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When I was a grade-school child, we were taken on a tour of a coal mine. It was an operating mine but there was a section that had been updated to safely give

When I was a grade-school child, we were taken on a tour of a coal mine. It was an operating mine but there was a section that had been updated to safely give tours. I was too young to appreciate the kind of effort that went into being a miner but it was readily apparent to me that I did NOT want that kind of life. When I was working my way through college, I had a summer job at a machine shop. We made parts for train cars. Two months of that work made me appreciate the value of the education that I was getting. Every day when I woke up, my hands were too cramped to move them. I used to have to wake up 10 minutes early and place my hands under my back to use the weight of my body to stretch them out before I began my day. I began to experience numbness in my fingertips that didn't go away until more than 6 months after I left that place to go back to college. All in all, I think it's a good idea to give people a taste of work like this while they still have choices. It's far better to know, in advance, what you're in for if you do not acquire some other marketable skill.

endymi0n 11y ago
By now I think it's actually more of an asset to have lived through such a "surprise" than something unfortunate. I remember my mom always telling me about her work in a sausage factory before she became a teacher and me thinking something like "hell no, I won't even start like this". Then I messed up my university studies big time and in a lucky shot - born from the threat of imminent homelessness - started my career in 24/7 customer service. By hard work and some luck, I eventually found a back door into engineering at that company, ending up as CTO only 6 years later. I'll never forget the lessons of sitting alone through night shifts though for the rest of my life and it's just such a great way to recall some gratitude and humility whenever I need it.

endymi0n 11y ago

By now I think it's actually more of an asset to have lived through such a "surprise" than something unfortunate. I remember my mom always telling me about her work in a sausage factory before she became a teacher and me thinking something like "hell no, I won't even start like this". Then I messed up my university studies big time and in a lucky shot - born from the threat of imminent homelessness - started my career in 24/7 customer service. By hard work and some luck, I eventually found a back door into engineering at that company, ending up as CTO only 6 years later. I'll never forget the lessons of sitting alone through night shifts though for the rest of my life and it's just such a great way to recall some gratitude and humility whenever I need it.