I'm Feeling Inadequate

After reading other family member's posts on what they do job wise, I am feeling somewhat inadequate. Why you ask? Because I don't have a job. Or at least a job that is recognized or considered worthwhile by most of the world. My job pays nothing and every day I repeat what I did the day before. Doesn't that sound exciting?

My first real job was a summer job I had to help pay for college. I worked for a company in Clare that made wire harnesses for cars. My clearest memory of that job is the day I fainted. They were nice and let me go home for the rest of the day but I was back at it the next day. Lesson learned: eat breakfast. It was boring and I am so glad that my future jobs didn't involve working on an assembly line.

The next summer I worked for Dow in their testing lab. That would be animal testing. Mostly rats and mice. Ugh. I was hired to fill in for those that were gone on vacations. The first day I was shown what needed to be done for the day, cleaning and feeding the animals was the major job. I finished in two hours and went to my supervisor to tell him I was done. I will never forget the look on his face. That job was supposed to take eight hours and I had just finished it in two hours. This is a union shop, people. I eventually learned to stretch my chores to take up the whole morning. I had to move really slow to do it and it drove me crazy but I knew the "rules". The afternoons were spent doing odd jobs that they didn't have time to get done. I didn't like that job either. Sometimes rats would be loose in the rooms which I didn't like. I was always thankful that my supervisor, who I really liked, didn't require me to handle them. I was also thankful that the Beagles that were arriving that summer were delayed and I never had to have anything to do with them.

Then marriage, baby and my job was at home. I did spend a few years as a teacher's aide which I really enjoyed. If you can get past crying kinders and kids throwing up on your shoes it really was an enjoyable job. But budgets required people had to go and I volunteered. I have been home ever since.

I guess my job now is to make Dave's job easier. I have moved around the country and have painted more houses than I care to remember. I do all the cleaning, shopping, cooking, washing of clothes, ironing,..... I think you get the idea. I was whining to Sarah how everyone had exciting jobs and this is what I do every day. She said she would love it if someone were at home doing all those things so she could concentrate on just her job. Even though society as a whole doensn't value what I do, I love my place in life. I have things that I need to get done during the day, but my time is essentially my own. I think that's a pretty good deal.