Ode to Menial Work
Posted by anastasia on 06-15-2005Summer is here and so is the onslaught of "teens and summer jobs" stories in the press. julia & katie posted about this in last Friday's "Trend Alert" on Ypulse. I came across a local piece today questioning the value of teens doing menial work. The reporter cited data from a University of Michigan researcher who found that teens who work are more likely to smoke or use drugs and alcohol (basically the money goes to support whatever habit they have — drugs, alcohol, shopping). There was also an interesting mention of the five worst jobs for teens including "agriculture, working alone or late at night in retail, construction work, driving forklifts or tractors, and peddling magazine subscriptions, candy or other goods door-to-door."
I'll never forget my summer working at the Nashville Bagel Company — the hours were early ("Time to make the bagels!"), the work was hot (scooping boiling bagels out of a steaming kettle in 95 degree humid heat), the smells were fishy (handling lots of lox and white fish) and I would usually be pretty exhausted after any shift. But that job, like the job I later had working at a health food restaurant on Music Row serving people like Bonnie Raitt and Steve Winwood fresh squeezed OJ and macrobiotic cookies, was one of the best work experiences in my life.
There is value to "menial" work as a teen — you learn to work HARD (whether it's mopping the floor or pulling bagels out of the oven), and it builds a work ethic that translates well to non-menial work. You also get to be exposed to different types of people (often from different races and class backgrounds) in an equalizing and often humbling environment, i.e. we all smelled like fish together. For me, I found adults I could actually talk to at a time when I really didn't talk to my parents.
I think a lot of the over-scheduled Gen Yers who end up doing summer internships or other activities meant to build their college resumes are missing out. They also get to the workforce after college and feel resentful of the "menial" tasks they have to perform at the entry level. Hey, they paid their dues doing three summer internships at offices in 10th grade!
Agree? Disagree? Notice any generational differences in work ethic from young (Gen Y) folks you work with?
June 15th, 2005 at 8:16 am
I totally agree. (I'm new here. This site is about the most informative I've ever stumbled onto. Thank you!)
The various menial jobs I held when I was in high school exposed me to fields I would not have encountered otherwise in my sheltered, suburban high school life. And being able to succeed in such a variety of industries (retail, food, office, outdoors), even though the work was just as menial in each, gave me confidence and taught me the adaptability that has eventually enabled me to create my own job as an adult.
June 15th, 2005 at 11:19 am
The summer after senior year of high school I worked at a greenhouse, specializing in moving big bags of dirt from one place to another. The greenhouse was a fun place to spend a summer, and I've always been grateful for the experience of hard, simple work.
June 15th, 2005 at 10:59 pm
I can see how the University of Michigan researcher can make the argument that teens doing menial work are more likely to smoke, drink or do drugs, but I wonder, did the researcher consider that teens will always want to try new things and that they might end up resorting to crime to support their habits if they didn't have jobs?
Anyhow, I totally agree with you on the value in young people doing menial work. Apart from the experience and sense of responsibility gained, for those that don't have the opportunity to go to college, it can be the start of climbing up the career ladder. It may not be as relevant today as in the past, but we've all heard the story of how a CEO of a supermarket chain started out as a bagger at 15.
Talking to my friends who are also recently out of college, a lot of them are bitter and/or confused as to why they have to get the boss coffee when they went to a good school and had solid
internships. I am fortunate since everyone in our company is young and so a static hierarchy isn't embedded into the culture, but I do feel that many members of Gen Y have a sense of entitlement and don't want to accept the concept of "paying your dues."