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The blue-collar jobs I had in my early 20s were the only jobs I've ever been remotely happy in. They were all relaxed & itinerant kind of things (forestry, farm

The blue-collar jobs I had in my early 20s were the only jobs I've ever been remotely happy in. They were all relaxed & itinerant kind of things (forestry, farming, driving, fairgrounds). I suppose (but am not sure) I would have grown tired of that kind of life eventually. But I have truly loathed every microsecond of every white collar job I later took on, for a variety of reasons. I'm relatively immune to envy on the whole, but I do admit to it for people who have found satisfaction in work (not that I have known many).

deleted 7y ago
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OJFord 7y ago
> I suppose (but am not sure) I would have grown tired of that kind of life eventually. Rather than mental or emotional fatigue, more of a problem can be injury, or accelerated decline in fitness to do the physical work after labouring for years; while still needing the job for money.
- crispinb 7y ago
  My guess is that this would vary much between types of occupations. I can see that occupations involving highly repetitive actions (assembly line work etc) might cause problems. Many more varied, often outdoor, manual jobs strike me as putting a human fairly close to the kinds of activities for which our body evolved. Anecdotally, every single fit, strong & able old person I've known has been a manual worker. Case in point: 90 year lifelong builder currently doing roofing work. 87 year old (my sailing instructor!) currently running (on the ground) his tree surgery business. Most lifelong office workers I know are barrel shaped and essentially disabled by their 50s. The stats might be interesting, though I suspect they'd be pretty complex, different by region & nation, and highly confounded (by class, lifestyle, etc).
karatestomp 7y ago
I'd rather do handyman-type work. Or just about anything in a state or national park. I'd probably be better at it, too (in that I'd give a half a fuck). But a middling software developer building things 80% of which never make a return or are thrown away before anyone sees them, still makes a ton more money than someone fixing doors or putting in tile floors, or running campgrounds and replacing trail markers. So. Here I am and here I've (very nearly) always been. The non-tech job I had for one Summer is probably my favorite job I've ever had, pay aside. Paid minimum wage or just over.
- crispinb 7y ago
  (in that I'd give a half a fuck) Ha, yes, concurs with one of the aspects of my work dissatisfactions also. The sheer dreary meaninglessness (or worse) of nearly everything I've been paid to do. It's pretty wearing over time.

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OJFord 7y ago

> I suppose (but am not sure) I would have grown tired of that kind of life eventually. Rather than mental or emotional fatigue, more of a problem can be injury, or accelerated decline in fitness to do the physical work after labouring for years; while still needing the job for money.

crispinb 7y ago
My guess is that this would vary much between types of occupations. I can see that occupations involving highly repetitive actions (assembly line work etc) might cause problems. Many more varied, often outdoor, manual jobs strike me as putting a human fairly close to the kinds of activities for which our body evolved. Anecdotally, every single fit, strong & able old person I've known has been a manual worker. Case in point: 90 year lifelong builder currently doing roofing work. 87 year old (my sailing instructor!) currently running (on the ground) his tree surgery business. Most lifelong office workers I know are barrel shaped and essentially disabled by their 50s. The stats might be interesting, though I suspect they'd be pretty complex, different by region & nation, and highly confounded (by class, lifestyle, etc).

karatestomp 7y ago

I'd rather do handyman-type work. Or just about anything in a state or national park. I'd probably be better at it, too (in that I'd give a half a fuck). But a middling software developer building things 80% of which never make a return or are thrown away before anyone sees them, still makes a ton more money than someone fixing doors or putting in tile floors, or running campgrounds and replacing trail markers. So. Here I am and here I've (very nearly) always been. The non-tech job I had for one Summer is probably my favorite job I've ever had, pay aside. Paid minimum wage or just over.

crispinb 7y ago
(in that I'd give a half a fuck) Ha, yes, concurs with one of the aspects of my work dissatisfactions also. The sheer dreary meaninglessness (or worse) of nearly everything I've been paid to do. It's pretty wearing over time.