Studs Terkel: Working
“Book Nine: In search of a calling”
According to Nora Watson:
“Book Nine: In search of a calling”
According to Nora Watson:
“When you ask most people who they are, they define themselves by their jobs. “I’m a doctor.” “I’m a radio announcer.” “I’m a carpenter.” If somebody asks me, I say, “I’m Nora Watson” (524).
Nora Watson is a twenty-eight year old staff writer for an institution that publishes health care literature. She absolutely hates her job. All her life she had a pastor for a father who was constantly doing work for his community. He would be “healing” the helpless, listening to others or just staying up to read sermons to improve his relationship with God. Watching her father give up his life to something meaningful to him gave Nora a different perspective on work. She learned that “it wasn’t just go to work in the morning and punch a time clock. It was a profession of himself. [She] expected work to be like that” (521). However, when Nora entered the business world she experienced something much different. At her job in New York, she expected to “put the energy and enthusiasm and the gifts that [she] may have to use for work-but in this case it wasn’t happening” (523). Basically this job required a more “writing to order” type of feel. The company only cared about what needed to happen to reach a deadline and was interested in nothing else. Nora claimed that when people asked for samples of her work, she realized the ones that she is most proud of were the ones the Institution never published. She feels that work turned into the process of “someone [buying] the right to you for eight hours a day and you’re completely at their discretion” (523). When did work turn into this? Today people define themselves by their work. “When you ask most people who they are, they define themselves by their jobs. “I’m a doctor.” “I’m a radio announcer.” “I’m a carpenter.” If somebody asks me, I say, “I’m Nora Watson” (524). Is that what she is supposed to answer back? As of right now, Nora feels “[she] doesn’t have a calling-except to be [her], but nobody pays [her] for being [her]” (524).
My question is how did this happen? Why do people relate their identity to their profession? In a recent study I conducted at Kutztown University, I questioned students and some faculty about what is the “path” [they’re] on right now? What do you feel is your purpose in life? Eighty five percent related their “path” to a profession and not what kind of person they are. In the case of Nora Watson, when we meet acquaintances at a party and they ask “who are you?” why can’t I respond saying “I’m an emotional eater.” or “I have a multiple personalities” or god forbid, “I don’t know yet.” Why have people come to the conclusion that once you have a job, that’s it-nothing else follows? Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that work is a huge part of your identity, but what if it’s not really you? Is it so wrong to question your profession and maybe not even want to be associated with it because it’s not truly you? In the wise words of Nora Watson, I, too, feel this statistic “[is] a hundred percent unadulterated bullshit” (524).
I find that odd too how people describe themselves by their occupation. I never really thought about it, but it's true. People describe themselves by their jobs when in actuality, they don't even like their jobs, so how does that describe those people? Is that saying they don't respect or like themselves?
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