Your Day Job.

A writing of March 28^th 2011
I love my work.
I don’t know where you work. I don’t know where you live. And I certainly don’t know what you eat for lunch. But let’s say that you went to your 9 to 5 job in your average sized town this morning and at about 10:00 a.m. you got hungry. You ran down to the vending machine and put in a dollar bill. Out the shoot came an instant fix. To wash it down though, you slid a dollar into the machine next to it and out came a beverage. You got back to work. You typed away on a computer in a small cubical for another two hours until lunch break came around. YEAH! It’s time to make a mad dash for America’s home of the Whopper! We’ll stop here.
So, that’s the first half of your day. If it’s not your day it’s some one your acquainted with’s day.
Let me pose a little question. What did this person produce? Did they produce something they could eat? Did they produce something they could sell? Something that will add to their community?
Alright, here’s another question. Where did this person’s time and money go? Did his time go into his land? Did his time go into his business? Into developing his trade? Did his dollar go into his land? Into evolving his business or trade? Did it go to his local community? His neighbor or local farmer?
And finally I ask, did he come away with a sense of accomplishment? Knowing he got something done? Furthered his future? Furthered a long time goal? Produced something that someone could touch, smell, feel, use, or eat?
No. He produced nothing tangible. He polluted his body and likely the earth too. His dollar went to some large out of state mega company dead set on poisoning weak minded civilians. And at the end of the day did he really accomplish anything? Did he make a difference or provide hope and vision? No.
Now what if there was a different way? A removed way. Ultimately, a better way. What if you could wake up to a different song? One with roosters? How about a breakfast of eggs straight from the hen house? With organically raised bacon and homemade juice or fresh milk from Ann? That is, Ann the milk cow. What if you could go out into the yard and seed something. Go out and seed, plant, water, grow, and pick something? Then after pulling out a generous supply for yourself and your family you take it to market. Or maybe to your neighbors. You just made a small profit which you will reinvest into your symbiotic farm. What if you could go out and work hard? Get calluses on your hands and sun on your skin? Come high noon you would wonder if you could break yet so you would look down the hundred foot row of tomatoes to see if there were any more weeds. When you stand up you’ll grab a basket and pick some heirloom tomatoes, round lemon cucumbers, bell peppers, and basil and head in to dice it all up for lunch.
Now let me ask you another question. Did you produce something? Yes! And in your small way, with your small contribution you made a difference.
With each callus came a huge sense of accomplishment. With each dealing with your neighbors and local market customers you built community. With each veggie you brought a healthy option to someone. Not just a healthy option but a vision. So let me ask one final question.
Do you like your day Job?