The trailer below is for a movie called Office Space (perhaps you've heard of it). Give it a look. Go ahead, I'll explain in a sec.
This trailer opens with a statement that resonates with me. If money wasn't one's principal concern, what would one do? What do you want to be? It is, of course, a philosophical quandary so ridiculous only a high school guidance counselor would ever pose it (Sub Item A: high school guidance counselors should be shot... then outlawed).
An astronaut. There, does that answer satisfy? No, of course not. One must be realistic. But when you think about it, "astronaut" is as realistic as any other answer a 16-year-old is likely to produce. Doctor? Sure, little Billy. I know you like to dissect frogs but med school might require a bit more of you then the propensity to cut up dead amphibians. Asking anyone under the age of 25 or 30 what they want to do with their lives is a bit like asking an amoeba why it wants to have kids.
When I was at Savannah High School, they put on these "Career Days"*. One moved around to different class rooms where someone would speak about what they do and recruit (basically). I always went to a lot of different classes just to see what was up. I thought this whole exercise was ridiculous but I got out of class (which was something I did NOT want to do with my life).
When asked this question by adults I gave whatever silliness I had in my head at the time (and this changed a lot)... Doctor, paleontologist, writer, artist (I'm noticing a downward spiral in job prospects here). I'm 27 this summer and I finally have an answer although my guidance counselor wouldn't approve. What do I want to be: a good person. What do I want to do with my life: good things. I'm not sure how realistic this is either.
*Ironically, these "Career Days" didn't happen at the Savannah Arts Academy (my alma mater). Probably because the decision to attend an art school at any academic stage meant that "employment" was not something to which we were that committed.
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22 minutes ago
2 comments:
Randal, being a "good person" is of course a noble goal, but that answer doesn't address the societal framework of the question "What do you do?" I've always found it interesting that when you meet someone and that person asks, "What do you do," they mean, "How do you earn a living." In our particular form of capitalist culture, "Do" in that context inherently means "for money." If you answer the question with something like "I listen to music," or "I shoot pool," or "I do unto others as I would have them do unto me," the other person will a) assume you're temporarily unemployed, b) assume you're a wise guy, or c) restate the question -- "No, I mean what do you do for a living?"
If we didn't define ourselves so much by what we "do" -- if we were still a predominantly agrarian culture -- the question "What do you do?" wouldn't even exist. It would make no sense.
I guess the societal framework of the question is what I find so ridiculous. It could be argued, I suppose, that one's job tells you a great deal but I don't think that's inherently true. One job may simply be the intersection of practicality and necessity. In such a case, one's job only indicates what one was able and willing to do to survive. Therefore, idea that one is defined to some degree by their job description is just silliness.
By the way, my favorite answer to that question: "Respirate... Metabolize..." Although, that probably falls under "B" in your list of assumptions.
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