Job vs. Work

[crooked-finger]

I've been spending quite a bit of time noodling around with these two words. I'm throwing my manager out of his "job" next week fully expecting him to land on his feet, flourish, and grow, perhaps with less "money" for a little while, but I'm optimistic for him.

I'm going to take over the day-to-day operation of my "dying business" located in a "scary zone" in a medium sized city in Appalachia, rebuild by personal balance sheet with a good hard year of "work", and then make a decision about the wisdom of perseverance. I hope this time next year, Old North Knoxville has entered the consciousness of enough folks that I'm frantically bidding to retrieve him from whatever job he has found to come back and work with me.

Anyway, I know a lot of folks are looking for "jobs" and I look around and see lots of "work" that needs to be done, so I'm curious, and wonder what these two words evoke.

Here's a starter cut and paste I found that might be interesting.
----------------------------------------------------------
"Job vs. Work

Wade Davis is an anthropologist, internationally recognized for his research on ethnography, botany, language and history. In a recent interview, he was asked “how he managed” to overcome the challenges along the way. His response:

First of all, I’ve never had a job. I did the commencement speech for my oldest daughter’s graduation, and it was at a time when I knew that seventy percent of U.S. graduates weren’t getting jobs. So I looked up the origin of the word ‘job’ and it comes from the old medieval French word devorer, meaning to devour. And the word ‘work’ comes from the beautiful Angelo-Saxon root meaning to celebrate, create, empower — so my lesson is never have a job but work ferociously hard.1 (Wade Davis)"

[SnM]

I've been spending quite a bit of time noodling around with these two words. I'm throwing my manager out of his "job" next week fully expecting him to land on his feet, flourish, and grow, perhaps with less "money" for a little while, but I'm optimistic for him.

I'm going to take over the day-to-day operation of my "dying business" located in a "scary zone" in a medium sized city in Appalachia, rebuild by personal balance sheet with a good hard year of "work", and then make a decision about the wisdom of perseverance. I hope this time next year, Old North Knoxville has entered the consciousness of enough folks that I'm frantically bidding to retrieve him from whatever job he has found to come back and work with me.

Anyway, I know a lot of folks are looking for "jobs" and I look around and see lots of "work" that needs to be done, so I'm curious, and wonder what these two words evoke.

Here's a starter cut and paste I found that might be interesting.
----------------------------------------------------------
"Job vs. Work

Wade Davis is an anthropologist, internationally recognized for his research on ethnography, botany, language and history. In a recent interview, he was asked “how he managed” to overcome the challenges along the way. His response:

First of all, I’ve never had a job. I did the commencement speech for my oldest daughter’s graduation, and it was at a time when I knew that seventy percent of U.S. graduates weren’t getting jobs. So I looked up the origin of the word ‘job’ and it comes from the old medieval French word devorer, meaning to devour. And the word ‘work’ comes from the beautiful Angelo-Saxon root meaning to celebrate, create, empower — so my lesson is never have a job but work ferociously hard.1 (Wade Davis)"

My response is that to "throw" your manager out of a "job" "fully expecting him to land on his feet," and "flourish," and "grow" perhaps with less "money" while "noodling" "around these two words" and contemplating what your business will be like meanwhile speculating that you might be "frantically bidding" for his services next year suggests that vocabulary might be the least of your issues...

...and yeah, given that, he might "thank" you...

[crooked-finger]

My response is that to "throw" your manager out of a "job" "fully expecting him to land on his feet," and "flourish," and "grow" perhaps with less "money" while "noodling" "around these two words" and contemplating what your business will be like meanwhile speculating that you might be "frantically bidding" for his services next year suggests that vocabulary might be the least of your issues...

...and yeah, given that, he might "thank" you...

As usual, I'm a failure at internet conversations due to failing to recognize my audience, and hyperbole management. Anyway, we started 2011 hoping for the best and it didn't happen, and we knew we would have to adjust. There are many headwinds for booksellers(especially stubborn ones). To me this is more about the nature of a local economy and the ability to adapt.

[SnM]

As usual, I'm a failure at internet conversations due to failing to recognize my audience, and hyperbole management. Anyway, we started 2011 hoping for the best and it didn't happen, and we knew we would have to adjust. There are many headwinds for booksellers(especially stubborn ones). To me this is more about the nature of a local economy and the ability to adapt.

I wish you good "luck" and better appreciation of your "human" capital.

[crooked-finger]

fuck this.

[SnM]

fuck this.

As you wish.

[pages]

Crooked-finger, don't know if you've been paying attention, but SnM is one if those people who lost his job recently so your language in talking about your manager might be a little calous to him, and to a few of the rest of us who are on the other end of that jobloss discussion.

However, the difference between a job and work is an interesting discussion. I've probably not done as well as I could have financially because there are certain things that while I am qualified to do as a job that I wouldn't do because they would be just a job. I've never been good at that kind of stuff. I've always done better at something that had some kind of secondary meaning to it.

[Keef Riffers]

fuck this.

I loled. I think SnM is still reeling from being let go from another dying industry.

I work hard at what I do and it is my personal promise to myself that I will never work for someone else again out of necessity but only by choice.

Being in a segment of the economy that allows me to see economic trends based on jobs I estimate, I feel like I have my pulse on the finger so to speak, more so than others.

I see time banking and alt-markets on the horizon. I already trade work for my kids kindergarten tuition and have entered into agreement with the landlord and begun work on a project in trade for rent.

My line of work has allowed me to insulate myself from the need to "stay up to date" on things like software, prpgramming and social media. While I regret the fact that I haven't developed a more intimate relationship with software and computers, I do have an objective skill set that never become obsolete. So in that regard, my "work" is very satisfying in that I never have to maintain something that is not directly related to hands on skills.

I was reading a "green wizard" blog the other day and there was a "mirror" pattern applied to the decline of industrialism or at least to the "constant growth" paradigm of industrialism that was basically "last in, first out" regarding logistics, occupations and technology.

For instance, when gas gets too expensive then logistics will shif back to train and barge primarily.
And as energy prices go up, people will drop internet/cable tv first, before they drop phone.

The pattern would resemble hitting rewind on a VCR so the latest technological fads and trends will be the first to wither.

But hey! We're a river city!

[SnM]

I am not the best knower of myself, but I think I would have responded approximately the same had I still been holding on to a job a few more months.

And if I understand what I read between the lines, CF is saying his business is not doing well, and thus the RIF of his manager. And I wish the best of luck in CF's business growing and prospering in its new location and in the new year.

Nonetheless: People skills.

Edit: Or edit skills. A good editor would have said, "Your lede sucks."

[Keef Riffers]

Also, I am far from "doing ok". Somehow though, I never expected retirement, 401k or upper management fast tracking so watching the slow motion demolition of the western world doesn't really complicate my (nonexistent) cosmopolitan trajectory.

I never pictured myself with those things so now in the face of the stark reality that I will be unable to have a "traditional" golden years scenario is oddly liberating.

I do love what I do though and it's definitely work and not a job. I am not sure if. Wig cranky made me a carpenter or if being a carpenter made me cranky but one day I realized that somehow they are possibly related. Probably not. I just want to be able to place my misanthropy as caused by something besides me. Pretty dumb I guess.