Thursday, May 29, 2008

J-O-B!

It is so easy now that I am working to be sanctimonious about the whole affair.  So easy to blithely tell someone who is on the dole to get a job!  We think we are in some special club when 99 percent of the world works for a living making us not so special.   There is a big difference between working for a living and doing something you truly enjoy, though.  You can train a monkey to do a repetitive task as most jobs are.   It takes a stroke of genius to get paid for a labor of love.  Who decided this social fabric for us?  I question that often. 

My father hates his job.  My mother hated her job as a school teacher for 30+ years.  The only job I enjoyed was working at the pet store, and that is because I loved tropical fish and all the perks that came along with it.  I don't particularly like my current job except for the fact that it is so socially and familial-ly acceptable.  I don't feel so guilty for being on disability.  I am paying taxes. 

Today, I almost wrote on my previous post that The Homeless Guy would never volunteer at the Rescue Mission cause it would be like a J-O-B.  I was falling so deeply into that sanctimonious trap I've seen so often spewed with vitriol on his blog comments for years.   GET A JOB!   I leaned back in this chair and thought long and hard, and deleted what I wrote.  It gave me much food for thought. 

4 comments:

Chandira said...

I like my job. I don't LOVE the work, but the people I do, very much. I think a lot of it is in who you work with, as much as what you do. I've been here at my job for over 6 years now!! I never would have believed that. I always had part-time work, or was self-employed before this.

Cheryl said...

I know I'm one of the lucky ones to truly love their job. Most people do their's just because they have to. My father worked the deli counter of a grocery store most of his life. I know he didn't like it, except for schmoozing with the customers. My mom was a cashier at a grocery store. She loved it. It's unfortunate that your town is so small and there aren't opportunities to find volunteer work that would be rewarding to you. I know you've tried. I know you're happy to be working, even if it isn't ideal.

Brad said...

Hey Bud! Hope your doing good today. I think it was wise of you to hold back from saying anything to Homeless Guy. You show great restraint. It's hard to watch someone you care about not make the choices you think would be best for them. But that;s just it, it's us looking in with out the full picture. You can never know what burdens others carry.

I've been reading back here.

Second Life is something I've been curious about for a while. I think I'll go check it out. I'm such a tech-dolt I'm hessitant to get into anything like that - come on, I can just almost manage Blogger (snort)

I feel for Joyce. Maybe you could encourage her to get involved with her sister in the planning and have some little say in what happens? I really have no room to voice an opinion because I don't truely know what it's like. I was just thinking if she works with here sis and doesn't fight it maybe she can make some of the choices - anyway - I'm glad to be over my own struggles and can focus some energy on my blogging friends. Take care man ! Type to ya soon.

Kim said...

Well done for not being judgemental. It's funny - having a social phobia means you are constantly worried that people are judging you. So letting go of judging other people is a big step!