Saturday, July 30, 2011

Prestigious Jobs

We grow up viewing some jobs as prestigious and others as beneath our notice with many in between. Everyone has their own mental list of where a job falls as to its importance. Occupations such as doctor, lawyer, police officer, spy, and news anchor are usually on the upper end of the list. These are cool jobs, jobs where you can make money or do amazing things. This is a problem because we disparage jobs that aren't cool, but are important to us. What if a prestigious surgeon come home to find a frazzled spouse trying to get dirty children to take a bath in cold water because the water heater isn't working. The sink is full of dishes because in order to wash them well you need hot water. The laundry is half done and the household is in disarray. The next day the repair person comes, works hard and fixes the problem. This person completed an essential task for this family, but his or her occupation is often viewed as unimportant, not as good, and for the less education.

My water heater hasn't been working the last couple of days. I would light it and it would go out again in several minutes. Today a repair man came and cleaned it out and changed a part. Now it works. I'm grateful to him and all those professionals who know how to fix things, clean things, and otherwise do things I can't do for myself. I'm also extremely grateful to the people who clean restrooms in public places. Thank you for doing the less desirable and essential jobs.

3 comments:

  1. My dad would often take the time to thank people for doing jobs that most of the rest of the public took for granted. I respected him for that. Among those thanked most often were gardeners, because he really appreciated the beauty they nurtured and highlighted.

    ReplyDelete
  2. By the way, in the above post I said "nurtured" and "highlighted" instead of "created". They don't create or make the beauty of a flower, but by their work they bring it all together. (My words aren't quite coming out to express what I'm thinking).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Grandpa really enjoyed gardening. I can see why he appreciated them. Sometimes words are illusive

    ReplyDelete