Jobs and Awareness

[cjsmith]

I have discovered, among my smart college-educated white upper-middle-class mostly-male circle of friends, that there are few people who have done anything but white-collar jobs. Most have never held ANY unskilled-labor job, EVER, including during high school. EVER.

That first sentence could also be pronounced "...among my [privilege] [privilege] [privilege] [privilege] [privilege]...".

I have discovered that I tend to have more respect for the ones who have; they read as "less spoiled", somehow, and then when I find out they once bagged groceries or changed diapers it just all hangs together. The ones who've been burger-flippers or security guards tend to be --- not always, but they tend to be --- the same ones who would have seen the alternate pronunciation of that first sentence and its implications.

What I respect is that awareness, wherever it comes from.

Comments

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Flipping burgers or the equivalent is a very educational thing to do. I was nearly deprived of that education. When I went to find a job after my first year of college (yes, I WAS privileged enough not to need to work during HS), the gal at the Carl's Jr. didn't want to hire be because she was afraid I'd be "bored." Well, DUH! But how do we learn to appreciate other jobs, to persevere through college or whatever path we're taking, if we aren't bored? How are we supposed to get any experience, without any experience?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Indeed it is educational. Those same lessons can be learned other ways, of course, and it's also certainly possible to spend a summer at McDonald's learning absolutely nothing. But for the most part, people seem to have the thought "What if this were the best-paying, most interesting and fulfilling job I could ever hope to have?" at least once in such a summer...