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by pantaloony 2159 days ago
> Let us not kid each other. For most people their "work" is not a choice. The system is set up so that it is either you take whatever job you can to survive, or it is homelessness and no health benefits for you and your kids.

I'm not about to complain about my software development job in the US, but if not for job insecurity I'd rather clerk (not even own) at some small retail shop in Europe. And yes I've done "menial" jobs—take away the stresses of US healthcare and retirement systems and worries about your kids' ability to pay for school, add European amounts of time-off, and lots of those jobs are pretty damn great, actually, job-insecurity aside (which is not a trivial thing, I grant—point is about what's "fulfilling" or satisfying in a job).
1 comments
Jesus_piece 2159 days ago
Never heard being a clerk is a desirable job, I'd be interested to hear why you think that? I really have no idea what clerks do, I previously thought it was just paper pushing
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pantaloony 2159 days ago
As in sales clerk. Ring up sales, stock shelves, putter about and put things in order. Read a book or knock out some pushups if it's a really slow day, everything's in order, and the owner's not a dick. That kind of thing.

[EDIT] sense 5 in Webster's 1913. Apparently it is, or at least was, a US usage.

5. An assistant in a shop or store. [U. S.]

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latencyloser 2159 days ago
I'll second this person's opinion. I used to work in a small town computer shop many years ago as a sales/support "clerk". I spent all day helping people directly, many repeat customers. The job was pretty chill and there was a somewhat new problem to solve every day. I worked fixed hours and when I went home I could completely focus on whatever I wanted to do now that I wasn't working. The wage sucked, slightly above minimum wage isn't great, but it was enough for me at the time.

Contrast that with my FAANG job I have now. The pay is phenomenal. But it basically swallows my life. Between the long hours, weekend on-calls, constant churn, all for a customer I've only spoken to indirectly via a project manager. It's hard to feel like the work you're putting out is really making a difference in anyone's life. With covid and the lack of direct human contact as well, I'd go so far as to say I'm practically pushing commits into a void everyday and getting paid for it, there's very little if any feedback for my work. First-world problems, I know. But if you took away the pay differences, I know which job I'd choose in a heartbeat.

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