Bird Droppings December 18, 2025

Why do we WORK?

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” Aristotle

How many times do we all hear how difficult the job is or how “I hate my job”? I am always confused when I hear this. I want to ask why you are doing this if you hate it so much. I am sorry it doesn’t make sense to them as I sit and ponder this dilemma. I have heard teachers many times echo their dislike for teaching, and I always wonder why they are here teaching in a school. There is far more damage done by disgruntled teachers than perhaps any in any other job I can think of.

“Make yourself indispensable, and you will move up. Act as though you are indispensable, and you will move out.” Jules Ormont

So many people assume they are indispensable.

“We’ve entered an era when very good, competent people aren’t getting jobs. One remedy is to stand out and self-promote. If you do, you’re going to get the nod over some co-worker.” Jeffery P. Davidson

Depending on your political drift, we are several million jobs behind or have added several million jobs. However, in effect, we are still behind, just not that much, and the job market is tougher than ever. College graduates are being warned that earning a graduate degree could be partly to keep them in school for a few more years and out of the job market. I recall Georgia Tech. Versus University of Georgia football game signs on the Tech side read, “What does a UGA graduate call a Tech Graduate?” The answer is “BOSS.” UGA graduates have an average annual salary of $23,000.00, and Georgia Tech Graduates have an average salary of $56,000.00. While rivalry signs and animosity abound, it is the concern about jobs that drives it. Will I have a job when I graduate?

Years ago, I left teaching because of my income. I recall my choice to stay in a field I truly enjoyed and make less than $10,000 a year or go into graphics and make nearly four times as much. While I spent my summers teaching, doing graphic arts, and making more than I did teaching, I was thinking of marriage and such, and economics leaned against teaching. As it were, a chance to return to teaching came up years later, although still a lot less money than the publishing business, and I jumped, or was pushed by my wife, more like it.

“We may not be able to offer long-term employment, but we should try to offer long-term employability.” Brian Corby

“Making a success of the job at hand is the best step toward the kind you want.” Bernard M. Baruch

Far too often, when complaining about work and jobs, we lose sight of the fact that we still need to perform the task for which we were hired. We also need to do it well and be successful at it. Leaving a job with a good reference can always lead to a better and more promising job.

“Our works are the mirror wherein the spirit first sees its natural lineaments. Hence, too, the folly of that impossible precept, Know thyself; till it is translated into this partially possible one, know what thou canst work at.” Thomas Carlyle

“I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.” Thomas A. Edison

Most people know when they are good at something or not. I will never know why some people choose to stay with jobs they disagree with. As I listen to complaints and questions, I will say, “Look elsewhere.” However, if you choose to stay, then learn all you can about what you do so you can do it better.

“One of the saddest things is that the only thing that a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work. You can’t eat eight hours a day, drink for eight hours a day, or make love for eight hours -all you can do for eight hours is work. Which is the reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable.” William Faulkner

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason so few engage in it.” Henry Ford

Each day, I wonder about the students I see, especially the ones who don’t care. Those students take up space, and I wonder where they will be in a few years: in jail, working for minimum wage, or on disability. Every day becomes a challenge to hopefully uplift enough to overcome that melancholy of lack of concern and get some focus. It is about encouragement rather than discouragement. It is to lift rather than tear down. Sadly, some students are hard eggs to crack and really don’t care, assuming they’ll live at home forever and have mom and/or dad there to feed and clothe them.

“My father always told me, ‘Find a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Jim Fox

“Wanting to work is so rare a merit that it should be encouraged.” Abraham Lincoln

I was thinking back to my first real job teaching swimming at the YMCA in Coatesville, Pa. Each Friday, I would get a brown envelope with cash in it, and then I would try to figure out how many hours I had worked and what taxes had been taken out. The computations were made on front of the envelope. Today, my paycheck is electronically deposited into my bank account and is available for use. It’s amazing how far we have come. However, the desire and drive to work and excel at a job are still no different than those of Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincoln. You must want to and choose to excel to succeed. Before I write each morning, I check the news on the internet, so often I wonder about politicians. Do they want to succeed, or are they just along for the ride? They reap their benefits whether or not they achieve them. Perhaps this is where high school students learn from watching failing politicians on TV and think that all they need is to get to point B, and they can coast for the rest of their lives, just like they do. I am thinking about my writing today and why I work eight to twelve hours a day, even on holidays, and it is because I enjoy what I do. So, my dear friends, we are nearing the end of another year, and the Mayan calendar or not, another great year is ahead. Please keep all in harm’s way on your minds and in your hearts, and remember always to give thanks, namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,
Mitakuye Oyasin
(We are all related)
docbird