Git R' Done
I've been helping my step-dad out a little bit as of late. Going to jobs and doing menial yard work and the like. I've never been one to jump at the chance to go dig a ditch or help re-shingle a roof. It just isn't something I enjoy doing. I'm all for lending a hand if he or anyone else needs it mind you. But someone told me that they had more respect for a person that builds houses or lays concrete for a living than they do for someone that works in a cushy air conditioned building. That got me to thinking about the different mentalities people have about 'work'. I'm not talking about the City Slickers wall street broker finds new respect for ranch hand and vice versa buddy movie mentality. I mean what it means to do a days work. Does someone that gets up and works from 6am to 6pm laying carpet in new condos deserve more respect than someone that works from 7pm to 7am protecting a companies assets? Anyone can go pound nails just as easily as anyone can go work at Wal-Mart. And if the compensation is the same in either case...where does the respect come from? Some people just aren't the type to do certain jobs, we all know that. But my question is, why is it when a bricklayer says they aren't cut out for office work, they're given that concession? "Yeah, sitting all day cooped up in an office would drive me crazy too" But if you were to say that you just weren't cut out for physical labor the concession isn't granted. And in most cases you were labeled a lazy assed layabout. It seems to me that working hard doing a physical job that requires the minimal amount of mental effort garners more respect. Maybe you college kids taking journalism classes or studying business should just throw in the towel and go blue collar. No need for a degree. No grad school...hell, even I could do that, and get a little respect in the process. I respect anyone that works hard for a living. In whatever it is that they do. Equally. Why? Because I've been on both sides of the argument. I worked a full time cushy job during the day and then came home to strip walls for painting at night. I used to get up at 4:30 in the morning to help prep floors for tile and carpet then go charge people late fees for renting terrible movies. But what does my opinion matter? I'm a shitless layabout.
Just think about this for a minute. Where would you be if your favorite author decided he wanted a respectable job in the construction industry? What if the artist that captured your imagination and inspired you to pick up a brush had listened to his father and become a house painter instead? And lets not forget the countless songwriters that spoke to you while you were at your worst, and made it seem like all the shit you were going through made a little sense. Did it matter what they used to do to pay the bills?
No...no...I said I want the tiles laid perpendiculary.
Just think about this for a minute. Where would you be if your favorite author decided he wanted a respectable job in the construction industry? What if the artist that captured your imagination and inspired you to pick up a brush had listened to his father and become a house painter instead? And lets not forget the countless songwriters that spoke to you while you were at your worst, and made it seem like all the shit you were going through made a little sense. Did it matter what they used to do to pay the bills?
No...no...I said I want the tiles laid perpendiculary.