As water was pouring from the second-story ceiling down to the first-floor newsroom of the Register a couple weekends ago, I felt totally useless. But thankful that even on a Saturday morning plumbers Kenny Anderson and son Nick were just a phone call away.
In no time Nick located the burst pipe and capped it off. Seems it connected to a dark room abandoned way before my time. While there, Nick also tended to a long-defunct upstairs water cooler.
Contractor Danny Ware likewise received our S.O.S. and showed up with a wet vac, industrial-size fans and plastic to cover important equipment. Before long his son, Buddy, was there to help us pull out soggy insulation and ceiling tiles.
The following week, our computers wouldn’t talk to each other and we needed a new system set up. So our IT support came to the rescue.
This week, nurses with the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Departments gave the Register crew their initial COVID-19 vaccinations, enabling us to start down the road to normalcy.
Plumbers, contractors, computer technicians and nurses are all fields currently in high demand, according to economists.
Not only do they make good salaries, but they’re very rewarding careers — if you’re into rescuing people.
And to use a word that’s been injected into today’s lexicon: They’re essential.
During this past year of living under the shadow of a global pandemic, many have been forced to confront existential questions about their careers, and by extension, themselves. It’s always a worthy exercise to ask whether you are succeeding at living a full life.
Is what I do essential? Am I making a difference? Or, taking a cue for Marie Kondo, the guru of an organized life, does my job bring me pleasure?
We all need to feel needed, and that we serve a purpose in life.
WESTERNERS spend more than one-third of their days at their jobs. East Asians — China and Indonesia — closer to half.
Sociologists who study the workplace say a rewarding job is not predicted by having a college degree or by having above or below average income. You’re just as likely to love your job if you’re making $35,000 a year as if you’re making $350,000 a year. And no income level necessarily answers your unique questions as to what feels rewarding.
When considering a career, it helps to realize that every profession involves a certain amount of pain — deadlines, discontent customers, long meetings, competition, challenging work conditions — and whether they are deal-breakers.
On the other hand, I also believe the adage “what doesn’t break you, makes you stronger” is true. We’re all much more resilient than we realize and there’s satisfaction in overcoming your fears or perceived roadblocks with a job.
