Hi all! A couple of things struck me today, one I heard on the news and another I read. (Hope you don't find this too long winded or irrelevent!) You may have seen tonight's "News Hour" on PBS. There was a report on employment in America and how employers are bending over backwards to get "The best and the brightest" the students coming out of college. It stated that many students can pretty much name their own price as far as wages are concerned. They interviewed various employers, presidents of large corporations. They all agreed that one thing these students desired the most was that the job be enjoyable and fun. They also wanted to "choose" their hours. And many of them are getting what they want. Then; a little later I picked up a book I bought recently at a second hand store. "The Fatal Shore. The epic of Australia's founding." by Robert Hughes. In a paragraph describing working conditions in London in the 1790s he has this to say: " At the upper end of income and comfort,just below the independent shopkeepers, were the skilled artisans in luxury trades,regularly employed: upholsterers and joiners, watch-finishers,coach painters or lens-grinders. At the lower end were occupations now not only lost but barely recorded: that of the "Pure-finders," for instance, old women who collected dog-turds which they sold to tanneries for a few pence a bucket(the excrement was used as a siccative in dressing fine bookbinding leather)." Now there's a "fun" job if ever you want one!! Pauline

-- Pauline Adderley (tworoosters_farm@AltaVista.com), June 03, 2000

Answers

Hi Pauline, wow, that just reinforces for me how lucky I am! Although I have a college education, (paralegal) I've decided to work in a completely different field because I get such a deep sense of satisfaction from what I now do (healthfood store). The down side is that I struggle to support myself on what I get paid. I've had to supplement my income in many ways over the years to allow me to stay at a job that I LOVE. I'm the only 42 year old woman I know with a paper route!! Hey, it pays pretty well if you don't mind getting up at 4:30 in the morning every day! My point is this...I am allowed the freedom to choose between a lot of different means to support myself. When I get cranky about how hard I have it, etc., I remind myself that there are probably an awful lot of women out there who would trade places with me in a heartbeat. Someone, somewhere spends their entire workday (14 hours?) wrapping pears in little pieces of tissue paper. Thanks for sharing. Cathy

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), June 03, 2000.

It would be nice if everybody could have a job that they enjoyed and was intellectually rewarding. One person once commented that we compensated people unfairly. The wage scale should be reversed so CEO's/polititians are at the low end and nurse aides/garbage collectors/ditch diggers are at the high end. The more unpleasant/menial the job, the higher the pay. Still in every society I've seen, I think the peasant who owns his own land is the best off of all even if he has to be a "dog turd collector" at times.

-- Hermit John (ozarkhermit@pleasedontspamme.com), June 03, 2000.

Hermit John is right -- those low-paid menial jobs are a lot more necessary than the high-paid, high-profile ones! Think about who makes the most money in this country, and what would happen to the rest of us if those people suddenly diappeared -- nothing!!! But reverse that -- without garbage collectors, etc., civilization, in urban areas, at least, would just about cease to exist. So why do the movie stars and football players get all the money?!?

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 03, 2000.

Kathleen, the movie stars and football players PALE in comparison to the attorneys! Okay...only some of them!!!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), June 03, 2000.

I agree. The genuinely productive should be paid for their labors. I have a hard time relating to the idea that the contents of a file folder might cost $10-$15,000. in legal fees and the person this "product" was generated for will have to work 6mo-18mo. to pay for it.

I have a blue collar background and a hs education but have found myself on a couple of occasions working in an office situation. I felt like, in spite of being really busy and doing a good job there, at days end it didn't seem like I got anything real done. Its much more satisfying to me to physically work at something but sometimes it doesn't pay the bills.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), June 04, 2000.

The most satisfying days I have are those when I can weed the garden and pick the resulting "fruits" of my labor. I am at a distinct advantage in that I work from home already in work that can be very lucrative, but it cannot compare to getting down and dirty in the garden or hanging out with the goats! By the way, forking the barn out is not my idea of a great time! Paper pushing becomes a tedious and boring job for most, after a while. Glad I can choose.

-- Laura (lbaumgardner@blazenet.net), June 04, 2000.