I once wrote a short story (unpublished, as all mine are) that conflated the premise of a 1950s TV show and an assertion about the value of a college education. The show was “The Millionaire.” The assertion was that college graduation would likely ensure that one would earn $400,000 more in one’s lifetime that someone who did not attend college. I wondered what would happen if all of us got the $400,000 up front.
(Last month I learned from the Social Security Administration that I earned $650 in 1964. That had been adjusted to $5600 in 2017 dollars. So, if you care to, do the math for “The Millionaire’s” one million and $400,000 then and now.)
My story was simple. Some John Beresford Tipton (People of a Certain Age, you will recall that name!) who had unlimited wealth and a desire to play around with people, presented everyone at age 21 with the $400,000 (1964 dollars). Then everyone could choose whatever he or she wanted for work; everyone had to work. Because people and their interests were so diverse, ran the thread of the story, every occupation essential to a smoothly operating society was covered.
This utopia worked for a while. Then, one person wanted more. The whole collaborative, cooperative, utopian society came crashing down.
I recalled that story as I thought about Labor Day last week. Our respective interests do run the gamut and often manifest themselves in the line of work we choose. In my utopia, some even chose to collect the trash of others because 1) they often found neat things to keep that others we tossing; 2) the work was outdoors; 3) the work did not involve managing people; and 4) there were no worries to bring home from the job.
Of course, my invented community is absurd. Some jobs that seem fairly essential—picking crops, caring for people in nursing homes, etc.—have required us to look to immigrants for workers. Silicon Valley notwithstanding, there is no John Beresford Tipton ready to fund our lifetime earnings. And, more than one person wants more, fueling our dynamic economy where innovation and improvements in productivity regularly create winners and losers. This can create some messy situations.
My visit to the Social Security office prompted me to think about a class of “laborer” in our society whose jobs involve helping people in messy situations. I was at the office to initiate the sending of my Social Security check to my bank. I could hear the conversations, though, at three other windows.
One concerned a Filipino man who had received some paperwork from Social Security germane to his income but could not find the papers. In heavily accented English with a voice that trembled with anxiety, he laid out his plight to the Social Security representative with some difficulty.
A second conversation featured a man who had suffered two strokes recently and was asking if there was any mechanism through Social Security by which he could receive additional money monthly to help pay the deductibles on his medical expenses.
The third window framed a family—dad, mom, and son—making their case to the representative that they believed themselves to be eligible for Disability payments—I couldn’t hear why but the dad was greatly overweight and had difficulty moving. The child was beautiful, bright-eyed, and well-behaved as his parents tried to find a way to get additional income for the family from what they believed to be an appropriate source.
I commented to the young man helping me that he must hear some heartbreaking stories. He replied that, when he started the job 18 months ago, he took many stories home with him, and they began to depress him. A longtime Social Security employee who was an informal mentor for him empathized. She had gone through that feeling, too.
But, she said, in order to last in that line of work, you needed to get past the stories to focus on what you could or could not do to help. And you could not heap guilt in yourself if you couldn’t help. So, he has survived in his job, thus far.
This year, I am thinking about laborers who have chosen occupations, like this young man, where serving others in need is the purpose. And social workers, police, those who work with the homeless or the mentally challenged or mentally sick. How about the worker at an unemployment office in an area where the dynamism of capitalism has wiped out the work people have been doing for 30 years? And pastors, and those who care for elderly parents, and teachers, and…maybe you, if the shoe fits?
This is the labor of loving humanity, wanting to make a difference in the lives of those in need. There was room for them in my Tipton-funded universe, and they would have been satisfied with their $400,000. These types do want more—more effectiveness in reaching those whose fortunes are not as good.
So, here’s to those among us who don’t shy away from the messes that show up in the lives of other people.
Thank you.
Daniel E. White
September 11, 2017