There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes. – William J. Brennan, Jr.
Do you say “It’s not my job, I didn’t make the mess!” or do you pitch in and help clean up?
What does that mean?
Have you ever thought, or heard someone say, that a job is beneath them? It could be cleaning an icky mess, or some other form of manual labor. It might be something that is considered beneath their station, or perhaps they have ‘people’ to take care of that.
Those are examples of menial attitudes. Attitudes that say the person is too important to do such a lowly task. It says that it is the job of someone else, and implies that the designated person is somehow less for that assignment. And avoiding that ‘being less’ is the whole point, right?
Jobs are simply jobs. Someone has to do them. Whether it’s changing your baby’s diaper or latrine duty, it has to be done. Arguing with others in the house regarding who was next in rotation to do the task isn’t going to get anything accomplished, is it?
If we aren’t careful, we will get focused on ourselves, or on the person we believe is not doing their ‘fair share’ and lose the big picture. Fortunately, most babies are quite capable of refocusing our attention on the problem at hand, regardless of our distractions. Do the job!
Why are all jobs important? Continue reading
