Welcome to McDonalds may I take your order?

The following entry is a response to the article entitled "Scientific Management & Fordism" written by F.W. Taylor.

How long do you think a business would last if you walked up to the counter to place your order and the person said, "What's up? What do you want?"  In my opinion not very long.  When people go out they want to feel that they are valued and feel important to the people that are serving them.  That is why scripted talk is so very important.  Although it often seems boring and overused it is what we appreciate.

The scripted talk that Taylor talks about is what we know and expect as consumers and customers.  We would be lost as customers if there wasn't a certain amount of scripted talk.  Something as simple as "Can I take your order?" lets us as customers feel comfortable and know that the ball is in our court. 

Another reason scripted talk is so important as in situations such as fast food is because most of the people working do not have an invested interest in their job.  The scripted talk works best in jobs that have employees that are mainly there for money.  There is no reason for the people to show an interest in you and try and make your experience at their restaurant enjoyable if they aren't going to get anything out of it. 

The only negative that goes along with scripted talk  is that management is still in full control.  It is upsetting to see people performing jobs without simple freedoms such as what they can say, where they can go, and what they can do.  The only way that scripted talk can be completely eliminated is to find people who really enjoy the job that they are doing.  Also, to find people that want to see the company itself do better and to have an invested interest in the company.

Pieces of the Pie - Dividing up work evenly in the USA

The following entry is a response to a articles located in GiG by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe, and Sabin Streeter.

The work in the United States is divided up very unevenly, and many people who are doing the toughest jobs are under appreciated and treated very poorly on a daily basis.  While many people are under appreciated others are over appreciated and do not work nearly as hard as those that are under appreciated.  If we as a country could learn to appreciate everyone for what they do we would be much better off.  We need to give the people who are doing the nation's tough jobs more credit as well as more money.

As the poultry worker makes it very clear he feels very underappreciated and knows there are people out there making millions of dollars off of his hard work.  I think that if the United States divided up the work more evenly and let some of the people making more money work a little harder we would be better off. 

For example, on CBS's show Undercover Boss the CEO's of companies get to see how hard entry level jobs in their companies are.  The people who are making all the money for the company do not realize how important the little people in their company are.  This is an example of how the work is unevenly divided in the U.S. because those that are making the money don't even realize what is going on beneath them. 

Creative Class = Over Rated

The following entry is a response to the readings on Blackboard by Richard Florida. 

The creative class is a class made by Richard Florida.  Florida sees the creative class as people who are able to do "creative" things with their jobs.  Opposite the creative class is what is known as the service class.  These are people whose jobs are supposed to feature little creativity.  Stewart Tannock is a believer in the service class and goes into detail about what it is they do as well as their importance.  The service class is seen as people such as secretaries and janitors who do not have much flexibility in their job. 

However, the problem arises with the creative class once you realize that almost every single job can be considered one that is a part of the creative class.  Whether the person is a doctor or a school teacher they have an extreme amount of creativity availabe in their job.  Florida seems to feature the people who have a lot of income coming in to be more a part of the creative class than those with less income.

My main disagreement with Florida's thesis on the creative class is that it is celebrated far too much for what Richard Florida describes it as.  Florida describes the creative class as a very small group and a group of people in jobs that have a high amount of income.  Nevertheless, I think the creative class should be celebrated but in a much more broad sense.  If Richard Florida would widen his view of the creative class then I would agree with him without a doubt because the creative portion of work should be celebrated.   

Paying for your sins: Economic and Spiritual values in America Today

The following entry is a response to the reading "Value-Free" written by John B. Judis.  The selection appears in the reading collection The Changing World of Work compiled by Marjorie Ford.

The economy of the United States is constantly changing along with the thoughts of what is morally or ethically wrong to participate in.  The spiritual values of American citizens are vastly different than what they were 100 years ago or even 60 years ago.

I interpret a main change of American thinking is what is right and what is wrong not only spiritually, but economically. The views on sex, love, family, and religion have all changed over the past 60 years or so.  People began to think that they should just have fun and enjoy the life that they are living.  The people felt it was very important to look to find the "good life".  The "good life" contained a life where people were enjoying what they were doing at the time and not looking so much to the future, but to the present. 

This has a connection to the economy because people began to spend their money differently.  At the beginning of the 20th centruy people thought it was very important to save their money and deprive themselves of things.  However, as the 20th centruy carried on people wanted to spend the money that they had while they had it instead of looking to save the money and keep it for future use. 

Furthermore, religion and the role it played in a persons life began to come into question.  People remained religious, but they started to believe that they may not need to live their lives exclusively for the future and religion itself.  The idea of fun and enjoying ones life was made important.  Society wanted to live not just for God or a higher being, but for themselves as well. 

I Love You, I Love you not: Differing opinions on the jobs of America

The following entry is a response to the reading "GiG Americans Talk about Their Jobs" edited by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe, and Sabin Streeter. 

People can view jobs in one of three ways.  They can see it as a job, a career, or a calling.  GiG gives us varying perspectives on how people see their work . The people in this collection of talking about their jobs do not leave any question on how thy feel. 

I would characterize the Wal Mart greeter and the teacher as people who see their job as a calling.  Both Jim Churchman (Wal Mart) and Katy Bracken (2nd grade teacher) talk about the enjoyment that they get from being at their jobs.  Bracken says, "I love the brand of love that comes from this age kid".  Bracken goes on to say, "Sometimes I get done with a day and go home and I just miss that affection, that closeness.  Like in a certain way, I just feel very blessed to have these kids."  I feel that if someone can say that about their work then it is truly a calling.  They were meant to do a job if it makes them feel special and wanted and even more importantly, loved. 

However, there are people out there who don't enjoy their jobs like William Rosario (UPS driver), and Elise Klein (Mother of 2).  These are examples of people that see their jobs as the furthest thing from a calling.  Elise Klein said when talking about her job as a mother, "Why do I not even feel good about it a lot of the time?"  Jim Churchman and Katy Bracken felt rewarded intrinsically for the work they were doing where these two people are asking themselves why they don't feel good about what they are doing.  I see the work of being a mother as a career.  Bracken said that she still cries to her mother to this day and that, "being a parent is a lifetime job". 

William Rosario the UPS driver says, "I'd like to stay another year or two and then I'm leaving."  Rosario sees his job at UPS as simply that.  He doesn't want to make a career out of being a UPS man nor does he see it as something he was meant to do.  He sees it as a means of making money and a job that will take a serious toll on you physically and mentally. 

Hooks and Lama: Enjoying the work you do is no trick play

The following entry is a response to the readings "Happiness at Work: Job, Career, and Calling" written by Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, and "Work Makes Life Sweet" by Bell Hooks.  The selections occur in the reading collections entitled The Changing World of Work by Marjorie Ford.

Many people see there job as either a means to an end, or just a way to make money.  Very few people see there work as anything but just work and as a higher calling to do something they were born to do. 

Is there anything that we can do not only for ourselves, but for others to help us enjoy our work, or are we destined to continue to work simply for money and social status?

In these assigned readings we hear from the Dalai Lama as well as Bell Hooks who tell us certain ways to find a higher meaning for our "work". 

The Dalai Lama says, "There is always a way to find a higher purpose to one's work...And also, they should recognize that, first of all, they are part of a society."  I say that he couldn't be more correct.  People in today's world are so consumed with themselves that they do not think of the higher purpose that they may be serving to others as well as a higher being.  The Dalai Lama also says that to find a higher purpose in a persons work they, "can realized the indirect benefits to others and be proud of what they do, and have a sense of accomplishment."  I say that society just needs to realize that they are part of something bigger than just their own personal job and money they are making. 

Bell Hooks shares with us a point of view from not only a woman but an African American woman and how she heard about work from fellow African American women.  Hooks says that, "the black people who were saying, "work makes life sweet" were the folks who did not work for whites, who did what they wanted to do."  I believe that there is no higher reward, nor is there any more enjoyable job to do than a job which you love and that your heart is in.  Hooks let's us know that the African American women wanted to work, but often felt degraded by the work they were doing which made it un enjoyable. 

I have very limited work experience, but I have had one job that I worked inside at and was completely miserable doing it.  However, I had another job that I was able to do outside working on baseball fields and given my love for the game I enjoyed doing that job so much more.  If your heart is in a job rather than just being in it for the money your time spent doing that job will be much more enjoyable.  When I was working on the baseball field I felt it was a calling as compared as to something I was just doing.  It would have been a terrible job to wake up at 7 A.M. every morning in the summer if I didn't see the job as a calling and something I enjoyed as opposed to "work".