Jeg har tenkt endel på dette med arbeid. For min egen del, har jeg tenkt mye på hva jeg vil jobbe med, hvordan jeg vil jobbe, hvor mye, med hvem osv. På et mer overordnet plan har jeg tenkt på hva slags jobber vi som samfunn egentlig setter pris på. Og her er det noe som skurrer.
Det er noe med at vi som samfunn og enkeltpersoner legger så ekstremt stor vekt på nødvendigheten av å ta utdannelse. Ungdommen må studere – helst lenge – ellers går det dem ille. Samtidig er det ingen tvil om at samfunnet ville bryte sammen i løpet av kort tid hvis ikke det fantes mennesker som var villige til å gjøre jobber som ikke krever særlig utdannelse. Vi ville ikke fått kjøpt mat eller andre nødvendigheter, søppel og møkk ville hope seg opp, ingen ville passet våre barn, gamle og syke osv. osv.
Hvorfor setter vi ikke større pris på disse jobbene og menneskene som utfører dem? Da mener jeg ikke bare i form av lønn, men også ved at vi virkelig ser dem. Hvorfor fremheves ikke dette som avgjørende og viktige jobber i media, politikk eller rundt middagsbordet? Hvorfor har legen høyere prestisje enn hjelpepleieren når vi vet at sykehuset hadde brutt fortere sammen uten sistnevnte yrkesgruppe? Hvorfor føles det flottere at noen er advokat eller forsker enn vaskehjelp?
Dette har jeg tenkt på. Og så kom jeg over denne fantastiske videoen via @guykawasaki på Twitter. Her holder Mike Rowe fra programmet Dirty Jobs på Discovery Channel et standup-show som tilsynelatende handler om kastrering av sauer, og som Guy Kawasaki fremhever som stjerneeksempel på hvordan fortelle en god historie. Men hører du gjennom disse 20 minuttene med pur underholdning, så finner du et alvorlig budskap bak. Det er på tide å sette fornyet pris på drittjobbene:
As someone who regularly ‘gets dirty’ for a living I have always felt strongly about this, obviously!
Society has always held in high esteem any job that requires a lengthy period of learning in one institution or other.
However, working with ones hands may require a shorter period of learning at ‘school’ but to be good at your craft, it requires a lifetime of adding to that knowledge. Ask anyone who has had work done to their house by someone who is less than able!
The irony is (and I love a good bit of irony!) that in the UK, these people are called «key workers» and that they often cannot afford to live in the same areas that they work.
Hang on, so the «key workers», i.e the people who we cannot manage without, get paid low wages and live far away from their work. But the opposite of key workers, the «non-key workers» (i.e. people who, in theory we can manage without), get paid huge amounts of money and can afford to live wherever they like?
Clearly there is something wrong with the terminology here!
Lots of people have a job that many would find difficult, hard physical work, dirty work, working with difficult people, menial work, work that many would be too embarrassed to be seen doing………..
As you say, key workers many of them. People without which our society would not function as it does.
I say give them a little recognition, give them a little status, recognize that their contribution to society is valuable.
I am a builder and in the UK, that means that I am forever pigeon holed as «not intelligent enough to get a better job». However, I always wanted to be creative, to build things, to make something old and worn out new again and also to be self-employed.
Being a builder was a choice for me. A choice that has enabled me never to have had a proper ‘boss’, freedom to pick and chose what I do and who I do it for. Freedom to live and travel the world without worrying about my ‘career path’, because a good tradesman is always in demand.
So, for me education is entertainment, I took a masters degree because I found the subject interesting. I learn «code» because I love the internet and want to know how it works.
Life is one long lesson in my humble opinion and what you do for a living is only part of the tale. Better to live true to yourself than walk to someone else’s tune.
Coo! that turned into a ‘rant! Its going to take a better brain than mine to end this. How about a couple of favorite related quotes?
«A person who who works with his hands is called a labourer. A person who works with his hands and his head is called a craftsman. A person who works with his hands, head and heart is called an artist.»
«Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them»
Remember that when you find yourself envying someone else’s choices in the job department!
Stay well Gunhild!
p.s. going to watch the video now!
Thanks for your thought-provoking comment, Ian. Again, I agree with every word you say. And, with some melancholy, I remember my own wish as a youth to become a carpenter. I hear the song of handy-work in me… 🙂 Stay well!
Its a pity that you never made a carpenter, the trade needs more women. Maybe it wouldn’t suffer such negative vibes if more women were on building sites!
Getting women involved seems to ‘fix’ most things 🙂
Just a thought!
Cheers