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

[tytso.livejournal.com]

My father has a friend who was a wet-back. Shortly after Chairman Mao started massacring intellectuals who were silly enough to take up his invitation to criticize the government in the "let a hundred flowers bloom campaign", he escaped Communist China by dodging armed guards (and bullets!) and swiming across a river to arrive in Kowloon. So he started with nothing. My father's family took him under their wing in Hong Kong, and he studied to become a doctor, and later came to the U.S., where he obtained a biotech patent or two to his name, and he now (in addition to his medical practice and medical testing company) builds luxury condo's in Saint Thomas as a hobby/side business.

But when his son attended Columbia, Dr. Lee wanted to make sure that his son knew the meaning of a dollar, and wasn't afraid of work. So for the first summer, he made him drive a taxi in New York City in order earn his spending money. I had a lot of respect for their family because of that. (Of course later, Dr. Lee put Emil in charge of all of his luxury condo development business in the Caribbean).

So many second generation immigration children never develop a good work ethic, because their parents, as first generation immigrants, had to work so hard to succeed, and then become determined that their children shouldn't have to suffer as much as they did. If I ever get lucky enough to start a family, this is definitely not a mistake I want to make...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

If I ever get lucky enough to start a family, this is definitely not a mistake I want to make...

It's a hard thing, I think, figuring out where to draw the line between giving one's children a better opportunity and teaching them the value of that opportunity. I'm not sure I'd know how to do that as a parent. I wish you the best in navigating those waters when it's your turn to do it.