Anyone ever work in an office, with regularly scheduled hours? I did.
Ignoring those rate people who love, love, love their job and will volunteer to work late even though not being paid for it, there are 3 groups.
1) Some people enjoy their job, but not as much as their outside life.
2) Some people are neutral about their job. They're there for the paycheck but they give it their best while they're there.
3) Some people absolutely loathe their job and tolerate it only because they can't find anything better.
Groups 1 and 2? They'll stay late if necessary, even if not paid for it. And they may not obsessively watch the clock on the wall. They might stay over 5 or 10 or 15 minutes just because they were not paying attention. If so, they won't be irritated or upset and won't feel that the boss took advantage of them. No big deal.
Group 3? They can't wait until they are officially allowed to leave. It's not just that they never stay late. It's that they're constantly thinking "God, I wish it was 5:00 already. God, I wish it was 5:00 already. God, I wish it was 5:00 already. Is that damned clock broken?? God, I wish it was 5:00 already." Think of the scene in
Risky Business, with Joel in class and eager for the end of the school day so he can get back home. Focused solely on the clock, oblivious to everything else, counting down the seconds, erupting when he has an hallucination that the minute hand actually moved
backward, and then bursting from his seat at the bell.
I consider Group 3 to be clock-watchers, meaning an attitude of "can't wait until I can leave this depressing, horrible environment." It's not about actual time, it's about their attitude toward the job, evident from every fiber of their being. They're miserable people to be around.
Groups 1 and 2 aren't clock-watchers. They may be aware of the time constantly and may leave right at the stroke of 5:00, just like Group 3; sometimes because they have some non-work commitment and sometimes just because they don't feel it's necessary and they're not being paid to work longer. But they don't resent having to be there until 5:00.
I've run across a few P4P-equivalents of Group 3, but it's very, very few. Mostly I've encountered Groups 1 and 2; even some of my favorite ladies, who seem to connect with me, almost never seem to stay more than 5 minutes beyond the scheduled time. I'd love to spend more time with them, but I don't take it personally and I certainly would not call them clock-watchers. I can always assume that they love the time with me, but have other commitments; they would love to stay longer but just can't.