Why Work?
CASE STUDY
They could hardly believe it had been twenty years since high school graduation.
There they were, having the type of intense discussion that sometimes occurs
between friends, even though they’d lost track of one another over the years.
“There were only three things that I wanted,” John was saying. “To get out of
school, to get a job, and to get a car. I couldn’t have cared less what type of job it
was, as long as it paid. I thought I had other things to live for, besides work. I
thought if I had a little money, I’d know how to enjoy myself.”
“I never saw it that way at all,” Keetah replied. “I decided that when I finished
high school I was going to look for something useful and interesting to do,
something worthwhile. I wasn’t going to work just for the sake of working, just to
get a pay cheque.”
“Are you still into that ‘leading a meaningful life’ stuff? You must have discovered
reality by now!”
“I found a job that gives me some real purpose and is fulfilling. I really feel like
I’m accomplishing something important. I feel like I make a difference. I really
enjoy using my skills. When I was growing up I never thought work was going to be
as enjoyable as it is.”
“I’ve always had an excellent reason to work – I don’t like being hungry! A job is a
job, no matter how you look at it,” said Anne, entering the conversation. “Most
people work because they’ve got to make a living; they’ve got to earn money.”
“But there are other reasons for working.” John put in.
“Like what?” challenged Marco.
“Like being with people, or having a chance to be recognized, or accomplishing
something, maybe. If you’ve got the ability to do something, naturally you’ll want to
do it. I found that out. I guess I’m still not that anxious to talk about it, but three
months ago I won a nice chunk of the green stuff in the lottery. I’d always thought
I’d quit my job if something like that ever happened. My wife works, we don’t have
a big mortgage, the kids will be gone in five years.”
“So what did you do? Did you quit your job?”
“I quit my job and three weeks later I got it back. I quit during a slow time; I’d
been getting bored. But I really missed the people at work. I’ve been working
there for ten years. Now we’ve made an agreement. I’ll get laid off in the slow
periods and have more leisure time. We’ll see how it works out.”
“If you’d said that people work to gain independence, privacy, and respect, I’d agree
with you,” Akiko added. “A year after I started my first job, I decided to leave my
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husband. I’d found that I had important skills and talents. The people at work
respected my abilities. At first the job was a way out of a bad marriage. Then I
realized I enjoyed having a world that’s separate from my private life. I like people
not knowing my past. I feel confident and competent at work.”
“In the end, it probably determines how you see yourself and how others see you,”
said John. “You come to have a very special concept of yourself as a result. If you
liked to work for the good of others, you’d think of yourself as a ‘people helper.’ Or
if you were a first-class plumber, you’d see yourself as someone skilled at working
with tools and objects and equipment. A situation where you had to fix things would
never throw you – but it might throw the ‘people helper’ person.”
“That’s a little too philosophical for me,” said Marco. “Really, working is simply a
way to keep busy.”
“Keeping busy? That’s not work,” countered Keetah.
“Look,” Michael’s entry into the conversation was abrupt. “Work is just for one
thing: financial security. Period.”
“But people work for other reasons,” said John. “Jobs can satisfy other needs
besides that. For example, our next-door neighbor is an accountant. He was
offered a job at much better pay as chief accountant with a larger company,
supervising an entire section. He turned it down cold because he preferred the job
he was doing and the employer he was with. It’s not just a matter of economics.”
“And think of all the people who win huge money prizes, yet still keep their jobs.
Look at John here,” added Keetah.
“They’re in a rut,” Michael retorted.
“Or the people who’ve got all the money they need already, but keep working
because they enjoy it. Or people who prefer working with their hands even though
they could get better pay doing something else.”
“Or painters, writers – people who like to create something beautiful.”
“But that’s not work.”
“You know,” said Marco, “in a way it’s like any game you play as kids. You want to
exercise your muscles and your mind – just for the fun of it.”
“But that’s not work either.”
“Well, then, just what do you mean by ‘work’?”
Adapted from Ann Sparks and Margaret Brand. Success in the Workplace, (1990) Chapter 4
QUESTIONS
1. List five different reasons the former classmates gave for working.
2. What is your definition of work?
3. Do any of the classmates see work as an opportunity to build a better world in
light of the gospel values?
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