My dad has been a truck driver all of his life, and he has spent a lot of time working for garbage companies. One of his favorite phrases and one I grew up listening to is "You're no better than the garbage man."
It's true. No one is better than anybody else. Everyone on this planet is a human. Every one of us has the same body composition. Every one of us matters. So where does the idea that someone who works for everyone's favorite fast food chain or someone who picks up the garbage you no longer want and discards of it properly is somehow both an inferior employee and person to someone who is a successful businessman in a big city?
I see this a lot in college. Everyone is working toward a degree that will score them a big job in a big city with a big salary, and this will equate to success. It means they've "made it," that they won't have to work a minimum wage job or a job they see as "less than ideal." In fact, it's almost a fear a lot of college students have; they fear that they will fail, they will never find a "successful" job, and they will end up working a minimum wage job.
Recently, I was watching a movie where one of the main characters was a barista, waiting for her big moment to come where she finds a job that is better than the one she has. But a customer makes it a point to tell her that her job matters. She gives coffee to people with a smile. She makes their mornings better. Her job matters. And it's like she's never thought about that before.
I think this is something everybody, whether they work the jobs no one wants, or they work the jobs everyone wants, should know--your job matters. If it didn't, it wouldn't exist. So on your hardest days, when you want to quit, don't. Just remember that what you are doing, despite stereotypes, despite how much you make, despite your hours--it matters.
Always remember that you're no better than the garbage man, and you'll be able to see the worth in your life and in others lives.
