Today I was briefly thinking about all the jobs I've had in the last four years, specifically the contrasts between them and how valuable it has been for me to reflect on those contrasts. I've had four jobs in the past four years, but I've only quit one of them. Yesterday I began my fourth job, meaning I have three currently. Before that starts to sound impressive, however, note that each one rarely exceeds 10 hours a week, so it's not as crazy as it sounds. I just have to put in a little more effort to keep my schedule straight!
However, as I mentioned, the really interesting thing is the contrast between my jobs. Two take place in an office environment; the third is with a cleaning company. I've been with the cleaning company for the longest amount of time (about four years), and that's the main one that has provided for me throughout college. One of my co-workers once remarked that cleaning is a very humbling job, and though it had never occurred to me, I immediately realized the truth in that statement. It's harder work than most people realize, but beyond that, to be blunt, it's almost always gross. There's no other way to put it. And that factor is what makes the contrast between that and my other jobs so interesting.
As many of you know, I'm majoring in Finance in college. The other two jobs are related to my field of study: I've been an administrative assistant for a financial planner for about six months, and I recently became the book-keeper for my church. And this is where the ironic contrast comes into play: In the morning, for example, I'm dressed in business attire, in an office, making phone calls to investment brokerage companies, printing forms, updating client data; beyond that, I can take breaks whenever I want, drink coffee, and fiddle on Facebook while I work. Then, late that evening (around 10:00pm perhaps), I'm in a doctor's office, scrubbing the bottoms of toilets, scraping dried food off of dinner plates, and clearing up that stupid drain that keeps getting plugged. What a contrast!
The key point I'm trying to make, however, is more than just remarking on how different each of my jobs is. I want to point out the value this contrast has for me. It's allowed me to see a wide spectrum of the working world and gain both types of experiences. Particularly, it's helped me to understand that deep down, we are all the same. Too often people who consider themselves to be "upper class" can fall into the habit of looking down on those whom they consider to be "lower class." In fact, there's one client for whom I clean that comes to mind, one who treats us cleaners as if we're lesser human beings. On the flip side, most of my experience with clients for whom I've cleaned are just the opposite. One is the CEO of a company and more successful than I could ever hope to be. Yet, he and his wife treat us cleaners completely as equals. They allow us to refer to them on a first-name basis, chat with us about what's going on in our lives, offer us food and drinks, always thank us, and even apologize if they happen to be in a room that we are about to start cleaning! It's amazing how differently some people view others.
Working in these different environments has taught me a valuable lesson; no matter how good I feel about myself when I'm sitting in an office, reclining in my chair in my nice clothes, drinking coffee, I remember that I'm also a lowly cleaner, and proud to be one! In the end, there's no difference. The value that each of us has is not derived from our social status, job, or level of education, and it's important to remember that...too many people who are on the top forget what it's like to be on the bottom. I hope that, having had the opportunity to be in radically different places on that continuum simultaneously, I will be able to always keep that lesson in mind no matter where my life goes.
And I have one more thing to add. You'll notice that I talked about my second, third, and fourth jobs, but not my first. I worked in fast food for a brief six weeks, but during that short time, I gained such valuable experience that I will never forget it. That was the first time that I realized how hard I would need to work to accomplish my goals. It was also when I really developed a work ethic. It was soon before I was to start college, and I needed money for tuition. Anyone can tell you that fast food isn't exactly an ideal job. You have to stand for many hours without a break, keep track of 20+ orders at the same time during the dinner rush, deal with people yelling at you from every side, and, worst of all, smell and handle all the delicious food while you're starving and can't eat any (you'd be surprised how delicious even fast food seems when you're that hungry)! And yet, I look back fondly on my time there; I learned teamwork and perseverance in a way that couldn't be done anywhere else. Unfortunately, the schedule wasn't going to work with my school schedule, so I had to quit after six weeks, but that short time was enough to make a permenent mark on me.
And that leads me to my final point. There are some people who are able to perhaps get a degree and start working in a higher status job right from the start without having to do any lowly jobs like cleaning or fast food. But I honestly feel bad for them. I've gained incredibly valuable experience in those jobs, and most importantly, I've learned that I'm not "too good" to have a job like that. It's good to not have a problem with "getting your hands dirty." I learned to work hard, and that's something we all need to know. No matter how far I get in life, how far away from something like fast food or cleaning, I would not be the same person without those experiences, so I will always be grateful for them.
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