Day 9: It’s Probably Just Crazy Talk
Shortly after I stopped teaching English, I ended up temping at the Department of Printing for Washington state. The building was a large warehouse-like box with one wall of windows, and banks and banks of florescent lights. The space was divided into thirds: the first third housed the offices along the windows, reserved for the few managers and the one director of the department; the next third was the support staff stuffed into cubicles, with little personal effects on their desks like photos of kids and boyfriends; the last third contained the printing presses and the men who ran them, their ears covered by giant earphones, their eyes covered by safety goggles.
For three weeks I sat at a desk and moved papers from one pile into another pile. That’s all I did, all day long. I used to think that “Paper Shuffler” was just a term coined for an activity, not a person. But then I became that person.
After three weeks, they asked if I would like to stay on permanently. I was flattered. But I said no. The lack of direct sunlight, the industrial pounding of the presses, the over all sadness of working in an enormous cement box dimly lit by buzzing lights all contributed to my answer.
I suspected there was something better out there and I’d just temp my way along until I found it.
The other day Larry commented that most of his friends are unhappy in their work situations. He wondered if it was the economy. Perhaps employers don’t feel a need to compete in order to maintain a healthy and happy productive workforce. His comment makes me wonder if workplace discontent isn’t just a matter of the economy, but also a matter of generational divide.
Other generations felt that they were lucky to have a job and were grateful just to be working (talk to anyone who grew up during the Great Depression). The idea of an employer maintaining (let alone creating) an environment where employees felt challenged and excited by their work, inspired and supported by their colleagues and managers? Downright crazy talk.
Photo courtesy the Library of Congress
Both my grandfather and my father would be the ones at the Department of Printing working for 20 years with their goggles on, throwing their hands up in disgust at people like me who are looking for something more rewarding, more satisfying, more soul-enriching than moving paper from one pile to another. “It’s a job, isn’t it?” To them, you’re lucky to get a paycheck and you should be thanking your employer every day for it.
Maybe it is a luxury to be able to keep looking until you find a job that, at the end of the day, provides more than just a paycheck. After all, this repression we’re in is very real and has sent thousands and thousands of people to the unemployment line. Maybe it is asking too much to look for a company run by managers who see the value and importance of a healthy, happy and therefore productive workforce, a workforce that by-and-large enjoys their work beyond the paycheck. It does seem rather like a fantasy land at this point. Maybe I shouldn’t be looking for the next thing to be satisfying or even rewarding, let alone both. Maybe I should just be on the hunt for “something okay for now.” I don’t know yet. I really don’t. But it doesn’t hurt to look.
