Moving to China has given me a new perspective on life. One of the perspective things has been how good we have it in the States. I've discovered a whole plethora of jobs I'm glad I don't have to do here. Here are the top 10 jobs I'm glad I don't have to do (not ranked in any particular order)
10. Bathroom janitor. Chinese bathrooms always smell atrocious. I mean atrocious. People don't clean up well after themselves, the TP is thrown away not flushed, and it would be hideous to have to clean those bathrooms (yet from time to time, the janitors do).
9. Bus ticket taker--being on a hot crowded (or cold crowded) bus all day, having to remember who's already paid you and who hasn't (especially when it's really crowded--how do they do that?) and shoving past people in the bus, the monotony of it...ugh.
8. Megaphone sales--you shout the same few phrases all day through a megaphone and only get about six dollars a day--it's annoying enough to walk by the megaphones, let alone have to be that person all day!
7. Recycle man/trash man--Remember what I said about not flushing TP? Chinese garbage is way grosser than American garbage and these guys deal with it, all without good Hefty plastic bags or big trucks--just a little tricycle cart and a shovel.
6. Clothes stall salesperson--you're in your little underground shop all day, every day you need to make money, never getting outside, never getting a day off. Yuck.
5. Elementary teacher--I love teaching, but Chinese is hard. You can't read books until middle school, but just have to write the characters over and over and over and over--or make little ones in your care do it. I can't even imagine how hard it is to be an elementary school teacher here.
4. High school student--Obviously I'll never have to do this, but the more I hear about it the worse it sounds. Your life is ruled by this all-powerful college entrance exam, and you do nothing but study for it and stress about it for four years--no extracurriculars, no fun, just study study study while living crammed into a dormitory with 7 to 9 other people.
3. Construction worker--no OSHA here. Bamboo scaffolding only, no safety or hearing protection, just get out there and risk life and limb for a tiny amount of cash, 7 days a week and living on the job site away from your family. Horrible.
2. Building ayi (front desk guard)--horribly boring, just sit there for twelve hour shifts in a tiny room with nothing but a computer and security monitors, watching the foreigners come in and out and occasionally giving them a big bottle of water when they come to buy it, having to put up with their horrible language skills as they communicate apartment problems.
1. Nurse--your only job is to give people IV's all day long, no care, no mental stimulation, just needle after needle after needle in vein after vein after vein--responsible for about 40 patients at a time in very primitive conditions.
So all this to say--I'm incredibly blessed and thankful that I not only have a job, but that I have a job I love, when there are so many horrible jobs out there!!
10. Bathroom janitor. Chinese bathrooms always smell atrocious. I mean atrocious. People don't clean up well after themselves, the TP is thrown away not flushed, and it would be hideous to have to clean those bathrooms (yet from time to time, the janitors do).
9. Bus ticket taker--being on a hot crowded (or cold crowded) bus all day, having to remember who's already paid you and who hasn't (especially when it's really crowded--how do they do that?) and shoving past people in the bus, the monotony of it...ugh.
8. Megaphone sales--you shout the same few phrases all day through a megaphone and only get about six dollars a day--it's annoying enough to walk by the megaphones, let alone have to be that person all day!
7. Recycle man/trash man--Remember what I said about not flushing TP? Chinese garbage is way grosser than American garbage and these guys deal with it, all without good Hefty plastic bags or big trucks--just a little tricycle cart and a shovel.
6. Clothes stall salesperson--you're in your little underground shop all day, every day you need to make money, never getting outside, never getting a day off. Yuck.
5. Elementary teacher--I love teaching, but Chinese is hard. You can't read books until middle school, but just have to write the characters over and over and over and over--or make little ones in your care do it. I can't even imagine how hard it is to be an elementary school teacher here.
4. High school student--Obviously I'll never have to do this, but the more I hear about it the worse it sounds. Your life is ruled by this all-powerful college entrance exam, and you do nothing but study for it and stress about it for four years--no extracurriculars, no fun, just study study study while living crammed into a dormitory with 7 to 9 other people.
3. Construction worker--no OSHA here. Bamboo scaffolding only, no safety or hearing protection, just get out there and risk life and limb for a tiny amount of cash, 7 days a week and living on the job site away from your family. Horrible.
2. Building ayi (front desk guard)--horribly boring, just sit there for twelve hour shifts in a tiny room with nothing but a computer and security monitors, watching the foreigners come in and out and occasionally giving them a big bottle of water when they come to buy it, having to put up with their horrible language skills as they communicate apartment problems.
1. Nurse--your only job is to give people IV's all day long, no care, no mental stimulation, just needle after needle after needle in vein after vein after vein--responsible for about 40 patients at a time in very primitive conditions.
So all this to say--I'm incredibly blessed and thankful that I not only have a job, but that I have a job I love, when there are so many horrible jobs out there!!
