The Job is the Thing

[AthenaAwakened]

THE JOB IS THE THING

"Lord, I am just blessed to have a job."

How many times have you heard that? How many times have you said that?

How many times have you looked across a counter at a food service worker, or store cashier who wasn't smiling and polite and think, "If you don't want to be here, you should find another job. In times like these you should be thankful just to have a job at all."

Because the job is the thing, right?

The job is what we are looking for, what we should be grateful for, what we will fight for. Politicians and pundits promise and pontificate over jobs. Billionaires pat themselves on the back because "they create" jobs. Corporations get incentives and special considerations in return for providing jobs.

Because the job is the thing, right?

The job is the brass ring, the job is survival, the job is who you are in the eyes of others. The job defines you, refines you, consigns you and confines you.

The job is why otherwise grown men and women become child-like, bashful and afraid when they hear these words "I would like to see you in my office."

The job is why while your child has played soccer for three years, you have memories of seeing the last ten minutes of three games to show for it.

Because the job is the thing, right?

Now do not get me wrong. Work is a good thing, a necessary thing, even a spiritual thing. But we are not talking about work. We are talking about jobs.

Jobs. Those units of work we have compartmentalized, routinized, scrutinized and commodified. Jobs are the way employers have dressed up their need for you to do their work in a drag of fulfilling your need for security. Employers have employees believing that working for the employer is a favor the employer is doing for the employee. The opposite is the truth. The employer needs the employee, and the employee is doing this job often at rock bottom prices so it is the employee who is doing the favor.

I am reminded of Blind Tom Stringfield, my great-great-grandfather. He was born with a job. It was called slave. And his massa told him he was blessed too.

So the next time you look across that counter at the person who isn't smiling and happy and bubbling with glee, maybe it's because that person has figured out exactly who is being blessed with his or her labor.

_____________

From the Harriet T and Ida B Gun Club and Sewing Circle, this is me and I'm jessayin'

 

[bigfield]

Both employers and customers expect too much from workers.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It is funny to read that. Granted, I was a teen, so it was likely easier, but when I worked the counter as a cashier, I made it my job to be interactive and social with the customer. Granted it was a clothing store, so it was a bit easier. Grocery stores is a bit of work, a lot more things to scan and these you have those fiberglass or plastic shields. I hate Menards, where the cashier isn't really even part of the process of consumer relations (that is just Menards awful design).

Also, while I don't need bubbly, I hate it when the cashier acts as if I'm interrupting their day. You should at least recognize the customer and their existence. I get that people have bad days, I never complain if someone seems disinterested.

 

[Elixir]

I have been “blessed” to only have ever spent a few years as a “worker”, and it was some of the least stressful time of my life.
Sure, I felt unappreciated, envious of the wealth of my bosses and resentful of my loss of autonomy. But nothing like the stress of starting/running a business with everything you own on the line along with the welfare of your team and everyone your team have been able to get to work.
Sure, you call your own shots, in theory. I’m reality you become slave to circumstances beyond your control, and your options are few or none - usually choices like work until midnight or get up at 4am knowing that a 14 hour day is going to be the best outcome you can hope for.
The thing that boggles my mind is that some pocket protector-class middle manager in a mega corporation can have a well defined set of responsibilities, a set time commitment, and make tens of times the money of a “line worker” while carrying virtually zero concern for the welfare of anyone else or even for the Company they “work” for.
That doesn’t seem right to me.

 

[Bomb#20]

Employers have employees believing that working for the employer is a favor the employer is doing for the employee. The opposite is the truth. The employer needs the employee, and the employee is doing this job often at rock bottom prices so it is the employee who is doing the favor.

I take it the possibility that the employer and the employee are both doing favors for each other is ruled out a priori by the mental model of economics you're applying?

 

[Toni]

I buy my groceries at the store that still has some cashiers and real people working behind the meat counter and where I see the guy I know owns the place stocking shelves from time to time (our kids played on the same soccer team back in the day) because the cashiers get this: make eye contact. Chat with you. Sometimes ask what (bit of produce) that is you are buying and how you will cook it. Or mention that's their favorite ice cream, too. Occasionally it's a college kid who has/had my husband in class and they mention it. They don't always mention it.

There are other options for groceries. I sometimes go to the coop for my crunchy granola type stuff and sometimes I go to the bigger chain grocery because they really do have more selection for some stuff. But the eyes in their cashiers are vacant, except for one manager who is a gem and one of the other workers who....is not a gem and whose line I avoid whenever I can although most of the time he's pleasant enough.

I loathe Menards and will do a lot to avoid them.

 

[rousseau]

@AthenaAwakened if you were to take a stab at writing a counterpoint to your own post, what do you think it would include?

 

[rousseau]

I have been “blessed” to only have ever spent a few years as a “worker”, and it was some of the least stressful time of my life.
Sure, I felt unappreciated, envious of the wealth of my bosses and resentful of my loss of autonomy. But nothing like the stress of starting/running a business with everything you own on the line along with the welfare of your team and everyone your team have been able to get to work.
Sure, you call your own shots, in theory. I’m reality you become slave to circumstances beyond your control, and your options are few or none - usually choices like work until midnight or get up at 4am knowing that a 14 hour day is going to be the best outcome you can hope for.
The thing that boggles my mind is that some pocket protector-class middle manager in a mega corporation can have a well defined set of responsibilities, a set time commitment, and make tens of times the money of a “line worker” while carrying virtually zero concern for the welfare of anyone else or even for the Company they “work” for.
That doesn’t seem right to me.

Middle management can suck pretty bad too. They make more money it's true, but their lifestyle is arguably more stressful than a line worker.

As a software developer I'm on the lowest rung of my department, but absolutely have the best lifestyle out of anyone in the hierarchy. Others without my skills don't have this option open to them, and have to climb the ladder.

I don't mean this as an argument against the OP, just shedding some light for Elixir.

ETA: management jobs are also more unstable and harder to come by (riskier). I've seen many more managers let go in my dept than front line workers. And when that happens they can have real problems.

Needless to say, it's complicated.

 

[rousseau]

Adding another point on management because it's an interesting topic.

The idea that management is made up of sociopaths out to exploit the people under them isn't the reality of most businesses. I came across a study recently that stated the exact opposite is true. It's true, you get the occasional bad actor, and in a corrupt culture you'll get a lot of it. But in most normal, serious businesses managers are people with solid social skills, a high level of domain knowledge, and solid business acumen. And as you rise through the hierarchy you get people with even more skill.

On my level of the corporation I'm employed with there are people who can barely craft a coherent e-mail or do their own jobs, let alone take our manager's role. I'd imagine the director, CIO, and CEO positions would also be out of reach for most of them. They just don't have the right skills needed for those roles, which are much more rare than many realize.

 

[Elixir]

Middle management can suck pretty bad too. They make more money it's true, but their lifestyle is arguably more stressful than a line worker.

As a software developer I'm on the lowest rung of my department, but absolutely have the best lifestyle out of anyone in the hierarchy. Others without my skills don't have this option open to them, and have to climb the ladder.

I don't mean this as an argument against the OP, just shedding some light for Elixir.

ETA: management jobs are also more unstable and harder to come by (riskier). I've seen many more managers let go in my dept than front line workers. And when that happens they can have real problems.

Needless to say, it's complicated.

I guess it's complicated no matter what. I figure if you gotta deal with complicated, you might as well own it.

 

[bigfield]

It is funny to read that. Granted, I was a teen, so it was likely easier, but when I worked the counter as a cashier, I made it my job to be interactive and social with the customer. Granted it was a clothing store, so it was a bit easier. Grocery stores is a bit of work, a lot more things to scan and these you have those fiberglass or plastic shields. I hate Menards, where the cashier isn't really even part of the process of consumer relations (that is just Menards awful design).

Also, while I don't need bubbly, I hate it when the cashier acts as if I'm interrupting their day. You should at least recognize the customer and their existence. I get that people have bad days, I never complain if someone seems disinterested.

I wasted 18 years of my life in frontline retail, and my role and my working conditions varied enough over the years to give me a pretty good understanding of what factors can make a retail job miserable.

1. Asshat managers. My worst manager was a young, over-confident blowhard who made unreasonable demands of his workers and treated them like they were idiots when they failed. I used to go to work anxious and leave angry and have never come closer to punching a supervisor in the face.
2. Boredom and soreness. For years my job required me to perform robotic processes for long periods that left me sore (we amanufactured products behind the counter). Being sore and bored for hours on end is a special kind of stress.
3. Asshat customers. The most irritating customers were those who wanted to bicker over small details, demanded miraculously fast product delivery because they left their tasks to the last minute, and complained because they didn't like the thing they had ordered.
4. Incompetent management. The business I worked for screwed up routinely, like upsetting x% of customers was one of their KPIs. Customers almost invariably took it out on us customer service staff who worked the counter and answered the phones. Senior management was also absurdly bad at designing business processes, and every job was fraught with opportunities for human error, adding stress to simple tasks like writing/entering a customer's order, or interpreting an order written by someone else.
5. Anti-maskers during COVID-19 "no mask, no entry" restrictions. I have never come closer to punching a customer in the face.

I usually managed to be personable at the counter, except for a few times in my more senior positions when I got to fire customers in spectacular fashion. But I worked in a relatively nice store that was predominantly B2B retail, and some retail workplaces are clearly worse than even my worst day at work.

So it doesn't bother me if the cashier scowls at me, mumbles or doesn't make eye contact. If I were in their position I would hate my job.

 

[bigfield]

But nothing like the stress of starting/running a business with everything you own on the line along with the welfare of your team and everyone your team have been able to get to work.
Sure, you call your own shots, in theory. I’m reality you become slave to circumstances beyond your control, and your options are few or none - usually choices like work until midnight or get up at 4am knowing that a 14 hour day is going to be the best outcome you can hope for.

That sounds like absolute hell.

I backed out of running my own business full time - I wasn't prepared for it in multiple ways - but several small business owners have said to me that it has brought them some of the highest highs and the lowest lows. It makes entrepreneurship sound like self-inflicted bipolar disorder.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

@AthenaAwakened if you were to take a stab at writing a counterpoint to your own post, what do you think it would include?

Not sure what you want, but I will include this post script.

My Pop had a lot of jobs.
He was a soldier (World War II, he, his brothers, and his brother-in-law won that.)
He walked a beat.
He cleaned floors.
He did construction (The Pentagon, he built that. Camp Lejeune, he built that too.)
He worked at a funeral parlor where he drove the vehicles and dressed the dead.
My Pop had a lot of jobs.
And to my knowledge, he didn't hate any of them. Not one. Because at all the jobs he held, he worked with people he liked and he worked for people who respected him. And yeah, he was paid well and had good benefits. But if you asked him what he liked best about working, he'd say more than the paycheck. Working in an environment of inclusiveness and fellowship, at jobs that were appreciated and necessary, and being able to leave the job at the job, these things he valued as much if not more than the paycheck.

A job is not enough. Work and a work place that allows you to like what you do and who you are, that is the thing.

 

[BH]

I manage a retail shoe store and have for 16 years. I don't see the people above me as anyway better. They just had the opportunity to get certain types of training that I did not get . In some cases they got their jobs for political reasons. Also, it seems they are expected to be soldiers with unquestioning obedience and that personality trait is probably a main reason they are there. This isn't being critical just an observation.

I don't think I owe my employer anything other than to work for my wages. When and if I leave for another place to work or retire my obligations to them cease. They are not my friends and they do not care about me or I them . Now when I'm at work I'm cordial to the customers and friendly to the staff but when I'm no longer there they are not my concern anymore. I remember what Ben Sirach said of the rich which is basically when they need you they will praise you and use you, when you falter they will threaten, and then throw you away and act like they don't know you

It is my opinion most people are able to do a whole lot more with their lives jobwise and position wise than they ever attain to. The reason for this is that there are not enough jobs to go around for everyone able to do one to have one. Same thing with owning a business. A whole lot of people could own and run one but the economy will only allow so many to exist at a given time.

 

[Elixir]

That sounds like absolute hell.

Aw, no worse than any other self-inflicted bipolar hell. I remember some bi-polar moments/days/weeks when we teetered between terror and elation. Our first 6 digit federal contract took weeks to fulfill, extra personnel, capital expenditures for equipment and was running us dry. Then the phone rang and a nice lady from a NG unit called and gave me a credit card number for a drop-ship purchase at list price for some 60k worth of specialized gear. Made a phone call to get the goods shipped and immediately used our 20k windfall to settle some accounts.
That night I lay awake wondering why we even bid contracts …

 

[Elixir]

A whole lot of people could own and run one but the economy will only allow so many to exist at a given time.

I could never ever ever own and run ANY business by myself. My partners in that last venture were (are) both brilliant business people, replete with basic accounting skills, organizational excellence and a certain flair for design that I lack.

 

[RVonse]

It is my opinion most people are able to do a whole lot more with their lives jobwise and position wise than they ever attain to. The reason for this is that there are not enough jobs to go around for everyone able to do one to have one. Same thing with owning a business. A whole lot of people could own and run one but the economy will only allow so many to exist at a given time.

Totally agree. IMO and for or better or worse, women entering the workforce did not help average jobs become more meaningful, enriched and/or satisfying either. Nor were demographics good for baby boomers (myself included) in a global economy where goods consumed were not required to be produced by babyboomers. All else equal, whenever there is an excess of anything (including labor) it becomes worth less to society. And that's not good for the worker or the small entrepreneur. It basically means a "shit" job for low wages.....just one ladder step up from the Apple workers in China.

 

[laughing dog]

In my humble opinion, a job where one takes real pride in one's work is a good job. A job where one take's pride in one's work, enjoys the work environment, and is satisfied with the compensation is a dream job.

It is unfortunate that there are fewer dream jobs.

 

[laughing dog]

It is my opinion most people are able to do a whole lot more with their lives jobwise and position wise than they ever attain to. The reason for this is that there are not enough jobs to go around for everyone able to do one to have one. Same thing with owning a business. A whole lot of people could own and run one but the economy will only allow so many to exist at a given time.

Totally agree. IMO and for or better or worse, women entering the workforce did not help average jobs become more meaningful, enriched and/or satisfying either.

Perhaps it made the lives of those women more meaningful, enriched or satisfying.

 

[RVonse]

The job is the brass ring, the job is survival, the job is who you are in the eyes of others. The job defines you, refines you, consigns you and confines you.


_____________

From the Harriet T and Ida B Gun Club and Sewing Circle, this is me and I'm jessayin'

Especially if you are a male. Because if you are woman, at least you have a society excuse that your purpose in life is to provide children.

If you are a male with no job sitting in your parents basement there is not much dignity to be had in life.