Redefining Work
The fallacy of equating working, making money, and earning a living
Jobs are not big enough for people. When you ask most people who they are, they define themselves by their jobs: “I’m a doctor.” “I’m a radio announcer.” “I’m a carpenter.” If someone asks me, I say, “I’m Amanda McKenny. At certain points in time, I do things for a living.” — Working
When I was 16 years old, I got my first “real job”. I became a rehearsal pianist for the Pittsburgh Playhouse, where I’d previously taken classes in acting and musical theater. I worked there a few hours each week for minimum wage, which in 1986 was less than four dollars per hour. It wasn’t much, but I preferred it to babysitting or any other job that I might have been expected to do at that age.
One of the musicals we put on was Working, which included the quoted passage at the start of this article. Ten years later, I had the privilege of seeing a production of Working in Berkeley while sitting just feet away from Studs Terkel, the author of the book that musical was based on.
By then I’d had several full-time jobs, none of them particularly enjoyable. But each…
