Labor: Menial vs. Noble (was O Happy Day)

[Dennis Perrin/Nancy Bauer]

>but the difference that catherine and i have been pointing out is that some 
>people, you, pursue that work and do so as a choice.  others have less of a 
>choice.
>
>i would never think that bodily labor is somehow better 
>than intellectual labor, they work together, as you note.  if you've ever 
>worked in a factory, you'll know that the work can be just as exhausting as 
>any work, as is childcare or waitressing or cashiering.  but factory work 
>is often mindnumbing because of the incessant pounding rhythms, the 
>constant whir and clank of machinery, the stench of chemicals, oil, grease, 
>paint, dye, and small fibers floating in the air.  the mind-body relation 
>of which you speak disappears.
>
>kelley

Though I grew up with the sons and daughters of factory workers (some of
whom went into the factories themselves after high school), I never worked
on the line with them. I tried to; many of them had new cars and were making
somewhere between $18-$22 an hour -- and this was in the late 70s! Of
course, with some exceptions, that kind of bread for that kind of labor
isn't there any more. Instead, I worked on a garbage truck and made decent
money, though the labor was truly back-breaking.

When I moved to Michigan just over a year ago, I could have gone into more
white-collar "creative" areas but chose not to. I had enough of that crap
when I lived in New York and wanted to re-connect with my roots (such as
they were). So there I was, a published author, reviewed in the Times,
working as a janitor in a boutique mall. Through this gig I got other
blue-collar freelance work, and now I get calls for all manner of labor
(just got one this morning from a woman asking me to shovel the mounds of
snow that are sagging her roof). So in a sense I had a "choice" to go this
route; but I do need the money, and if it isn't this it's something else. I
still have to work. 

What I find amazing at the working level is the control employers have over
labor. I mean, drug tests are mandatory here (and since I refused to take
them when applying for certain jobs, I lost out on better pay); and the
prospective boss can ask you about your personal life, and so on. You are
degraded before you are hired! The sad thing is that many workers put up
with this -- not by choice, I'm afraid, but out of need. 

DP