Jaime Hale

M. Eve 111

Essay #2

27 Sep 99

Bad First Draft

Throughout the ages, men and women the world over have struggled with finding, and keeping, an identity of their own. For with self-realization comes greater control over life events, both day-to-day, and momentous. In the past, those with a strong sense of “self” were ridiculed, ostracized, even burned at the stake for being “different” than the rest of the masses. Misery, indeed, loves company.

Only in the past few decades has individualism made a visible, widespread move to the workplace. Even so, it has been a slow process. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the views of a select group of working men and women in Studs Terkel’s Working, written in 1972, with the views of myself and a few of my contemporaries here in 1999. People generally have the desire to be in control of their lives. I will show a progression of attitudes towards “the job”; more and more, people are finding that they do have control.

Housewife: the very name conjures a mixed image for many. With more women finding a place in the workforce and careers for themselves, the idea of the “traditional housewife” has been changing. No longer are women expected to stay at home with the children. With each passing year, more women are going into careers that at one time only men had. Throughout this change, the woman who stays at home with her children has struggled to redefine her image of herself.

Therese Carter in Working was a traditional housewife in the early 1970’s, a time when “Women’s Lib” was a catch phrase. Mrs. Carter talked about Women’s Lib and said she felt patronized and put down in her job as a housewife. Because of that, though she enjoyed being at home, she felt that she was “just a housewife” and she was “low on the totem pole.” She asked, “What is a housewife? You don’t have to have any special talents. I don’t have any.” She looked down on her chosen occupation, and felt that others did as well. In her story, we see a woman struggling against the common views of the era.

In contrast to Carter, we get the distinct impression in “Equal Respect For All Mothers” that this contemporary woman is proud of her job, and that she made the choice to be at home with her children rather than working outside the home. She points out that her job is as demanding as any out there, but it comes with all the benefits of being close to her children as they grow. This contemporary housewife is perhaps more satisfied with her chosen career than many who are out in the workforce—she knows she has talents, and chooses to employ these skills at home. She makes a strong statement; “Just because a parent chooses to make their children their career, does not make them less deserving of respect than those who go out the door each day.”

Here in 1999, many women know they have the choice, and they show confidence in their decision to be “housewives.” There is no feeling of “just a housewife.”

However, we see in “Too Little Time, For the Love Of…” a contemporary stay-at-home mother whose sentiments sometimes mirror those of Therese Carter back in 1972. This modern mom states that, “I don’t feel proud about staying home. My circumstances don’t have much to do with me. In the end, it all comes down to circumstances beyond my control.” But, she also says that she loves being a mother, and that she believes it is “the most fulfilling and the most fun” job she will ever have. She does not belittle herself as Carter did, perhaps because she realizes that modern views do not necessarily attach “housewife” to ”unskilled,” as they did back in the early ‘70’s.

Managers: as long as there have been groups of people working toward the same end, there have also been managers to guide and direct the progress of the group, and to ensure individual tasks get accomplished. In the past, the role of the manager was more of a babysitting type of job, the managers themselves were managed in such a way that they did not have much choice over policies and routine. In the 1990’s, there has been a marked progression towards promoting individual leadership, “empowerment” of employees, and developing “teamwork.” These 90’s bywords and ideas were practically unheard of not too many years ago.

Ernest Bradshaw, in Working, was a manager in the auditing department of a bank, and supervised about twenty people. He didn’t view his job as having any “status”, in fact, he felt as if he were just another pawn. He didn’t feel as if he had any power over his duties, he only did what he was expected to do. He states, “I’m a good supervisor… My feelings can’t come into play. What I do is what I have to do.” He also stated that his job was boring and repetitious, and he felt like he worked in a factory with robots. Overall, we get the impression that he is dissatisfied with his job, and that it is only a temporary thing. He is only there for the paycheck while he goes to school part-time.

In “The Golden Rule Concept”, we learn about a modern woman who manages a government-type office in Petoskey, Michigan. Here we see a stark contrast to Mr. Bradshaw, in nearly every way. She feels empowered to manage the office in her own way, and she doesn’t feel obligated to run the office in the same manner that her predecessor did. She doesn’t closely supervise her people, but instead tries to stay out of their way--she lets them work to their full potential without being micro-managed. She listens to her people and incorporates their suggestions into the way the office is run, and this in turn greatly increases productivity. Rather than being boring and repetitious, she finds her job fulfilling and worthwhile.

The “blue-collar” worker has always been the backbone of any civilization. From carpenters to construction, from farmhands to factory workers, these are the people that work in the trenches to keep the world running. Neither glamorous, nor particularly exciting in any way, yet millions of people labor at these types of jobs; they too seek variety and control. Yet perhaps change is coming a little slower to these types of jobs.

Hub Dillard was a heavy equipment operator in 1972. He had been working in construction for 22 years, and had seen many changes in that time. With bigger, better machines, more work could get done in less time with less people, however, these bigger machines were also more dangerous, and took more skill to operate. Dillard doesn’t question his work, doesn’t aspire to do anything else. Even when he was seriously injured on the job, after 18 months of recovery he went right back to construction. He takes a measure of pride from his work, and says that when he sees roads or buildings that he had worked on that, “maybe it don’t mean anything to anyone else, but there’s a certain pride knowing you did your bit.”

Fast-forward to 1999, and in “Can’t Quit” we learn of an excavator who has been working in his business for 31 years. He describes himself in his job; “I am what the boss calls a seat. What that means is I fill a seat on a piece of machinery…and as the boss points out, anybody can fill the seat.” He is dissatisfied and unhappy at his job, but hasn’t yet been able to get out of the excavation business. He goes to school part-time, trying to find a way out of his previous career and into an engineering-type job. He has many years of experience and skill at excavation, yet because the companies who have employed him place so little value on their individual workers, he seeks another job elsewhere.

Perhaps change is coming slowest to the types of jobs who need it the most. As more people strive to find jobs that give them a sense of value and satisfaction, companies that still insist on treating their people as machines will find it harder to find the skill and the quality labor that they need. The turnover rate will escalate even more, thus making the company spend more time, money and manpower in finding more people to “fill the seats.”

In my own job in the U.S. Coast Guard, I see a whole lot of effort from all the high-up leadership to try to keep people in, and to keep them happy and satisfied with their jobs. I have always been treated as an individual who is important to the organization, even at the very beginning when I was the lowest person on the “totem-pole.” The government is spending more money on its people. It is listening to their needs and desires, in an effort to compete with the civilian companies, who are doing the same. The Coast Guard has realized that its people are important and not so easily replaced, from the newest seaman-recruit all the way up to its top officers. Ensuring that their people are satisfied is the best way of doing business.

With the advent of the personal computer and the internet, more and more people are discovering that they can start their own business, be their own boss, or even work for someone else, all from their own home. The traditional 9-to-5 job is changing, as more people learn that they do have control over their careers, they don’t have to look at the present job as their lot in life.

In this modern era, companies large and small are discovering that they must compete for skilled workers. Therefore, they must listen to their people, and create a working environment that empowers their employees, make them feel like they are important to the company and not just a machine that can easily be replaced. At the same time there is a growing awareness in individual people that they deserve to be treated better than a machine, no matter what type of work they do, and more people are doing something about it.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is progress; more so than any technological or scientific advance. This, at its most basic, is a slow but important change in how people treat each other. When people realize and recognize the value of each human life, everyone profits.

1,764 Words