“No one has the right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s
too much work to do.” This was said by Dorothy Day. What work is she talking
about? I think there are many different genres of work especially for the
different generations who read this quote. Some may think that work is actually
having a job and not being lazy; others may think that it involves things like “world
peace” “trying to make the world a better place” “global warming”. I think work
for our generation is having a life. Not being a hobo living off the street but
someone who has a career, has gone to school, and won’t have to declare
bankruptcy halfway through their life. There are so many people in the world
today who haven’t finished college or never started. Most of them are the part
of America that is on welfare. In all honesty welfare should be given on
stricter guidelines because not all but several chose to just live off welfare
instead of actually trying to make a life for themselves. Yet this won’t apply
to all generations.
Let’s go back about
70 years. If someone read this quote back then they might think that I need to
do good for my country, I need to be in the military. The wives of men might
think I need to be a better mom; I need to stay home more, cook more, and clean
more. These things don’t particularly compare to what we have today. Let’s go
back 150 years. The work was much more different. You had to wake up at the
butt-crack of dawn and plow the fields, tend to the gardens. Some people do
this now but then it was more along the lines of life or starvation if you didn’t.
Work then wasn’t about trying to fix global warming; it was about surviving
without what we have today.
Work is a word that anyone can take and run with, metaphorically
of course. People can explain work in 100 different ways. Depending on where you’re
from and the time frame it means different things. Some people deem work as something
that gets your heart rate going others describe it helping someone out, some
say it’s what you have to wake up for every day. What does work mean to you?
Whitney,
ReplyDeleteYour insight to the different definitions and explanations of work is eye opening. It is very true that what is to one person may not be the same to another. I also agree with your defining word, easy-going, because I don't think I have ever seen you gossiping or getting involved in the bickering that goes on within all the High School drama. I definitely think it would be a treat to meet your Papa Kenny! He seems like the best grandpa ever because he will always have your back. My Pop Pop was that way, I am pretty sure with him I could get away with anything! I would also love to travel to Ireland and visit Europe! I hope you get to go some time and do it before you have kids and get married! Take Aaron with you if you have to but just do it! It is also wonderful that you recognize the value of educaiton and that your parents realize the importance of it as well. Get yourself together and then go and start a family with the love of your life, your ten year plan made me laugh because you think 30 is not as fun as 20! Trust me by the time you are almost 30 you will be hoping that 30 is as fun as your twenties! Enjoy life and I hope you and Aaron the best! Relationships can be trying but those are usually the ones worth fighting for, trust me, I know from experience!
Mrs. Slagle