I recently finished reading, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I know I am behind, I am always the last to know about the best books to read. Pretty much everyone I know has read it, or maybe it's just a couple of my sisters and my MIL. But if you haven't you should. It got me thinking about people who do "dirtier" work. The kinds of jobs that are on that show, "Dirty Jobs" or anything that we might consider to not be a great job like a cleaning, maintenance, or physical labor.
I grew up having to go clean offices with my family. We all hated it, but I think most of us would agree we learned a lot, especially the importance of good old fashioned hard work. We all swore we would never take on cleaning jobs like Mom did. But my brother Neils, my sister's Eliza and Tara have all done cleaning jobs before. I guess I was the next in line...
When my sister Eliza moved away from me, I took on her job. It's a tempting situation for a mother who wants to be home with her child. I am gone in the morning for at most two hours and I am home before my little girl gets up. For the hours, the money is actually really good. Most people that I see at work are nice and say hello and we have small chit chat. However, there are a handful of people I have never spoken to much less made eye contact with. I have to wonder what they might think of me. Do they think that I am a lowly person for doing a job with a coolness scale of zero. Do they think of me like the black maids in, The Help? Or do they think I am scum? No. Probably Not. Maybe they are just shy like me. I might never know. Right now I think that in this economy any job is a good job. And I am grateful. I might be bias but I personally think that manual labor is for the elitist of them all ;). I believe that, when I think of my Mother. Anyway it's just something to think about.
4 comments:
Well, hey don't feel bad about reading that book a little later, my book club is just now reading it this month. I really did like that book, but I think I'm biased because I lived right there in Mississippi. I think everyone should do a 'dirtier' job at least once in their life. It makes you appreciate things just a little bit more. And hey, I am a little envious of that extra income. :)
I really loved that book! Manual labor is good for people, I think it definitely taught us alot as much as I hated it growing up. I worry that my kids are going to be deprived of these valuable lessons. Sometimes I really miss my paper route, if only it didn't have to be done every day! I don't, however, miss cleaning! Luckily in Rexburg I don't really think anyone looks down on that, if anything they're jealous they don't have that as a second job! I think all the cops are pretty nice, they'd be even nicer if they knew who you were! I have a lot of admiration for people who do these jobs!
It's sad that we think of certain jobs as less than as a society. I took Audrey and Nick with me to clean a friends house for service. It was fun to work with them and teach them about service too. Work is an opportunity that leads to so many unexpected things, learning, networking - you never know! I'd much rather be the "lowly" worker than the haughty person looking down. I hope I never make anyone feel less than for the work that they do. I love you Mich! Thanks for this post! (Everyone should do a dirtier job and their taxes by hand at least once in their life!)
You're not akiddun'! We did that for about 20 years. Had to move to another state to quit. But as much as I didn't like it, I'd have to absolutely agree that it taught our children alot of things. You-all pretty much named them.
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