Favorite Assignment!

I'll admit it, I really did enjoy the material of this assignment. (not to take away from other assignments, they're alright I suppose) But I was impressed with Mike Rowe's presentation on work and people's interests in their jobs. It reminded me of what jobs are truly for, to make a living (not make a dream come true). I thought of my grandparents while he discussed raw labor that people commit to. My grandmother left high school and home at 16 to work in a mill during the Great Depression. The job was long and tiresome, but she was happy to have it because she was able to send money home to her family who needed it desperately after her father passed away. My grandmother proudly tells me of her success working as a bank clerk, or of the times she was a nanny to a family. To be a young woman with a job in those times was a remarkable feat period.

Perhaps today people don't just want jobs, they want jobs they'll enjoy. Well, that's a nice thought but it doesn't sound sustainable. In the end, people can enjoy "more slices of pie" and have better living standards at home by finding a job that fills a need for consumers. I agree with Jill Erber of the cheese shop that protectionist measures remove the freedom of choice and can lead to a "slippery slope" that hurts consumers and producers alike.

In the end, watching/listening to the 3 clips, I am left with the question, who are we to judge other people's occupations? There are some things that we can't understand until we've filled that person's shoes. Although I do not endorse child labor, I can see that the children who were poor and needed money benefitted from the cigar rolling job because they learned more about current events than their more wealthy peers. In the end, I think that filling basic needs first, like finding a stable job will lead to long term happiness in other areas of life. (Lord knows, I HATED my job as a lifeguard at one pool club, but the money I saved allowed me to go shopping or out to eat and enjoy other things later on)