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Originally Posted by Sundae Girl
Is this for everyone? Hello! WFT are you doing in front of a microphone if that's the way for the whole world to go? You go scrape roadkill.
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FWIW, he does scrape roadkill. This is a strange venue for him, giving this talk--his television show is called "Dirty Jobs" and on each episode he learns and participates in the hard labor of an unpleasant and/or menial profession. "The people who make civilized society possible for the rest of us." It's not that these jobs are specifically for everyone, it's that these people he works with fundamentally understand that work is
work and isn't supposed to be the ultimate joy-bringer in your life, thus they are not disappointed when it turns out not to be. In fact, he too is not where his "passion" would have led him--he used to be an opera singer, believe it or not. Now he does this weird show, where granted he is a celebrity, but at the same time he is working extremely hard and you can clearly see it in the episodes.
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Originally Posted by Sundae Girl
But I admit they are despised by the average Americans - at least as far as conversations on this board have gone.
When I've said my Dad and Grandad have worked hard but not profitably, they have been disparaged for not wanting to have two jobs and go to night school and hew logs and get a degree etc etc.
They wanted to do their dirty jobs, earn what they were worth and get the pensions they were promised.
The fact my Grandad believed in the Welfare State, the fact my Dad's pension fund was robbed by his boss (Robert Maxwell - look it up, it's a fact) were not really their fault.
You can't have it both ways.
Unless of course the American ideal is to work, to strive and not to yield... as long as you come out with money. And that's not a balanced equation.
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His point isn't really the money, it's the fact that there is honor in doing real work, and if you do it well you will be rewarded for it even if it's not your one true love. And he agrees, the average American has lost sight of the respectability of just doing your job and getting paid what you're worth for it. The American ideal
ought to be to work hard, but instead it has drifted to become "love what you do," which simply isn't going to happen for the majority of the population no matter how hard they try.