I love what I do, despite the difficulties and uncertainty. But more than once Ive showed up to deliver groceries to someones door and felt uncomfortable... I was self-conscious, worried that someone would look down on me for doing something menial like delivering groceries from local farms - that I wasnt making proper use of my physics degree. I imagined somewhere there is a career counselor hanging their head for my wasted potential. Maybe thats just me, but I doubt it. Its pretty obvious when we look at pay scales that we as a society dont value vital service providers like nurses, farmers, police, teachers, mailmen, even primary care physicians, etc. Instead we value the jobs like hedge fund management, banking consultants, lobbyists, corporate attorneys, etc. Jobs that, when you get a person who actually does it drunk... you find out just how little they think it matters to the world. They make lots of money, creating no real value... and whenever they stop to think about it, they get sad and either surf Facebook, conspicuously consume, or just work until they fall down. Im reminded of the quiet suffering of the wealthy, bored, elite every time I am able to inexplicably hire some thriving member of the corporate world to an underpaid position in a startup that has a chance at benefiting society. They work joyfully on grueling tasks because suddenly they get to make a positive dent in the universe. So when I find myself ready to apologize to my parents and teachers for what I decided to do with my life - I give myself a good slap and remember that Im cutting carbon on thousands of grocery store trips not taken, letting farmers farm rather than sit at markets all day to sell their produce, and giving disillusioned banking consultants a home and a sense of meaning.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 00:26:02 +0000