So believe me when I say I'm enjoying this new site. It feels fresh, it allows a TON of room to unspool and unwind, and hopefully I can start building towards my 'OTHER' dream of being a writer by working on the quality of my writing and my ability to make compelling work for others to read.
But whatever.
For today, I'll post a short little post, a little something something that's on my mind, for you viewing pleasure and interest.
Work =/= Self Worth: In the last week, I've filled out over 30 applications to different places. I have my former employment info taped to my wallet so I don't forget important details. I even applied at a few places undeserving of mention (but better than Shop Rite), all to help fund my Fall Semester of college at OU, for a degree which may or may not ensure my economic stability. However, one thing still has not changed for me; getting a job does nothing for my self-esteem. It does things for my wallet, which is great, but it's all illusory. It's just a societal stop-gap designed to support capitalist swine who want their products shipped more efficiently (and maybe with a smile or two). If you attach your sense of worth with a job, you have just forfeited your own dignity for a title which wasn't even created with you in mind; theoretically, anybody could have your job if they wanted it badly enough and had the right opportunities/corporate friends. There is nothing unique or empowering about being employed. There are benefits, some personal (such as making friends/acquaintances at work), but rarely do you leave with something that tangibly makes you a better person. A firefighter may have a justified sense of nobility after performing their work at an optimal level; a cashier does not. It's all work that you wouldn't do anyways had it not come with a price tag. So why have a sense of pride over it? It doesn't make you more active, alert, or astute; if you want proof, check out the local grocery store and survey the day and night crews - most are old, out of shape, and quite possibly insane. They are not the lifelong destinations of the cream of America; they are the visible wastebasket of our society. Those who are homeless simply suffer a slightly descended level of humiliation. I don't judge people by the amount of jobs they have had, how long they have had them, or where they have worked. I don't judge people by material success, either, but that's for another note at another time... like now. All of the checkpoints which society sets up to measure success are both limiting and extremely shallow and depressing. Regardless of your viewpoint, they are illusory; the only people who seem to submit to the idea that success in the material sense is in any way related to the actual quality of a person's attitude about life or their virtues are deluded sadsacks who likely have considered mutilating their own genitalia as a way of relieving boredom. If you want to see a great film about the sad chocie of valuing work as a way of measuring your self-worth and place in society, see the (morbidly depressing) 2001 French feature, 'Time Out'. This film has all the insight you'll need to make a much better decision regarding your life and re-evaluating what you should and should not value so highly in your life, before it's much too late.
But whatever, I'm off to apply to some more places so I can be a cool, hard-working, relatable member of society. Peace.
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Where would we be w/o the wastebasket of society? It's people like us who make the world (I mean capitalism) go round.
ReplyDeleteWhy work at all? Employment is for suckers. I should just quit my job right now. Except that I'm a poor college student who needs money to fund her education to fund her knowledge of music so she can just become a starving artist and bag groceries for the rest of her life in order to pay the rent.
Ok, so this is not where I see myself ending up. In fact the only true purpose of college these days is not pure education (unfortunately) but to get a degree that will ensure a "better" job with a higher salary. But the point here is not that the job would be any "better" than bagging groceries. It's simply the higher salary.
I think that's what people get the most out of being employed. That, and security; health benefits and the like. It's just become a necessary part of life, especially if you live in NJ.
Ok, so I guess there are people out there who look at their degrees (BA as well as MA and whatever else they can get their greedy hands on) and careers as more than that, as something that makes them better than others who don't have that status, who can't afford an education or cannot meet those standards for whatever reason. And it's stupid, yeah. Stupid, but they've got better lives and have less to worry about financially. Darn them.
also, HI PHIL =) We miss you here in good ole Jersey.
ReplyDeleteThis is Joanna in case you're too lazy to click on my profile and figure that out for yourself.
I knew it was you from the screenname XD Thank you for the comments! I miss you guys, too. Until I visit in Dec, though, this blog is an awfully good way of translating my hopes, fears, and frustrations into one small, readable package.
ReplyDeleteI'll be sure to check whatever you write as well, of course.