Worked at one for maybe a year and some change. Thinking back on it, it was kinda enjoyable. I liked my colleagues, I liked prepping drinks and getting orders out the window. I even liked mopping. The real drawback, what eventually drove me away from it, was doing it every day for the foreseeable future.

If I could, I would sign on to work, like, two weeks. Then move on to something else. Maybe pick up another two weeks when I felt like it. The idea that you have one job that you sign on and do everyday until you quit or die seems... silly. Surely it's possible to make employment more flexible -- to let people train for and try a lot of different things. How are you supposed to know what you like doing before you've done it? And, one imagines, a workforce with a better understanding of a variety of different jobs would be better equipped to anticipate problems and find solutions.

  • bubbalu [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I think dirty and very routine work would be rotated. Like you work so many days at the thing you are interested in and have a few days a month doing something boring or tedious or gross or whatever. Some jobs its not feasible to have high turnover or very part-time work, in that case I think you would be allowed to retire much sooner to compensate you for your exhaustive focus.

    For example, I did niche work in sewers for a while that was gross and required a lot of training and a good level of coordination between me and my coworkers to get things done in a reasonable amount of time. Admittedly, I am leaving that job now, but it wouldn't be worth it in the long run to have to train people everytime it happened (would the trainers get to switch jobs too?) because me and my coworkers got so much quicker as time went on.

    My ideal life would be technical work for a day a week, teach for three half days, and work at cafes for three half days. Caring for others is very fulfilling, and so is abstract problem solving, but both can be exhausting if I have to do them for 40-60 hours a week EVERY WEEK.