5 Assignment 07

In Terkel’s work he argues that that our concept of a “work ethic” needs to be wrested from its more banal invocation as the effort putting into making a buck. I believe he is trying to show the relationship between people and work. He gives different examples of professions and peoples reaction to what they do. He goes on interviews asking people about their job. I think he is showing a different idea of a calling people who love what they do and aren’t just there for the money but work because they truly love what they do. For example, the musician he spoke to who told the story of juggling a lot of different jobs and how he can go from a show where he’s the center of attention to not being seen. He also said that he even played at a funeral and one would look at it as if his job is tiresome and something we would not do but he enjoyed what he did.

Terkel’s interviews show that no matter who you are of what kind of job hey had every one had a different meaning of what makes work meaningful to them.  When he interviews Mike he found out all the struggles that mike go through just to get his son to go to college and how he stops at the bar before going home because he have to de stress before he goes home because he cant take out his stress on his family.

Almost 50% of us hate our jobs but because of circumstances we are in the job we are we have no way out because of life but we must find meaning in what we do. It might not be what we want our long-term goal but it’s what we do to live and provide for our family so with that title we have to look for meaning and find a way to continue doing that job over and over again each day. Im sure if we take a survey now or interview my classmates we would not get 100% of students who find joy and take great pride in what they do. Maybe the few that are teachers who love molding and preparing children love what they do. He also mention people who were looked down upon because of their job title so they change the name to make it look better when they were with other people who had better job titles.

Toniann German

Soc#Ass.7

I feel what Terkel is arguing is that in order to understand the true meaning of work ethic we must separate the idea that work is about making money.  Rather Terkel suggest that we must find meaning within the work that we do. Even if you are stuck in jobs we may not like, we must take pride in what we are doing. His example of the waitress may show that although to some her job may seem simple, To the waitress it is meaningful.  She takes pride in that she is good at her job and provides great service to her customers. The waitress takes pride in making her customers happy. I feel that although the work may not be enjoyable Terkle wants us to look at how our work is benefiting our lives and values.

I believe that because we live in a world were work ethic is not viewed in Terkles point of view, society has had to try to sell happiness along with their products. For example, most of us have heard the saying service with a smile. This is because many people are being told to fake smiles and fake their happiness in order to make sales. Instead Terkel is saying that we must find joy in what we do so we can provide a real joyful experience.

There is a human disconnect from work, Terkel expresses how the people through his interviews felt as if humans no longer matter in their work. Terkel brings up the point of human jobs being taken over by technology. As a result people no longer feel as if they are being noticed or appreciated in their jobs in addition to feeling as if they are not making a difference.  I also found his interviews with the blue-collar workers and the white-collar workers very interesting. I found it very surprising that in both types of work the employees felt unhappiness and at times invisible.

Although I agree with Terkel in that it is important to find happiness within your work, especially because not everyone has the option to purse their dreams. I do however think that it is easier said than done. It is very hard to find happiness in a job which you work in only to maintain your survival. It is hard to find happiness in work where you are unappreciated, underpaid, and replaceable by machinery.

This week’s reading, “ In working, Studs Terkel(1972: xxvii); Basically he says, Do you hate your job? Guess what. Most people do! What is our relationship to work and ourselves. He explains work confessed by working people. The concept is pretty simple, its the common activities we do as human beings. Terkel talks about the workers like the waitresses to confess what is really work to them and how they feel about and what they do to make a quick buck. He explains how it is so surprising how the universe feels about the jobs they have. What Terkel found in his interviews was there are many people from all different types of phases in their lives and each person had their own different perspectives on what makes work meaningful. For example Mike Lefevre, he made many sacrifices in his life, has an aspiration for his son to go to college, how he goes to the bar to let steam out. How and when to set boundaries for work time and personal time. It finally brings us down to what work is and what it means to us. Most people go to work to maintain their living, and others go to work because they simply love their jobs. But work in a way keep is functioning. This takes us back to the article where Terkel wrote about someone who gave up their job to continue a career that he loved to do. In the end, sometimes we realize that it work will always be work and it will always be here. Why not do something you love to do.  Lastly, my dream job is to be an ART teacher. I love everything about art, at the moment I am not pursuing my career because I need to money to care for my children, but eventually I will. He also brings up the idea that work is meaningful and how work connects to “human matters”. People spend most of their lives working and sometimes the right job can give you different and even positive opportunities. Terkel is saying that its not the time at work that matter but the investment we put in it,  like our spirits. It is important for people to know the meaning in their lives and their jobs.

This week’s reading, “ In working, Studs Terkel(1972: xxvii) believes that we should all stop thinking about the “ work ethic.” I believed that one should always have a strong work ethic in your field to succeed. I find in his writing this is what he is trying to state, Terkel argues that no matter what type of job you have or performed it should be meaningful to you as a whole in every aspect of your life.
Terkell goes on to give examples of different professions and interviews them about their jobs. They each describe the satisfaction their work gives to them despite the hard physical conditions it may require. I think this is where his connection to ‘’ Human matters” comes into play, and he argues that one should find persuade a career in which will make you happy and not money. As he interviews different fields of the job, he tells stories on how a waitress, is happy serving her customers and feel she does such a great job which fulfills her with such great achievement and gives her the satisfaction to come to work every day.
In my, opion Terkell believes and argues everyone find their calling in which they will find meaning in. He claims that ones the old man left his work and decided to find what he loves he enter the ‘’Human matter” cycle. He was able to find his calling and not feel as guilty for leaving his stable job for something that might not pay good, however as he persuades his passion for his new calling. He finds himself with satisfaction that equals to no money amount the other job ever did. It seems to me that Terkel idea is for human to make a difference in the world.
I feel pursuing my education and career goals. Attending CWE is for me to be able to persuade a career in Early Childhood Education, that each day I will wake up and love to go to work.Of course, there will be days that turn into wanting to run away from the job, but the fact that you have built a career and making a difference is what makes a job become a career. The fact that you enjoy and you are making a difference that gives you satisfaction, that achievement gives you motivates you to be able to keep going with your career.

Studs Terkel’s interviews numerous people to try to get to the meaning of work. Throughout theses countless interviews he tries to demonstrate that there is more to work than just a means to making a buck. To some individuals, they seem to just go through the motions of working from 9 to 5 from Monday through Friday. As to others they have manage to find some kind of meaning to their jobs. He gives us numerous examples but the ones that I found most profound were the fire fighter and the banker, who he used at the end of the introduction. The Fireman puts his life in danger every time he steps into a burning building, but manages to find a great deal of meaning and satisfaction in what he does. Versus the banker, who sees his job as not having any real worth, he just sees it as working with paper that is not real to him.

Studs Terkel found that some people were looked down and were judged simply because of the jobs that they held. As some individuals need to find some self worth in their jobs and the need to belong to “human community.” They find that they need to give their jobs deeper meaningful names. As janitors, are usually also known as building engineers (1972: XX). Just because they changed the names of their jobs, doesn’t mean that they didn’t like their jobs, they just needed to feel like they belong and worthy of their peers.

As working adults, I’m sure some of us are still striving to find “our dream job”. But what is the perfect “dream job”? It all depends on the individual. I’m sure what I think a “dream job” is, might be totally different to what you feel is the “dream job.” Just like Studs Terkel found in interviewing all the people that he did, as they were all from various walks of life, they all had different perspectives and views on what made work meaningful. I’m sure that most of us have heard time and time again, how teachers are the most unappreciated professionals. But when you speak to a teacher (some anyway), they will tell you how much they love teaching and they find it extremely meaningful. We know that they don’t get paid enough but they tell us, that they are not doing it for the paycheck; they are doing it because they truly love teaching our children.

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.

In the reading by Studs Terkel (1972:xxvii) he states how work is very important to people and their “human matters” because it allows you to feel accomplished and gives you self value. Although a job may be tough, rough and tiring to achieve, finishing and completing that job or task gives a person a lot of positive emotions within. From my understandings, Studs Terkel believes that those positive emotions that completing a job offers is what “work ethic” should be about and considered. Terkel will like for people to change the views of what “work ethic” is; from being just about making that money to enjoy the emotions you receive by working and completing a task.
Studs Terkel shows through his readings a lot of stories about workers that had different types of labors. In those readings, we could notice that those workers felt proud of the type of job they did and how hard they worked. With the jobs they had they were able to feel accomplished, satisfied and proud of themselves. They were also able to learn day by day more. Terkel wants people to allow themselves to work for meaningful purposes. He states that maybe a job can not satisfy the human spirit of a person but people can turn that around and use their human spirit to make that job into a meaningful work. It is true we all work to gain money, but our priority should be our passion. Work for our passions and integrity and not the gain of money. Doing so will get you discipline and determination to be able to succeed in your career.
In the story of Joe and Susie Haynes, we saw how Joe followed the family tradition to also work at mines. While working at theses mines and being around the land which he learned about, he increased his knowledge in many aspects. Although working at the mines affected his health in many ways, Joe remembers very well all the hard work he did at the mines and everything he learned about the land and the machines. He was also about to notice how other people were about to use their knowledge to buy off land which would increase their money. He shares his story about how he worked for money and so did his father. By doing that he remembers that he did not get to spend time with his dad just like when he began to work, he was mostly at work the entire day.
Overall, Terkel believes that people should not work so hard to just gain money but instead work hard to gain their success and other positive emotions that come with those.

In Working, Studs Terkel argues that our concept of “work ethic” needs to be extracted from our daily banal nationalistic approach in order to sustain life. Those with the means feed on the working class. The separation of class is clearly noted by education, income, and authority. Those who lack the level of education needed are a greater disadvantage when it comes to networking, opportunities, respect and a status of prestige.

The insight given on Mike Lefevre dictates what Terkel is trying to say about work and “human matters”.  Mike works as a laborer, a small part of a grander scaled conveyor belt-like system. He notes that his work serves as a means to ends. It does not satisfy him in the sense of wanting to wake up and do it again. He expresses the need of creditability for his hard labored work. Constructing things with his hands could potentially bring him joy. In a perfect world, everyone could be accountable for themselves and productive. With proper notability even if their work is part of a larger picture. Future work is foreseen by a wave of technology. If you can’t improve yourself, improve your children. He feels the notion of his work is to preserve the future of his kid. He wants his son to be a person who gets the credit, not the small guy that builds the credit for the boss.

Terkel gives the perspective of another worker who gave up his net of stability to pursue his own happiness. In this case, he’s an older man who chooses not to blindly accept the work given, and realized he should do work that he would enjoy. With this new reality in focus, he knew there was no going back. The author suggests this as the ultimate realization and outlook one should acquire, in return, the work will find you. No longer will we have to look for jobs, but just something that consumes our minds and sprouts financial stability.

Personally, this is how I feel towards my education and professional life. I strategically map things out based on my end goal. In my opinion, these paths need to be determined with the wave technology. I never took any joy as being part of a conveyer built; all that mattered was the compensation. It is very much so a means to an ends in my case as well. Which explains why I’m at CWE continuing my education to obtain “happiness”.

When it comes to the idea of work ethic, some may question the value of work and its relationship to ones’ self. I believe that when one thinks of what work ethic should consist of, one should entertain the elements of human life and the fulfillment of work from their own personal values. In other words, the meaning you put behind your work should be one that helps you feel accomplished with the personal values in your life. In Terkel’s piece, I believe this is the point that he makes. No matter how industrious, physical or mundane one’s job can be, Terkel argues that one should look into the idea of how work is meaningful to ones’ self. Once a person finds meaning behind one’s work, Terkel believes that one finds their touch with reality.

He also brings argues the point that once one accepts the idea that work is meaningful, people connect to the “human matters” of jobs. Through various stories and experiences he uses in his writing, he captures the back and forth struggle workers have with their jobs by accomplishing mundane tasks. He continues to argue that while these tasks embody what work contains, the way humans connect to them bring a reality to the work. One quote he uses that I enjoyed and best describes his argument is one that summarizes the overall idea of how work connects to human matters. “Most of us…have jobs that are too small for our spirit. Jobs are not big enough for people.” (1972 xxix) I believe this quote captures the meaning that jobs can never satisfy the human spirit, but it is the human spirit that turns jobs into meaningful work.

In my own experience, I try to distinguish the same principles discussed in the article in my own philosophy of work and life. I believe work is based off one’s core principles and values. In my definition, work embodies the effort one makes in order to fulfill what is required to live and feel accomplished. Jobs are just the medium to find meaningful work. One finds various jobs that are filled with tasks that assist in finding that connection to one’s human reality of feeling fulfillment in their work. From the point they find fulfillment, then the work becomes meaningful and substantive in more ways than a paycheck. That is what brings the human reality into it. When work transforms itself from jobs and into careers that develop human life for one’s self and others.

In the reading “Working “By Studs Terkel I believe what he is trying to state that work is being generated by technology, or better seems as computers, but nothing bring more satisfaction then to have performed physical labor and completed a tangle task. He gives examples of different professions and the satisfaction each feel in the physical job. Not be though that these physical job were short on technology, like factory machines or devices to ease in their labor, but they required a larger physical aspect of performance than those from digital world and computer like jobs. He explains a man work ethic is not based on their age but on its determination and discipline in the capitalistic society. Ralph Helstein explains that work is anything that has value, you should not pursue what is going to make you money but what your passion is, the work that will create that discipline and determination in you to succeed in a capitalist society. Due to the factory like lines of management there is always someone above someone in business today. This keeps everyone accountable for and productive. Society adapts different methods to fulfill this passion and drive, just to be happy and feel satisfaction of hard work.

The story of Bud Freeman relates too what Terkel is communicating about since he discusses what it is like to be a Full-time musician. The discipline, dedication and determination he has only comes from having a passion for the profession. You complete the task and dedicate the appropriate time and research needed to succeed in the career choice. Work is anything value to a citizen’s life. The person places the value on the work by the morals and environment they are living in.

In my opinion, this is how I personally pursue my career and educational life. I am determined, disciplined and dedicated to my goal of achieving success. I view success by the value I have placed on my job. It’s my passion and I perform in a capitalistic manner. I network with clients and contacts so have them view me useful, I administrate worker with some factory line management and pay them according to the time provided and wake up every day with my goal to achieve monetary and valued in my career choice.