What are we diggin?

I've switched my paper topic (I think) to analyzing economy and culture--the relationship between cultures and productivity/drive. I downloaded a podcast and was listening to it on the walk to/from work about 'why do we work?' They mentioned a bit on Korean culture and how things were done without asking a question because they just needed to be done. Something came up about dignity. There's a difference, the leader of the podcast was saying, between pride and dignity. As Americans, we tend to attach a lot to our careers. I would even say many people define there lives by their work. There's also ties of social status (for a lack of a better word) to jobs. I often see the janitors/cleaning people around our building and am so grateful for them and that I am not responsible for their job. They are SO important. In American society, though, telling someone you are a janitor carries a certain almost negative social stigma with it (unfortunately). In Korean society, apparently there is dignity in doing what ever small piece you need to do the best that you can. There is a need for someone to clean toilets--you are the toilet cleaner--make sure it's the cleanest toilet ever. There's also seemingly less of a feeling of entitlement as an excuse for slacking off. "It's okay if I only do an 85% satisfactory job, it would be an insult with this kind of pay to work any harder." Now, obviously America is a big place and I'm not saying this applies for all people, but dignity in work is something I've noticed having a downhill trend in my short life span thus far. New Zealand was another place that the podcasters referenced. They mentioned the high level of service and quality work wherever you went--again, apparently tied to the culture.

Along the same lines, I was flipping through Keith Urban videos on YouTube tonight and came across an interview he and his wife Nicole Kidman had with Oprah in Australia. They mentioned about how Americans are extremely tied to their jobs as if it's all they live for, and that Australians live to enjoy life. They said they find themselves relaxing more when they're at home in Australia. Now obviously there's a balance here between the two things I've said--working to your fullest and relaxing. At the end of the day, the point is to do your best at all that you do (God told us to do this anyway--Colossians 3:17, 23) and when you're done working, be done and find your identity in Christ, not a job.

Here's a way for you to establish whether or not you look at jobs in a status structure: for example, if I were to come back to the U.S. when I'm done here and wait tables or be the dish girl for the rest of my life, what would you think? Would you think less of me? ...sure throw out phrases like 'it's not meeting your potential', etc. But at the end of the day, if it's what someone really loves or it pays them enough to allow them to do what they really love, then isn't that great? Sometimes we get a little too tied to the 'must haves' of materialism. A paycheck that pays the bills really should be enough. Something to think about.

So today's magic word is 'dignity;' a word that I haven't heard in a while, but that I'm sure glad to have floating in my mind again. Have some.