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He's doing solitary piecework that requires absolutely nothing from him other than his physical presence. Find the bar code, scan it, save or discard based on t
by Lazlo_Nibble 16y ago
He's doing solitary piecework that requires absolutely nothing from him other than his physical presence. Find the bar code, scan it, save or discard based on the result, over and over again. It's on roughly the same intellectual level as stuffing envelopes for a living.
Were I in his shoes, I wouldn't just feel bad about it, I'd find it soul-destroying.
- muhfuhkuh 16y ago"solitary piecework that requires absolutely nothing from him other than his physical presence" Wow, that's not how I see it at all. I mean, if you remove the entire technological aspect with his setup and the gut determinations he makes on book values besides, then I guess oil discovery and drilling is just being there while a machine drills you into riches. Just because repetition is boring to you doesn't mean the work is worthless or demeaning. "Were I in his shoes, I wouldn't just feel bad about it, I'd find it soul-destroying." Soul-destroying to make a living saving a book from going essentially into a landfill? Wouldn't that then apply to all used product sales? Auctioneers like Sotheby's and Christie's are performing soul-destroying work. Actually, they'd be _worse_ than what the book reseller is doing because they do absolutely NO footwork at all. People bring their junk to the auctioneer, and the auctioneer just gives out paddles! Now, THAT sounds soul-destroying!
- pyre 16y agoMonotonous work can be soul-destroying, but it just depends on your level of interest and excitement. Doing monotonous busy-work that you hate day-in and day-out is soul-destroying.