Saturday, October 22, 2005
Perhaps a little bit too much about myself
I have worked as: A newspaper route-carrier, a fast-food worker, a temp worker with jobs ranging from heavy moving to factory work, a retail shoe store worker, a greeenhouse worker, a retail/commercial paints supplies worker, an O.S.H.A. inspector, a piping draftsman and designer and now am an inventory manager for a large books / movies / music retailer.
I would like to think there has been some logical progression when considering my work background, but seeing it above in black and white, it looks like quite the mishmash.
One guiding principle that has helped me no matter where I've worked: work is it's own reward. From the time I was a boy, my dad instilled in me a strong work ethic and taught me that work could be a very rewarding experience that can involve much more than getting a paycheck.
No matter where I've worked, the workers have known the workers. We can spot each other because we're the ones consistently looking for something productive to do when everyone else is dodging this and dodging that.
C.S. Lewis, I learned from a book entitled 'The Question of God', counseled young men to be workers, and that they would find fraternity with other workers whom they would recognize.
So I guess you could, depending upon your vantage point, say I'm a productive member of society, or an easy mark for others to take advantage of.
I am not going to lie. I have been taken advantage of in some circumstances. There have been times when I have worked twice as hard as someone else who was making twice as much money as me. The more intelligent folk around me have considered me a fool for continuing to work under such circumstances, and perhaps their point is one I will eventually learn to appreciate more fully than I do now.
But I have not seen myself work harder than I saw my dad work before me, and believe me...there were slackers in his day as well.
I know I know. With the onset of modernization and computers, there are new ways to 'work'. 'Work' is no longer the industrial revolution's definition of work = force times distance. I know there are catchy new ways to work 'smarter' rather than 'harder', but somewhere along the way, a product has got to be moved from point 'a' to point 'b', and that's where I come in.
I have a strong back and I don't mind using it. I will lift the heavy boxes. I will move the tallest library carts. I will sweep the floor and unload the pallets from the trailer trucks.
I think it boils down to 'flow' for me. I have this preternatural ability to get in the flow of things physically where what looks like harder work, really can be quite pleasurable. There is something innately satisfying in being active at work.
Witness the executives who are opting for stand-up desks. They know they are missing something by sitting on their hind ends all day, tucked away beneath a large desk.
Witness the office workers who crowd the gyms at night because they have done no aerobic activity while at work, and don't want to sit themselves into an early grave.
Yes, I feel sorry for those who don't get to 'work' anymore, but I am thankful for the vacuum they have created by logging onto the internet, networking with business associates and patting the right backs in order to 'get ahead'.
This is the last holdout for people like me. It's the only way we can survive, picking up the pieces, perhaps a little too joyfully, others before us have left behind!
I have worked as: A newspaper route-carrier, a fast-food worker, a temp worker with jobs ranging from heavy moving to factory work, a retail shoe store worker, a greeenhouse worker, a retail/commercial paints supplies worker, an O.S.H.A. inspector, a piping draftsman and designer and now am an inventory manager for a large books / movies / music retailer.
I would like to think there has been some logical progression when considering my work background, but seeing it above in black and white, it looks like quite the mishmash.
One guiding principle that has helped me no matter where I've worked: work is it's own reward. From the time I was a boy, my dad instilled in me a strong work ethic and taught me that work could be a very rewarding experience that can involve much more than getting a paycheck.
No matter where I've worked, the workers have known the workers. We can spot each other because we're the ones consistently looking for something productive to do when everyone else is dodging this and dodging that.
C.S. Lewis, I learned from a book entitled 'The Question of God', counseled young men to be workers, and that they would find fraternity with other workers whom they would recognize.
So I guess you could, depending upon your vantage point, say I'm a productive member of society, or an easy mark for others to take advantage of.
I am not going to lie. I have been taken advantage of in some circumstances. There have been times when I have worked twice as hard as someone else who was making twice as much money as me. The more intelligent folk around me have considered me a fool for continuing to work under such circumstances, and perhaps their point is one I will eventually learn to appreciate more fully than I do now.
But I have not seen myself work harder than I saw my dad work before me, and believe me...there were slackers in his day as well.
I know I know. With the onset of modernization and computers, there are new ways to 'work'. 'Work' is no longer the industrial revolution's definition of work = force times distance. I know there are catchy new ways to work 'smarter' rather than 'harder', but somewhere along the way, a product has got to be moved from point 'a' to point 'b', and that's where I come in.
I have a strong back and I don't mind using it. I will lift the heavy boxes. I will move the tallest library carts. I will sweep the floor and unload the pallets from the trailer trucks.
I think it boils down to 'flow' for me. I have this preternatural ability to get in the flow of things physically where what looks like harder work, really can be quite pleasurable. There is something innately satisfying in being active at work.
Witness the executives who are opting for stand-up desks. They know they are missing something by sitting on their hind ends all day, tucked away beneath a large desk.
Witness the office workers who crowd the gyms at night because they have done no aerobic activity while at work, and don't want to sit themselves into an early grave.
Yes, I feel sorry for those who don't get to 'work' anymore, but I am thankful for the vacuum they have created by logging onto the internet, networking with business associates and patting the right backs in order to 'get ahead'.
This is the last holdout for people like me. It's the only way we can survive, picking up the pieces, perhaps a little too joyfully, others before us have left behind!
