College is a Good Thing

Last week, this week and next week, the parking lot that surrounds my office is being re-paved in thirds. A large machine grinds up a portion of the old asphalt to reuse as base while the remainder is scooped up and dropped into dump trucks. Truck drivers climb up to cover or clean off the debris from this dumping. Laborers shovel dirt and asphalt into hard to reach corners. A water truck continually dampens the base as either a skip loader levels the grade or a heavy roller flattens or compresses it. Soon it will all be re-paved and re-striped.

The smell of diesel fumes and odd dust particles float through the air. The whole building shakes and rumbles with the passing of heavy equipment.

I'm so glad that I'm on the inside, not the outside doing the heavy, dirty work. Can you imagine coming home every day coated in dust or dirt or mud? Dear - just undress in the garage and take a shower before dinner!

That's why higher education is a good thing, the opportunity to earn a living with your mind rather than your muscles. A good thing, that! But, I've had the 'pleasure' of a few of those types of jobs in my younger years. My least favorite was either the summer I spent as a construction laborer shoveling, staking, walking through dirt and mud, etc. or the summer I tried to sell cookware door-to-door (not as physical, but worse in so many ways).

What job in your past are you thankful you're not doing now?