 1,500 people out there who would love to have your job if you don't want to work hard to protect it. More on this after the Top 20, but before I do that, I must wish my amazing dad a happy birthday this coming Monday!

Up to #1 it's Bad Habits by Maxwell, which continues to do well in the charts. I heard local radio personality Miss Thang ooohing and aaahing over this track earlier this week. It is a smooth ballad and your boy Maxwell can truly sing. He is one of the few modern day artists who still produce love songs.

Dropping to #2 is Whitney Houston's monster hit Million Dollar Bill. I'd like to see more tracks off the CD do well, before I declare her comeback bid a total success.

Clawing its way up to #4 is Empire State of Mind by Jay Z and Alicia Keys, a popular track with catchy lyrics. Big props to Alicia Keys and Jay Z on this one. Up to #5 its Baby By Me by 50 Cent featuring Ne-Yo. Slipping to #6 is Make Me by Janet Jackson, a track that is running out of steam and popularity. Up to #7 is I Invented Sex by Trey Songz featuring Drake. Improving to #8 is Money To Blow by Birdman featuring L'il Wayne and Drake. Falling to #9 is Run This Town by Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye West. Tumbling to #10 is Boom Boom Pow, the kicking dance/pop anthem by Black Eyed Peas.

At #11 is Mary Mary with God In Me. I still love this track and in addition to the smooth beat. Tumbling to #12 is Papers by Usher and dropping to #13 is Paparazzi by Lady Gaga.

Improving to #14 is It Kills Me by Melanie Fiona. This is one of the most real, deepest and serious ballads I've heard in a while and Melanie Fiona is a cutie. Improving to #15 is another Trey Songz track, this time featuring Fabolous – Say Aah, a former essential new track.

Falling to #16 is the dance anthem I Know You Want Me by Pitbull. Up to #17 is How Low by Ludacris. Luda always brings that dirty south sound with deep and pulsating basslines and this hit is no exception to his recipe for success. Improving to #18 is Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart by Alicia Keys.

And now, one of the hottest and most creative songs produced in the last six months and this week's essential new tune: in at #19 is Snoop Dogg's latest rap anthem, I Wanna Rock! This track is so bangin' that it is crazy! I mean you have got to hear this song. Seriously; it bangs big time and is DJLT's current fave. I first heard it over Christmas in T-Dot where I was hangin' out with my peeps but now I'm hearing it on the rock. New at #20 is Sex Therapy by Robin Thicke. This must be the month for ballads because there's a whole lot of 'em on the circuit these days.

Now back to this week's word – the attitude of some people in the workforce. Many people, notwithstanding that we are in a recession, still don't get it. They don't see why they have to work harder, faster, smarter than they ever did before. They don't get that there are people who are not working and haven't been working for months; who would love to have the jobs that these persons who have them are taking for granted.

Some people in the workforce still don't get that it isn't business as usual any more! Does the statement that 1,500 Bermudians are out of work not register? Jeeesh! What gives? What has to happen for these dufuses to get it?

When these people lose their jobs, they will think they have been hard done by and that their employers are the worst people on the planet! I will not feel sorry for them because they are being warned over and over again that things are different now, but they simply do not heed the warnings.

I have to disclose and admit a lack of understanding of how persons who are not business owners can think that they should tell business owners what to do.

This concept baffles me; but many of my associates, acquaintances and some family members just don't get it.

These people think that the boss, whose money is on the line, should treat them like kings and queens, almost like they are doing the boss a favour by coming to work whenever and however they feel like it.

This is how some employees are getting themselves in trouble and losing their jobs. You can't have a confrontational attitude towards your boss or your work and expect an employer to tolerate that for long! But some people do.

This is the reason I wish, hope and pray that every employee could become a business owner/investor for a few months. Let them see what it is like to have to pay out of your own pocket, earnings, profits for lazy, absentee or in some cases unproductive employees. In some cases the boss cannot or does not take a salary so they can afford to pay their staff! These employees don't think about that!

In any event, the moral of this story is that people who have jobs should make sure that they are at all times giving an honest day's work for an honest day's pay and that they are being an asset to their employer, rather than being a liability. Because the people who are liabilities will be the first to be let go. So let's step up the game of the entire Bermuda workforce.

Let's work harder, more productively and efficiently, so that our employers can run successful operations, thereby creating the conditions that they can continue to afford to pay us the salaries we depend on for our livelihoods. Peace … DJLT