The View From Beneath

One benefit of having a father who worked in construction all his life was I never wanted for a summer job. The day after school ended, I was expected to report to work for the company my father worked for at the time. Another benefit was I was often given the lowest of the low jobs. I learned how to dig ditches, clean out manholes, drive a bulldozer, scale the walls of a lock and dam to patch holes, and do lots of jobs given to me to test whether this high school and college kid felt a certain job was beneath him. Those were the jobs where when I arrived home my mother made me leave my clothes outside and hose off before being allowed to enter the house.

There is a big benefit in working at such jobs. You respect others who do such work every day, and you gain respect from others if you do those same jobs without complaint. There is also a lot to be said about the view from a manhole, a ditch, or deep pit. Your perspective is a lot different, and lots of things are more appreciated.

About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.

2 Comments +

  1. Perspective is 90% of what is needed for a full, involved and informed life. Too many have only a mirror perspective of the world-how good do they look in it is their only perspective.
    Seeing life from that great equalizer of a low paying, demanding and not very rewarding job perspective generates tremendous joy when we are afforded better, higher paying and physically less demanding jobs. Sadly many still are blocked from this path!

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