Do people really view certain jobs as beneath them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that's why farmers are having trouble getting enough labor to harvest fruits and vegetables now that illegal immigration has slowed. Non-immigrants aren't willing to do the work.

I've also heard plenty of parents on here suggest that a retail or food service job is beneath their teens who should instead be spending all their time on more prestigious activities.

Um, no.

They are having a hard time because the labor is intensive for very little pay. It's not that people think that work is beneath them. They think that the work merits higher pay. You can't live on the wages they pay. They can find other work that is less physical labor for at least minimum wage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course. My brother is on the brink of homelessness because he won't just got get a job at target.

Yep. It plays out again and again. I know several men in their 30's and 40's, bright guys who had a lot going for them in high school and college. After graduating, they were shocked that they weren't getting offered full time, well paid office jobs at cool or prestige organizations. Instead of hustling at internships, clerical jobs, or anything to earn money, they gave up. Live at home, do drugs, endless pity parties. Nothing is their fault. I don't know one woman in this situation.

I know a few women who aren't in that situation because they married someone who could support them. In two of those situations, it's because they "accidentally" got knocked up. My guess is that in some of those situations, if they hadn't found a husband to support them, they would be living with their parents.

I think that it's wrong to suggest women have a better work ethic than men. I think that women have some options that aren't available to most men.

[Anonymous]

There are very few of any attractive women who do document review. I assume it’s because they don’t have to

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I spent a college summer gluing shampoo bottles together on a factory floor. It paid $6 / hr and my brain seriously atrophied. Standing almost all day in the same spot. No chitchat. Training was completed in 10 minutes.

I don't feel bad about thinking that job is beneath me...because it is.

And I’ve been on doc review assignments where we had to ask permission to use the bathroom and they’d Time how long you were in there. I passed the bar to do this

[Anonymous]

I remember getting to a point where I said to myself, "From now on I will NEVER take a job that involves a specific uniform." And I haven't. I want that to be beneath me.

[Anonymous]

Of course. I get disgusted looks when I saw I'm a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually think this is one of the roots of subtle sexism and discrimination at work. Women are raised to think that "no job is beneath me", it's part of having empathy for everyone around us, and we tend to be willing to chip in with whatever needs to be done. Men are raised to think that they are above certain types of work, and they only aim for or do those jobs that are worthy of them.

At my office, most of the technical and management staff are men. All of the administrative staff are women. I'm among the technical/management, but am female. It's amazing how often we have a situation such as: we're all in a conference room, and the coffee pot is empty. The men keep getting up, trying it, realizing it is (still) empty, and going back to their chair. I, wanting a cup a coffee, pick it up to take to kitchen for a refill. My boss, also in the room, says "oh Larla, you don't need to do that, I'll get Larletta (his admin)". I'm like, why would you call Larletta? She's on the other side of the building, we are right here! But in his mind, getting coffee is an admin's job. In my mind, it's the job of whoever wants coffee.

But guess what - next time the coffee needed refilling, everyone in the room assumed I would do it. That's fine, except I realized it meant they had mentally moved me "down" a level from peer/manager to admin.

I think it's also nice that he said that - from the perspective of not pegging the woman as the coffee-getter (and sad that this is a "nice" move). A better move would be for HIM to have made it.

PP again. My boss was absolutely not one of the sexist ones. He made a point to never assign "women's work" to me, which I appreciate.

What I really noticed, though, is that women are more likely to step in and do work that is "beneath them", whether it's a woman's task or not. That gives us a reputation as being willing to do lower-level work - and usually doing a good job at it - where the men are always angling for higher-level work. Obviously these are generalities, and don't apply to everyone, but I think it's at least a factor in why men are more likely to end up with higher level assignments and eventually promotions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people really have these attitudes that certain work is beneath them?

I do. Like accounting for example.

Really? What's so demeaning about being a CPA? Please explain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course. My brother is on the brink of homelessness because he won't just got get a job at target.

Yep. It plays out again and again. I know several men in their 30's and 40's, bright guys who had a lot going for them in high school and college. After graduating, they were shocked that they weren't getting offered full time, well paid office jobs at cool or prestige organizations. Instead of hustling at internships, clerical jobs, or anything to earn money, they gave up. Live at home, do drugs, endless pity parties. Nothing is their fault. I don't know one woman in this situation.

I think you have a very limited world view. I know quite a number of professional women who will not take jobs that don't require a college degree. They believe that if they can't get a job in their field that they'll become SAHMs or homemakers and support the family that way. They aren't willing to take a job as a barrista, cashier or waitress even if they could make money that the family needed. They'll let their husbands take 2nd or 3rd jobs instead of taking a load off by taking a job that was beneath them. Conversely, I also know a number of men who have it ingrained that it is their responsibility to provide for the family and if they can't get a job that pays enough, they'll have to take 2 jobs or 3 jobs to provide for the family. I know one guy who is a bank account rep and works Target and Costco nights and weekends so that his wife can stay home and take care of their one child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that's why farmers are having trouble getting enough labor to harvest fruits and vegetables now that illegal immigration has slowed. Non-immigrants aren't willing to do the work.

I've also heard plenty of parents on here suggest that a retail or food service job is beneath their teens who should instead be spending all their time on more prestigious activities.

No, they're having trouble because it's backbreaking, physical labor done in full sun. No one wants to do it. They could find more people if they raised the hourly rates, but farmers are still skeptical they'd find enough. Not to mention the price of food would have to increase to a point that might affect the overall economy.

The Trump kind are right about one thing: importing cheap labor has kept American wages suppressed. They're calling us on our hypocrisy. Are you willing to buy a $10 gallon of milk produced by well-paid citizens with benefits? Because that's what it will take to find Americans willing to do physically uncomfortable jobs.

Agree with this. They can't find people willing to do the job for the low wage they want to pay people to do it.

Our entire economic system it seems to be based off of wanting cheap goods and cheap labor.

[Anonymous]

I guess? It depend on what you mean. I'm not rude to cashiers or janitors because they're people and I'm not a shitty person, generally. I don't, however, want their job. I am pretty damned smart, have a professional degree and interesting, intellectually challenging work experience? I don't think people working as target cashiers are lesser people in any way, but I do tend to assume they don't have professional degrees and a decade of interesting work experience. I assume that they are working to support themselves and their families and this is what they could find for now.

If I got disbarred and couldn't a job that paid any better, I'd work at target, in the tobacco fields, as a nanny, whatever. And I would probably consult with some of the cashiers, farmers and nannies that I know and like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember getting to a point where I said to myself, "From now on I will NEVER take a job that involves a specific uniform." And I haven't. I want that to be beneath me.

Interesting. When I was a Navy officer, I didn't think the uniform was degrading, nor did people treat me like it was.

[Anonymous]

"I am pretty damned smart, have a professional degree and interesting, intellectually challenging work experience?"

Are you one of those girls who's always an uptalker?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a waitress, so I'm pretty close to the bottom. There are no jobs beneath me. They would just break my back. Can't be dishwasher, the detergent eats into my skin already now. I cannot cook, cannot make desserts or salads. I clean a little at work, but to do it full time, I'd have to get in better shape that I am now.
Rich people never stopped eating out- that's how we survived the last recession. Some of us got 2nd jobs when people eat out less.

+2

I worked in restaurants in my twenties - considered myself a free spirit but was just aimless. My parents, typical type A Washingtonians, were horrified. They'd talk up any side thing I'd have going on with their friends and were SO relieved when I finally got a "real job."

Most people on this board consider restaurant and service work beneath them, I'm sure. It's hilarious because working with the public in the capacity I did took so much grace under pressure, ability to constantly multitask (for hours on end), and actually required a great deal of education and knowledge (about food and wine) that I was expected to constantly update.

I knock off so much in my professional life now, and most people I work with are both lazy and entitled. The irony.

NP and I worked in customer service positions (though not restaurants) in my teens and early 20s and that sh*t was so much harder than all the cushy corporate jobs I've had since. I was a bank teller for a few years and my god I never want to do that job or anything like it again. Not because it's beneath me but because it was so stressful. I'd fall asleep at night thinking of the banking codes and have nightmares about messing up people's money. Having someone come to my window and have me help them figure out how much money they could get access to and compare it to the bills they needed to pay and watching them try to figure out how they could keep their power on while also leaving them some cash for groceries would stick with me for days.

Now I'm working in a finance role for a consulting company and the numbers I'm dealing with on a daily basis are in the millions. Yet it's nowhere near as stressful as dealing with the banking needs of someone with $50 to their name. That teller job wasn't beneath me and isn't beneath me now but my god I hope I never have to go back to it.

[Anonymous]

Yes, my spoiled soon to be ex SIL felt that any administrative type job was beneath her. She wanted to be in exciting jobs--film or international finance etc. She futzed around for years, went to B school, applied to many jobs but never landed one because she interviews terribly (and is a very weird person). So for their 10 year marriage she never worked, or brought in income,--and she would blow up if you suggested things like just get a normal office job, or how about at the university, etc, and she didn't want kids until her career took off. Now they are splitting and she's getting 1/2 his assets and 5k/month alimony since she is not self supporting and has no history of steady employment. don't get married in California.