work

i've been debating about this one for a while.  work.  how we make it.  what it means.  specifically, i'm going into teaching.  and what i hear from so many people in 'education reform' is that teachers need to do more.  care more.  take more home.  and i get this.  i'm really on board.  but i do think there is something about work that feels different for working-class people or people who come from working-class backgrounds.

when your work often denigrates or demeans you, you have to disassociate yourself from that work.  service jobs, manufacturing jobs, in-between jobs should have 'amazing ability to take crap' as the top job requirement.  even if you have a job you want to put more into (maybe teaching), you do that at the risk of alienating friends and family who do hate their jobs.  your loyalty is called into question.  making extra time for work is making less time for those in your life who cannot do the same.  its more complicated than simply wanting it more, working harder.  sometimes you lose specifically because you do those things.