Here's To You, Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski escaped the working world in 1969 at the age of 49. The publisher of Black Sparrow Press, John Martin, offered Bukowski $100 a month for the rest of his life if he would quit his job at the Post Office and become a writer.

Fifteen years later, "Hank" Bukowski wrote John Martin a heartfelt letter of gratitude. Here are some excerpts from his letter:

"And what hurts is the steadily diminishing humanity of those fighting to hold jobs they don't want but fear the alternative worse. People simply empty out. They are bodies with fearful and obedient minds. The color leaves the eye. The voice becomes ugly. And the body. The hair. The fingernails. The shoes. Everything does.

As a young man I could not believe that people could give their lives over to those conditions. As an old man, I still can't believe it. What do they do it for? Sex? TV? An automobile on monthly payments? Or children? Children who are just going to do the same things that they did?"

"So, the luck I finally had in getting out of those places, no matter how long it took, has given me a kind of joy, the jolly joy of the miracle. I now write from an old mind and an old body, long beyond the time when most men would ever think of continuing such a thing, but since I started so late I owe it to myself to continue, and when the words begin to falter and I must be helped up stairways and I can no longer tell a bluebird from a paperclip, I still feel that something in me is going to remember (no matter how far I'm gone) how I've come through the murder and the mess and the moil, to at least a generous way to die.

To not to have entirely wasted one's life seems to be a worthy accomplishment, if only for myself.

yr boy,

Hank"

Cold Turkey

When I worked at US Worst in Seattle, I'd get stuck in traffic on the bridge over Lake Washington. It was  rainy and dismal, and I had just had a terrible day at my horrible job. People might think that a job that pays 50 grand a year isn't horrible-after all it pays 50 grand a year- but they're wrong. It made me want to drive my car right off the bridge.

When I have a bad job, I can't get my mind off the bad job. I can't shut it off when I leave the building. It haunts me like a curse. I quit drugs and drinking but I totally understand why I used to do that stuff. Sometimes you have just got to shut off your head.

I would play this tape on my car radio over and over while I sat on the bridge in the rain. Thank you, John Lennon.

What Causes Success?

I wonder why some people who are intelligent, talented, capable, and possess a good set of skills become successful, and others who are equally intelligent, talented, capable and skilled do not become successful.

Some thoughts off the top of my head:

- Social skills
- Being well connected, networking effectively
- Being able to market yourself
- Being from an advantaged socioeconomic class, race, gender: relative privilege in society
- Becoming successful at a young age and progressing from there, building on that
- Putting yourself first, not sacrificing your own ambitions for the sake of others
- Supportive environment
- Working in an area where you're especially passionate and talented
- Having an existing market for what you have to offer

When I think of more possible reasons, I'll add them to the list.

"Don't Talk To Me About Work"

Here's an inspirational song by the incomparable Lou Reed. It's called "Don't Talk To Me About Work."

"How many insults do I gotta take in this one life?"  - Lou Reed

                                                           

Underemployment

The term "underemployment" describes the situation in which a person is working at a job requiring lower skills or credentials than they possess, or is working fewer hours than they need or desire.

I wonder how many people of ergophobic histories, if able to work, are working in jobs below their capacities. I would suspect that this is often the case. It has been true for me.

Of course, in an economic climate of high unemployment, many people consider themselves fortunate to have any job at all.

There is a widely-held belief that people with mental health concerns are better off working in less demanding   jobs. The idea is that these jobs are less stressful. While this may sometimes be the case, I think that sometimes there is actually more stress in working at a job below one's capabilities. This stress comes in the form of boredom, physical or mental fatigue caused by repetitive tasks, lowered self-esteem, coping with problems associated with lower socioeconomic status, and other difficulties associated with low-paying or low-status jobs.

Here are links to articles on underemployment. These articles may or may not address the relationship of underemployment to work satisfaction or ergophobia.

22 Million Americans Are Unemployed Or Underemployed

Study Says Many College Students Underemployed After Graduation

Overeducated and underemployed

Face of the new economy: the underemployed

Do You Have a Job That You Like?

If there is anyone out there that has a job that they like, I want to hear from you!

What is your job, how did you happen to choose this type of work, and what is your work life like?

I'm Going to an Assertiveness Workshop Tomorrow

Voc Rehab has kindly paid for me to go to an Assertiveness Workshop tomorrow. I need this badly. I hope it helps me.

I need to be more assertive around the dumbasses, doofuses, and bozos of the world. And everybody else, too.