Category Archives: American Work

Balancing Work and Life

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Finding balance in this life isn’t easy. Work, family, hobbies; all of these clamor for our time. The first one, work, is happy to eat up all our waking hours. Work is who we are; at least that’s what we’ve been conditioned to believe. Is it possible to break free of that conditioning and find a life of greater substance?

There’s another side to that question. If work fails to deliver meaning, or at least a path towards something greater than ourselves, it’s easy to become disillusioned, cynical, or worse, tuned out. Continue reading →

Over There

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There is this phenomenon where we believe or conjure up a place where the grass is greener. That greener, more amenable place is always “over there,” or somewhere other than here.

I don’t know for sure, but I think this behavioral trait may have something to do with the American tradition of vacationing, especially now with the ease of travel, particularly air-based travel. Jet-setting across the globe has become the norm for most Americans, at least those with even a modicum of disposable income. Continue reading →

Candy and popcorn

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When I’m working a seasonal assignment, it’s for one thing and one thing only. “Show me the money, man!” Perhaps that’s why I’m sensitive to efforts to turn work into a carnival, or something approximating “Romper Room.”

Let me start out by saying that I’ve never been much on employers plying me with non-financial incentives. I’m not overly covetous (I don’t think) and I’ve had jobs that paid shit for wages in my past, but living in the U.S. of A. takes some ka-ching to keep a roof over your head and wheels beneath you. As much as I enjoy cycling, I can’t see the practicality or the feasibility of a business trip from Portland to Presque Isle by bicycle. Continue reading →

Working scientifically

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In America, work is often who we are. Some might take issue with this. By-and-large, we are what we do. If you think something different, ask yourself why, when attending parties or the requisite networking after hours some of us are subjected to, why the line of first questioning always settles on, “What do you do for work?”

Our current cultural norm places a positive moral value on doing a good job. This is rooted  in the Protestant Reformation, which made physical labor acceptable for all persons, even the wealthy. Prior to the 16th century, working hard (in the absences of compulsion) was not the norm for Hebrew, classical, or medieval cultures. Continue reading →