Terkel – Redefining Work
In the reading by Terkel, we see many examples or stories of different working individuals with jobs that society my have deemed low class or not meaningful. I think it is interesting that when reading this piece, I notice examples of workers in service or labor jobs that have become stuck in the routine of the job thinking that what they do is not important because society has created this hierarchy of what a meaningful job might be. Terkel makes a point to let the reader know that no matter what the job is, if it means something to the individual, the love for that job will carry on even when they are not exactly working or on the clock. That no matter what the job is, one can feel fulfilled or consider what they do for a living meaningful as well as putting food on the table.
Terkel gives a great example of how we have been trained by society to look down upon service jobs when he mentions the waitress who loves what she does but still gets asked why she is just a waitress as if that is not something to be fulfilled by or as if she is “too good” to settle for a waitress job. (terkel xv) I can agree that this is something I have thought about when I see someone has potential or that I find really intelligent, I realize that I have to think about what work means to them and me so that I do not make assumption of someone’s work ethic.
Terkel mentions that one should try to work on improving their lives and should want their children to earn a living with prestigious jobs. As a society, we have been thought to look down on jobs in service (hospitality or labor) so much that we’ve even used different titles to describe the jobs. I totally agree with this because I too have done it myself. Labeling the work title differently just so we do not feel like we are just a receptionist, just a sales person etc.
The idea of having good work ethic seems to be more important than having happiness or feeling fulfilled in the work that we do. Instead of working a job and feeling like a robot like most of us do. I think Terkel is trying to show us that real life matters like actually being happy with the work that we’re doing will give us that feeling of pride whether we are on work duty or not.
