Edit: tell me this doesn’t sound stupid
There is only two types of jobs:
Doing something someone else doesn’t want to do
Or
Doing something a specific other person can’t do
The only thing I can think of that someone other than myself can’t do is piss my wife off to no end. Not really a job, tho.
There’s also the job someone else is unable to do.
Ok, but I’m going to stretch some logic here. If they are unable to do it, wouldn’t that mean they are unwilling to learn or figure it out?
I am disabled. No amount of learning will enable me to cook my own meal. But I would sure like to do it.
Still just messing around but would it actually be a job if someone else would do it for free?
Let me just quit my day job and learn the electrical code to install that new breaker panel I need. Gotta brush up on the gas fitting code too cause my furnace needs work. Then ill drive myself to the hospital where i will be my own nurse and my own surgeon.
The ability to learn is also linked with time, energy, and accessibility to resources.
wheelchair bound guy isn’t running power lines in your neighborhood. literally CANT.
And all he dreams about is working 40 hours a week running powerlines.
I’m realizing now there is something really wrong with everyone ITT. It’s like the only thing you imagine for yourself is having some sort of job.
Don’t get me wrong. Work is good. Skills are good. Except no one should be fantasizing about back breaking labor until the day they die.
Not everyone is capable of learning or figuring it out.
Think about childhood dream jobs like rock star or astronaut.
Rock star: You need musical talent and stage presence, enough to entertain lots of people with your music. Me, I can sing in the shower and play some simple tunes on an instrument, but I’d starve if I tried to make it as a simple busker.
Astronaut: NASA requires a master’s degree in a STEM field, at least 1000 hours as a jet pilot, and that you pass a physical. Not everyone is capable of earning a master’s degree. Not everyone will be capable of learning to fly planes. And the physical – ever heard of a blind astronaut? Or how about conditions where your bones are brittle? Hop on the rocket - SNAP! Oops, broken legs. Etc.
doing something someone else can’t do
Sometimes it is doing something nobody else can do
In my case, I get the impression that it’s both.
Once during 2020 I got a phone call out of the blue from the technical manager. “Hey, would you like to be our new <first name of the one who used to hold that position>?”. Turns out my predecessor was looking for greener pastures.
When I told some coworkers about this, their reaction was “And you said yes??”
It’s been four years now. Changed to a new employer last month, but I’m doing the exact same stuff, and I enjoy it.
I think he wanted a different type of job. I, on the other hand, recently moved on to 30% greener pa$ture$, as the competition successfully poached me. Same type of job, exactly the same area of responsibility (networks and server clusters running in weird/hostile environments (no, not the Hamas installation under that hospital)), but with even more freedom and higher budget.
My workplace has heaps of cool jobs. No one person can do them all. So we have more people, doing cool jobs. The world is not all doom and gloom.
I’m OK with that, but at the same time I’d like to know what the cool jobs were.
But really…. Do you, or annyone else, really want to be doing it? If you had the resources not to be and could do anything else like travel, spending time with loved ones, or even just sitting in your own filth, would you choose to do it?
What if you’re a professional burglar? Then, you’re doing something other people don’t want to do themselves, nor do they want you to do it either. The society doesn’t need burglars, but some people do it anyway.
If you’re a professional burglar, then you have bills to pay so you’ll be taking on jobs for clients or a fence. Therefore, you’re doing the job your client/fence doesn’t want to do themselves.
Also, while society might not need burglars, it sure is good at creating them.
I think then the secret to happiness would be to remain an amateur burglar, motivated by your passion for crime.
