I watched with fascination a news story that came out this weekend about actor Geoffrey Owens (former Cosby Show regular) bagging groceries at a Trader Joe’s grocery store. The fact that this was even a news story was amazing to me. The initial story was thought to provoke shame that a once famous actor would now be in the position to bag groceries. I was happy to see all of the outpouring and support that surrounded this hard working man doing an honest and worthwhile job in his community.
I had a lot of thoughts and reflections about this story. Despite being college educated with a business degree that I earned early and with honors, most of the jobs that I have had outside of my home have been part-time and of the hourly paid variety. When I was in high school and college, I worked in a deli, babysat, was a telemarketer, worked in a department store, worked for a temp agency, worked as a waitress, worked in a wire factory, etc. etc. I had a professional sales job a few years out of college, but when my husband and I started our family and we decided that we wanted a big family, we made the decision that he would be the primary bread winner and I would be the primary home and family manager. For many years, I didn’t take jobs outside of the home, but as the kids got older, more independent and busier, I decided I was a little bored and wanted to explore doing things in my community, but with the emphasis still being that my primary job was to be home for my kids, with the flexibility needed to work hours that still allowed for that focus and freedom. These part-time jobs with a lot of flexibility tended to be hourly paid jobs that weren’t particularly prestigious or career enhancing, but enhanced my life in many other ways that are hard to measure. Sometimes these part-time jobs really did help with the “extras” to help pay for vacations, and extracurricular activities for the kids, but sometimes these jobs may have even hurt us a little in the monetary sense. Sometimes these jobs, which were amazing outlets and experiences for me, knocked us into the next tax bracket and probably dinged our income a little bit.
People work for all sorts of reasons. I had a college professor that would insist to his students that once a certain level of needs are met, people don’t work for money. Being young and inexperienced, we students would scoff at that statement but now I understand how completely true that statement is and how valuable the work experience is to people for so many reasons. Reasons like pride and purpose and vitality and connection and growth are some of what draws people to the jobs that they take and the jobs that they do.
My sons have all had different hourly-wage jobs over the years. My eldest son who is now a tech company professional with a masters degree, often spouts out wisdom he learned from his fellow factory workers at an aerospace parts factory. My middle son worked as a valet all summer and really got an understanding that a Porsche doesn’t always equate to a great tip, and a dented-up beater sometimes does. I’ve always told my children that once you work a job that relies on tips, you’ll never be a lousy tipper the rest of your life.
I read recently that George Clooney gave away a million dollars each to a few of his buddies who provided him support, validation and sometimes a couch to sleep on when he was desperately trying to make it as a struggling actor. As many responders to the Geoffrey Owens story said, most actors are not rich and do have jobs outside of acting to help support themselves. I bet that if we watched the first couple of “break out” movies or TV shows of some of our finest and most famous actors, that is where we would see their best, most raw, amazing work. Perhaps the low paying jobs that they were doing, best exposed them to their own humanity and others’ humanity like no other jobs can do. If you are bagging groceries, you are being exposed to everyone in your community. You are touching the lives of the whole spectrum of the people who make up a town – the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the healthy, the infirm, the white, the black, the Christians, the Muslims, the Jews, the professionals, the first responders, the list goes on and on. Everyone has to eat.
Life has become so tech oriented that we barely have to leave our couches anymore. It’s so easy to sit on the couch and call other people “out of touch” but really, perhaps the most “in touch” people in the world are doing the good work of bagging groceries, or serving coffee, or greeting us as we walk into our big box store. I’m happy that there was a lot of backlash to that story, backlash to the fact that it even was “a story.” That gives me hope that we as humans, haven’t lost sight of what really is important and what is really real in this world.
