It's A Dirty Job, And I Love It

http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/09/mike-rowe-jobs-lead-careers-employment08-cx_mr_1209rowe.html?feed=rss_news

by IsaacSchlueter • 18 years ago

62 31 18 years ago

Tichy• 18 years ago

Hm, the scary thing is, I think if my true passion was picking up road kill, I would probably never find out. It would never have occured to me to try that profession. So I am doomed :-(

mlLK• 18 years ago

I picked up roadkill for two summers in a row while working for the DPW, but we never called it roadkill, we denoted the dearly departed as 'buddies'. It was sorta funny since you may wonder, "Where do all them buddies go after you get done pickin em all up?" They all went in this 12ft hole known as the buddy pit.

dbooher3• 18 years ago

"buddy pit", haha, Glorious =)

i'll take spontaneous ironic humour like that over the artificial corporate "team building/inspirational" talk any day of the (work)week.

swombat3• 18 years ago

Why not follow both your passions AND the opportunities around you? Why does it have to be an either/or thing?

If you're passionate about something, chances are you'll spot opportunities to do it. "Follow your opportunities" is good advice, but this article fails to realise that some (most?) of us won't feel that we've fulfilled our purpose in life (irrespective of religious considerations - I'm talking about that sense of self-fulfillment you get when you're doing something you think is worthwhile) if we spend it castrating lamb with our teeth.

So follow your passion AND your opportunities. Don't settle for only one.

HeyLaughingBoy3• 18 years ago

There's nothing wrong with your advice. The problem is that too many people think they must find their passion in their work and that's a tall order to fill. Far easier to work to pay the bills and indulge your passions after that's done.

swombat3• 18 years ago

I disagree with that. I enjoy what I'm doing, I'm passionate about it, and having done it the other way as well, I wouldn't change back. It's great to wake up in the morning and think "Yes! I'm going to spend all day working!" without a trace of sarcasm.

Some people may be able to do a job that they hate, but it saps my soul.

wallflower• 18 years ago

Hmmm. Some of the jobs are extreme examples but a smart kid I knew since he was a toddler - when he graduated from high school in his valedictory address said, "Work doesn't necessarily make you happy. but it may give you to means to do the stuff that makes you happy."

There is a point that some of the most profitable jobs are those that people don't like to do and/or niches.

peregrine• 18 years ago

Mike Rowe is a great guy, and this was a great article. This is why I come to hacker news.

swilliams• 18 years ago

"What does surprise me is the fact that everybody I've met on this gig--with the possible exception of the lamb--seems to be having a ball."

I love Mike Rowe's sense of humor. Even if I did scream in revulsion when I read the first paragraph.

tallanvor• 18 years ago

Seeing him actually do it was even worse than reading about it!

jimbokun• 18 years ago

"I've been thinking about the first time I castrated a lamb with my teeth."

Suddenly, my job satisfaction sitting here programming just went up a notch.

umjames2• 18 years ago

The most uncomfortable part of that sentence is "the first time". Apparently, this is routinely called for.

LogicHoleFlaw2• 18 years ago

A friend of mine grew up on a farm in Idaho. Apparently, the upside of birthing a cow is that "at least you've got somewhere warm to stick your hands."

mynameishere2• 18 years ago

I refuse to believe that there isn't a tool better at that job than human teeth.

LogicHoleFlaw2• 18 years ago

Sharp, strong, impossible to lose, and they leave your hands free to hold down a distressed lamb.

Teeth do have some advantages here. Forget high-tech and low-tech, this is no-tech.

staunch• 18 years ago

Yes, it's on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD3IXGyHt9c

ercowo• 18 years ago

a common thread seems to be working outside and/or working with animals. I'm convinced that there are qualities to these jobs that resonate more with our innate (evolved) abilities than a desk / programming job. I'm thinking of taking 3-4 months off to volunteer in a national park (or something like that) between my current job and my next

HeyLaughingBoy3• 18 years ago

There is something to that. I live on a farm and while I bitch about going outside in subzero temperatures to care for the animals, there is a satisfaction in doing the basic, hard physical work that I don't get from sitting at a desk programming.

We are definitely hardwired to be outside and it's sad that we spend so much of our time indoors. Surrounded by the white silence of snow, admiring the beauty of sundogs on a -10F morning is an amazing way to begin a workday.

And starting out your day sliding around in mud & chickenshit certainly gives you perspective when listening to some drone in a meeting :-)

It's A Dirty Job, And I Love It

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