The working life
December 11, 2001 ~ 11:01 p.m.
Poor Saturn: She�s been complaining about her job at a department store, and I can totally empathize, having once worked for a large department store myself. My job there lasted six months before I got fired. I didn�t like my boss, didn�t like my co-workers, and didn�t like the customers. In short, I disliked everything about my first real taste of the working world.
Because she looks on the bright side of life�and I dearly wish the same could be said for me, but alas, I have lifetime membership in the Piss and Moan About Everything Club�Saturn realizes that her current job is short-lived either way. If she sticks with it, she�s gone within the year to attend college anyway. If it doesn�t last until then, well, no huge loss. Better things are yet to come. Despite the sarcastic twist I am capable of putting on just about anything, I won�t argue with this assertion.
Just the other morning, as I was leaving work, my boss pulled me aside for my three-month assessment. He said I was doing well and that the job was now officially mine if I so wanted it. It�s full-time, it�s during the night shift, it pays adequately�and do I want the job? Is the clear sky blue? Is Osama bin Laden as good as dead? Of course I want the job! I am, it could be effectively argued, totally psyched.
Work is among the best measurements of self-worth there can ever possibly be. If you hate your job, this may seem like a cruel thing to say. But the idea of providing a service and putting what skills you possess to use in return for your self-reliance (and those that may rely upon you) is one that serves society well. In fact, it is the cornerstone of a healthy social contract under which we wordlessly agree to live. It behooves all of us to study hard and make the most of whatever talents we possess in order to contribute to society.
For instance, in my job, I am expected to classify and monitor commercial clips accurately. Company clients are dependent upon my work to produce their reports on the latest trends in advertising. And advertising is the way to sell goods in the free market, which in turn, provides us with choice in how we live our lives and entertain ourselves. See, it�s all connected somehow. I depend upon the accuracy of the programmer�s work to even post my latest entry here. The programmer is dependent upon a steady supply of power for his computer system that only electrical engineers can provide. You can�t take one thing out of order; to do so would deny that work of any kind has no role in society. All work is vital for our self-esteem and independence, and all work benefits people in one way or another. In fact, the coffee shop vendor is perhaps the most important working dude I will ever meet. He deals caffeine so we can all stay awake at our jobs.
I will admit that I don�t quite know where public sector work fits into this rosy scenario. There are too many people doing too little in government bureaucracies and universities. Mr. Levski goes into detail about his experiences with public sector employees in a recent entry. Like Mr. Levski, I have similar maddening and morale-depleting encounters with bureaucracy myself. I am reminded of that classic joke: how many people work in government? About a third of them. Sure, have a laugh. But it�s at all of our expenses.
That�s a good topic for another time. I just want to congratulate Saturn for hanging in there and doing a good job for her paying customers, bitchy though they may be. She is learning the ins-and-outs, ups-and-downs of paying her dues to society which we all must do. A much more satisfying job is in her near future. For now, dear friend, get that vital experience to put on your resume and get ready to move up in the world.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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