How Everybody Works

Some weekend reading.

Talking about work and what people do for a living is a fun thing to do at cocktail parties and holiday parties and wherever else you happen to be that finds you surrounded by strangers, clutching a glass of wine and smiling through gritted teeth as you try to make your way to the cheese platter unscathed. What’s even more fun, however, is sitting down with this, from The Atlantic.

The Secret Lives of American Workers

It’s an awful lot to read, but it’s all worth your time. Adrienne Green and Bourree Lam interviewed 100 American workers about their jobs and work, and the result is an astonishing piece of journalism that is impressive and important. The variety of jobs represented is great, as is the diversity of the people represented. When we talk about work with our peer group and our extended peer group, quite often, everyone has jobs that are similar if not exactly the same.

Here are some of my favorites.

Debra Leonard-Porch is an office manager who wanted to be a meterologist, but fell into office work because she could type. She stayed.

I went to school to be a meteorologist. I was in college, and my counselor at that time said, “Oh dear, I don’t think that this is where you want to be.” At that point, she meant there were no colored weather people, she suggested that perhaps I should be a teacher or nurse. I was like, “Wow, that’s kind of stinky.”

The Hidden Work of Keeping an Office Running

Letisha Ghanbari is one of the voices of OnStar, the system that provides in-vehicle assistance for GM. She’s helped deliver babies and also occasionally speaks to those who are lonely.

As long as I’ve done my job and made everybody happy, then that’s what I’m here for. The feeling of helping somebody is an overwhelming joy in itself. I can’t win everybody over, there’s always going to be the one guy who yells at me and he’s usually my favorite customer. Somedays, you feel like “Maybe I could have done more,” but then you sit down and think about how much more could you really have done? Because you’re not physically there to do it.

Life as the OnStar Voice: Arranging Tow Trucks and Delivering Babies

Alex Ficquette wrangles the masses who flock to Midtown Manhattan every morning to watch the live taping of The Today Show — a job that sounds emotionally rewarding but phsyically exhausting.

Most people out there, I would say 90 percent, are there because of the deep connection to the show and to the anchors … Just a month ago, we had on a little boy who spent a lot of time in foster care growing up. He just found his forever family, and they brought him to the plaza because he is a huge fan of Al, and in his own words he said that Al was the constant in his life when he was constantly changing homes. He could turn on the TV and see Al doing the weather and that’s what he could depend on. There are stories like that everyday, and it’s just unbelievable. In this instance, I introduced him to Al, Al took him inside, gave him a tour of the studio, and signed a mug for him. Those types of connections … the plaza is where the fans can come to make those things happen.

The Man Who Tames the “Today” Show Crowds

Jenny Novak is a wildlife biologist in Florida. She trains people to capture Burmese pythons in the Everglades as part of its Python Patrol program. I salute her for her bravery because snakes are absolutely terrifying. She says they’ve trained “young children” to safely capture pythons and I would love nothing more than to send those children medals of courage, because my god, PYTHONS.

I tell them that when you come across a python, you want to get it out in the open. You want to make sure you know what you’re dealing with. There are several steps you have to take before you’re ready to approach the animal to see how it’s behaving, but if the snake is just wanting to get away from you and go hide, that’s what we call “flight mode,” and that’s when you can safely approach the animal from behind.

Persuading Floridians That Hunting Invasive Pythons Is Fun

Ronnie Frostig works at Publix, an employee-owned supermarket chain in Atlanta. He also runs marathons and he sounds pretty happy.

I see people all day long and they have things on their mind, or they’ve got to go somewhere, but [dealing with them] comes with working. You treat everybody as well as you can, and with a smile. It can make a big difference to somebody who’s down or not having a good day. It’s just a few words, but it will make them glad that they came in.

The Person at the End of the Grocery Line

Sit down with a nice cup of something warm and a blanket and a patch of sun and read through this whole thing this weekend. It is well worth your time.

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