The Whole Bicycle

Day two of the Maine Pottery Tour! I am loving this.

Today I am hostess and salesperson, event planner and visual merchandiser. Not to mention dancing bear, in the form of throwing demonstrations for guests; and you know what? I love it. And on the days when I am a thrower, or a glaze mixer, a teacher, or a delivery driver? I love those too.

The worst part of office work was the repetition. In fact it was the worst part of any of my traditional jobs. Employers tend to ghettoize tasks, so you end up doing a whole shitload of one general thing, all the time. Computer stuff, or customer service stuff, or filing or photocopying. Every day is essentially the same, It's enough to make you look forward to the Blood Drive, just for something different to happen: oh, boy, I get to be bled for 10 minutes! Anything to get me out of this cubicle. Needless to say, I think this is wrongheaded. Not to be too Upton Sinclair, but this approach treats workers like cogs in a machine: this piece serves this function. You wouldn't expect a sprocket to start offering marketing ideas, and aside from the novelty, you wouldn't listen, if it did. Sprockets don't think. They sprock. So get back there in your cubicle and sprock away. That's what you get paid for.

It doesn't have to be that way, but it usually is.

As a sole proprietor, my job is vertical: all the steps from procuring the materials to delivering the finished product. I get to use my strong skills, and strengthen my weaker ones. It's impossible to get bored. I get to be the whole bicycle, and I get to feel the satisfaction of success, when an event like this goes well.

This is the best job I've ever had.