The following was previously published on another site on September 5, 2022.
May you have stumbled here admidst good times, family, friends, music and tons of laughter! A little PSA reminder that fireworks are a terrifying nightmare to the furbabies. Please make sure they're secured indoors in the most comforting place of your home. Once upon a time, my roomate's dog ripped up the floor when we were both out. In a rental. She was pissed, but also felt guilty and sad. He was very loved and quickly forgiven.
The history of Labour Day, or Labor Day south of the border, is rooted not just in celebrating the workers who toil, but rather around the labour movement 's fight in the 19th Century to ensure better working conditions for all. Mostly all men, but the times were what they were. Our whole society continues to benefit to this day from the rights won and you just can't swing a cat without hitting a politician boasting their platform is For The Workers. The jury's still out. It doesn't look promising.
Work takes many forms. As humanity tries to adjust to The Thing That Shook Us, it seems we're collectively changing the narrative of what work means. Buzzwords like 'The Great Resignation' and 'Quiet Quitting' are a clear indication that we're in the midst of another reset. People are seeking new ways, whether through necessity, or determination to reach the ever elusive acceptable life/work balance. While many still schlep back to the office 9 - 5, what we do, and how we're financially compensated is changing at warp speed.
Some days it feels like everyone is gasping and struggling to play catch-up. Work takes many forms. Making sacrifices to opt out of the 'workforce' to raise families can be as exhausting as busting your butt working more than one job to pay the bills, or punching a time card while juggling child care and parenting to the best of your ability. Looking after the needs of others who are sick, disabled, or reached their senior years can require as much stamina as doing your job in your jammies at home as while dodging distractions and furry assistants. Volunteering to make your community stronger, or the too-often overlooked emotional labour required to keep each of us functioning as a cog in the human race, have no less value than showing up to perform physical acts that nobody else has the skill, drive, or courage to do. Self-employed or still working for the man. Full time. Part Time. Temp. Occasional. Side hustles and gigs that we couldn't imagine a decade ago are commonplace now. People making bank as YouTubers, TikTokers, and Streamers - PLAYING GAMES! - once seemed laughable.
When my grandson told me five years ago that he wanted to be a YouTuber when he grew up, I despaired. The eight year old him wasn't impressed with my explanation of why that isn't a job that would support him as an adult. Fortunately, these days he's gracious when he glances up from whatever game he's playing with his friends online to fire me a "You were saying?" look.
We . . . okay . . . * I * have to acknowledge it takes a lot of hard work to achieve success and support themselves in the platform of their choosing. While we can resent the obscene wealth accrued by Zuckerberg, Bezos, Jack and his Tweeps, Chad, Jawed, and Steve, and the latest King of the Hill, Zhang Yiming , there can be no doubt they are revolutionaries who have changed the way we experience the world forever.
The old is entwined with the new and that has to affect how people earn their way. My father didn't know how to use an ATM machine until I taught him when he was fifty years old. He's been gone for twenty three years now and when I stop to really think of how much has changed in just over two decades, I feel like a fossil. I imagine toddlers using smartphones and personal tablets to access people the globe in an instant would boggle his mind. Today, I turn to Millenials and Gen Z to help me navigate new tech. I refuse to be left behind like some dinosaur. It's a little startling to realize this is how people my age during the Industrial Revolution must have felt. 54. Rude.
There's comfort to be had that some things don't change. We'll always need people to do certain jobs, like build things, grow our food, and transport our goods. At least until automation and AI makes us obsolete, and I'll be long gone by then. Good luck with that, y'all. For now, let's enjoy being on the middle of the bridge, where people who are hands-on can also share digital gems like this with the rest of us. No matter what you labour at, or how you do it, your work matters. We need you. Now, and in all of the uncertain, exciting, wonderous days ahead. Sending love to you and yours. Now, go forth and celebrate!
Look, it just so happens my eyes needed that tasty morsel.
Thank you, Ma and Pa Hemsworth.
Love, The World.