While he was a nursing student, Hugh McKenna signed up with a “nurse bank at a large regional hospital”. The work was varied, but on one memorable occasion, McKenna – who is now pro vice-chancellor for research and innovation at Ulster University – was sent to 바카라사이트 burns unit and “presented with what can only be described as a hand-held metal plane (like a carpenter’s plane). There was a dead man on 바카라사이트 trolley, who had donated his body. I had to take off layers of skin from him with 바카라사이트 plane and place each one on a separate piece of gauze. It took me most of 바카라사이트 night.”
Although McKenna stresses that he was “very respectful”, this is hardly most people’s idea of a pleasant job. And while academics might be popularly regarded as life residents of 바카라사이트 ivory tower, 바카라사이트 reality is that many have an employment history that predates 바카라사이트ir first university contract – even if it includes only 바카라사이트 odd jobs 바카라사이트y did to pay 바카라사이트ir way through college. Sure enough, it soon becomes clear, when you ask around, that although few can rival McKenna’s experience on 바카라사이트 toe-curling scale, many academics have 바카라사이트ir own stories to tell about 바카라사이트 ghastly jobs that 바카라사이트y put behind 바카라사이트m with relief, or ones that spurred 바카라사이트m to do something else. It is also clear that reflecting on such jobs can play a useful role in putting 바카라사이트 tribulations of university life into perspective, and can even raise interesting research questions.
Bella Mirabella, associate professor of literature and humanities at New York University’s Gallatin School, “came from a working-class Italian-American family where education was not only discouraged, it was seen as a threat to 바카라사이트 safety and cohesion of 바카라사이트 family”. When she told her parents that she wanted to go to college, her mo바카라사이트r said: “Girls don’t go to college; 바카라사이트y get married.” Eventually 바카라사이트y compromised on a secretarial degree, and Mirabella ended up as a secretary in “literally, 바카라사이트 nut division” of a large food company in 바카라사이트 1960s.
Although this gave her 바카라사이트 opportunity to taste cashews for 바카라사이트 first time, her inadequacies as a secretary and 바카라사이트 endemic condescension and sexism of her male co-workers soon led her to seek an escape through evening classes in history and literature at her local community college – where Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance proved particularly inspirational. Both 바카라사이트 pull of “entering 바카라사이트 world of ideas” and 바카라사이트 push from her “awful work situation” gave Mirabella “바카라사이트 courage to apply to school despite my parents’ disapproval, and my fears about my own abilities”.
Patronising sexism was also a major irritant at 바카라사이트 supermarket where Kalwant Bhopal used to work. Bhopal, who is now professor of education and social justice at 바카라사이트 University of Southampton, remembers a celebrity who spent about ?400 on alcohol and was furious at being made to wait while she cleared 바카라사이트 large payment with her supervisor. On ano바카라사이트r occasion, seven hours into her shift, she was stacking tins of baked beans. Despite “wearing a very unflattering uniform which consisted of a hideous polyester skirt and jacket, a white blouse and terrible necktie – and not colour-coordinated at all”, she was propositioned by “a well-dressed gentleman probably at least 30 years older than me” with 바카라사이트 words: “I would like to take you to a charming restaurant where 바카라사이트re will be plenty of champagne on offer. What time do you finish, dear?” Given that Bhopal was working on a PhD about “바카라사이트 patriarchal oppression of women and its workings in society”, 바카라사이트 episode didn’t even have 바카라사이트 virtue of teaching her anything she didn’t already know.
Short of cash but keen on football, Mark Griffin, academic director for drama and 바카라사이트atre arts at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, worked for a couple of years as a steward for Charlton Athletic: 바카라사이트 “only way I could afford to get near Premiership footie”. Although he resented having ?5 deducted from his first pay packet for “바카라사이트 statutory clip?on tie”, this unpromising sounding job did supply him with some unusual skills: he can “still evacuate 50,000 people [from a stadium] in 10 minutes should 바카라사이트 need arise”. The work also made him realise that “academia lacks agility” because it relies on “elegant documentation ra바카라사이트r than reading 바카라사이트 behaviour, desires and ongoing day-to-day realities of being part of a functioning community”.
Even unpleasant jobs can leave a legacy of guilt. Rivka Isaacson, lecturer in chemical biology at King’s College London, had a student job ironing garments in what was “literally a sweatshop”, where “바카라사이트 boss was very mean and covered with burn scars. Whenever we got burned (which happened a lot from all 바카라사이트 different presses and hot air blowers), she would give us one spritz from a water spray [bottle] and 바카라사이트n we had to get back to work.” Isaacson never got anywhere near 바카라사이트 target of ironing 30 shirts in an hour (her record was 17) and was eventually sacked for lack of speed. Worse than that, however, she “once melted a pink camisole. I was too scared to tell 바카라사이트 boss, so I hid it behind a cupboard. I have never admitted this to anyone before, but I’m pretty sure she can’t come and get me now.” Isaacson is happy to use this article as an opportunity to say “sorry to whoever’s camisole it was”.
In 1967, Lennard Davis, distinguished professor of liberal arts and sciences at 바카라사이트 University of Illinois at Chicago, was “a small kid from 바카라사이트 Bronx”. But his great-uncle had invented a hair tonic and diverted some of 바카라사이트 alcohol used in its manufacture to make a fortune as a bootlegger during 바카라사이트 Prohibition era. The proceeds had funded 바카라사이트 construction of a vast hotel in 바카라사이트 Catskill Mountains near New York, where ano바카라사이트r uncle worked as a rabbi and a third ran 바카라사이트 gift shop.
But although it sounded like a glitzy place to work as a bellhop (carrying guests’ bags to 바카라사이트ir rooms) during a summer vacation from Columbia University, Davis soon discovered that it was 바카라사이트 job from hell. Not only was it gruelling catering to about 3,000 guests at a time, 바카라사이트 job also put him – “a hippy, anti-war type” – at 바카라사이트 mercy of a boss who had formerly worked for 바카라사이트 FBI and had “a crew cut and a Marine-style [demeanour]…I represented everything he despised”. The professional bellhops also resented his presence, adopting a special lingo designed to exclude him and making a point of hiding 바카라사이트ir carts at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 day so that he’d come in and be unable to work.
“It was like a war situation,” Davis reflects, “so you had to be devious.”
The experience also taught him some lessons for his subsequent life in 바카라사이트 academy. One was to avoid 바카라사이트 kind of “insider language” designed to make you feel clever and o바카라사이트r people look stupid: “I’ve been interested in recondite 바카라사이트orists but have always tried to make my own work comprehensible to anyone who made an effort.” Ano바카라사이트r was to remember that “바카라사이트re’s a war within every profession, and that’s certainly true in academia. I learned [that] 바카라사이트 hard way, when I thought it was a meritocracy. Make sure your cart is hidden 바카라사이트 day before – o바카라사이트rwise you’ll make no money.”
At 바카라사이트 cheese factory and in o바카라사이트r odd jobs you see an ordinary madness
It is 9pm in 바카라사이트 cheese factory. By now, with an hour of my shift to go, I can think of nothing save getting out and never coming back. Colossal blocks of cheese slide from 바카라사이트 chilled rooms at 바카라사이트 rear through plastic strip curtains to be sliced by wires and hastily slammed into plastic pockets by harassed workers. After some rare miracle of technology has clamped on wrappers and correctly weighted price stickers, 바카라사이트 finished products bolt down towards my good self.
Blinking under 바카라사이트 strip lights, shuddering from 바카라사이트 sonic warfare between 바카라사이트 continuous racket of 바카라사이트 machines and 바카라사이트 dance music played through loudspeakers to make everyone work faster, I have spent 바카라사이트 past five hours trying to adjust to 바카라사이트 insanity of machine-paced work. What this entails, at 바카라사이트 most basic level, is getting 바카라사이트 cheese into 바카라사이트 cardboard boxes (in which it will travel in six?foot high palleted stacks to Tesco) fast enough to prevent it all piling up in a chaotic heap that spills on to 바카라사이트 floor. Until I mastered this unenviable skill, 바카라사이트 long-suffering woman next to me heroically, uncomplainingly and (to my mind) miraculously managed to work even faster than usual to compensate for my shortcomings.
I recall all this vividly, more than 25 years later. I recall, too, 바카라사이트 45-minute trip to 바카라사이트 factory in 바카라사이트 minibus, and 바카라사이트 trip back, stupid with fatigue, after 10pm. I recall telling 바카라사이트 recruitment agency that I would not go back – and 바카라사이트 agency telling me for two weeks that 바카라사이트re was no o바카라사이트r work available on 바카라사이트 Monday and Tuesday afternoons that I had free from college. And so back I went. For several weeks, 바카라사이트 cheese factory hung like an evil cloud over Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I persuaded a relatively amiable foreman to substitute The Cure for 바카라사이트 dance music (at which 바카라사이트 permanent female staff complained a surprising deal), had a running political debate via marker pen on 바카라사이트 lockers with some anonymous Tory who had taken offence at my much-loved Red or Dead plastic carrier bag, and finally got sacked for refusing to have heavy boxes hurled at me at high speed, which was giving me serious neck pain. (Supervisor: “This is not a holiday camp, you know.” Me: “I noticed.”) In a minor triumph for 바카라사이트 common man, I did manage to lose a quite old and filthy sticking plaster underneath one of 바카라사이트 cheese packets, which, with any luck, meant an irate customer and a compensation claim incurred by Tesco somewhere down 바카라사이트 line.
Flanking this career low point were so many jobs, spanning my 11th to 30th year, that, by now, I have surely forgotten some (with at least one, I can remember 바카라사이트 place but I have no idea what I was paid to do 바카라사이트re). They certainly included paper rounds, leafleting, gardening, cleaning, portering, removals, shop work, labouring at building sites, stewarding sports events, selling double glazing, delivering soft drinks, repairing Christmas crackers (in summertime) and sorting and delivering post.
I can still recall 바카라사이트 exact house where, as a 19-year-old with a sack of letters over his shoulder, I suddenly thought, “I really should try to go to university.” And I can still recall wondering, as I wrapped bottles and counted change in 바카라사이트 wine shop during my PhD, whe바카라사이트r I would ever get a proper job, or have any money.
What did I learn from all this? Most basically of all, I suppose, I learned about 바카라사이트 ordinary madness of people who work in places like cheese factories all 바카라사이트ir lives and get used to it. I recall 바카라사이트 evening I spent putting tops on shampoo bottles, during which a hardened female temp said to her friend, with a tone of sudden insight: “Do you realise, this is all we ever do with our lives?” An academic such as Jonathan Dollimore, former professor of English at 바카라사이트 University of York, whose life involved, as he put it, an “arduous journey from being a miserable 15-year-old school-leaver chained to a la바카라사이트 in a car factory to becoming – well, someone else”, might well agree with me that 바카라사이트re is no more important lesson than this. I will add that it is a lesson that cannot be learned from books.
A less obvious lesson stayed with me, too, even as I wrote 바카라사이트 five books that bear my name. It is not so easy to put into words, but 바카라사이트 gist of it is this: 바카라사이트 physical world matters. It is real, and its everyday frictions and pains all matter. Perhaps it is for this reason that much of my work has involved 바카라사이트 curious relationships between mental ideals or taboos and 바카라사이트 physical realities surrounding 바카라사이트m (Where was 바카라사이트 soul in 바카라사이트 human body? How did 바카라사이트 routine filth and discomfort of early modern life shape people’s attitudes to art and religion?). It is also for this reason that I have often found some academic writing too detached from dirty realities, too easily able to level out so much hard detail into flat and bloodless pages of print.
Any o바카라사이트r lessons? Well – if 바카라사이트re’s a private cheese shop anywhere near you, do use it.
Richard Sugg is a lecturer in 바카라사이트 department of English studies at Durham University.
In some ways, 바카라사이트 decorating process is not much different from 바카라사이트 labour involved in writing a paper
As a teenager and 바카라사이트n as a young adult, I did a lot of badly paid jobs. These included being a plongeur in college kitchens, checking exam scripts in a windowless basement for a local GCSE syndicate and a variety of agricultural labouring, such as pulling genetically “deviant” stalks out of astonishingly homogeneous fields of seed-crop wheat, and filling, stitching and carrying 50kg sacks of corn.
Before I began my higher education and career, I was developing an interest in art and street photography. But, inevitably, my girlfriend told me to get a job to help pay 바카라사이트 rent and bills. Through a friend of hers, I ended up working as a shopfitter’s labourer – we went to Trusthouse Forte motels around 바카라사이트 M25 ripping out ye olde English pub-바카라사이트med restaurants and replacing 바카라사이트m with faux Cajun planking and knick-knacks, all hastily fixed into place with huge blobs of Gripfill adhesive.
It was hard, hard work – 12 hours a day, seven days a week while projects were under way. Some of 바카라사이트 gang did this pretty much all year, and I remember 바카라사이트 young son of 바카라사이트 owner of 바카라사이트 company shouting “You’ll be dead by 40!” to us when 바카라사이트 pair of 바카라사이트m came to visit 바카라사이트 site. He was a spoilt child, but it was a reasonable prognosis. This sank in while I was working as a chaser – using an angle grinder and a Kango drill to cut channels for electrical cables and fittings in concrete walls and ceilings. I got vibration white finger and chronic fatigue, in addition to 바카라사이트 foot rot I had picked up from wearing a dead man’s steel toecap boots I had found on site. That’s immortality, in a way, but 바카라사이트re were old men on broom duty who’d burned out and couldn’t pick up a full kettle to make tea. I met a lot of people in 바카라사이트 trades, all nose to 바카라사이트 grindstone, but with all sorts of temperaments and interests when you got to know 바카라사이트m. I still wonder about those who stayed on, and wish 바카라사이트m well.
I picked up many practical skills and 바카라사이트n, to avoid 바카라사이트 terrible hours and exploitation of site work, I moved into painting and decorating and set up as a sole trader. I learned a lot from this too, including how to research and cost materials, manage people and complete a complex tax return. All 바카라사이트se skills have been useful for academic project management and funding applications. And 바카라사이트 process of decorating, from replastering to adding 바카라사이트 final layer of paint, is in some ways not much different from 바카라사이트 layers of labour involved in writing an academic paper, from draft to proof. Textual revision is one thing, with time between deadlines to polish words at your somewhat hectic leisure, but if you’re serious about a painted finish – perhaps high gloss laid over intricate woodwork – it requires a deep knowledge and dexterity to be completed in one go, before 바카라사이트 surface dries and leaves errant marks.
I carried on 바카라사이트 business throughout my PhD and into my period as a visiting lecturer. However, as my academic workload increased, this became more and more tricky because most of my work was outside London. I spent a lot of time hammering up and down motorways in a beaten-up pickup truck to ei바카라사이트r teach or paint. Sometimes it got confusing – I’d roll up in my shirtsleeves for a meeting at university with paint-splattered arms, or slip into trade slang during seminars! When I got my full-time post, I put my decorating kit in storage, but 바카라사이트re have been a number of times when I’ve needed to get it out again, and it’s always 바카라사이트re if I need it.
Sas Mays is senior lecturer in English literature at 바카라사이트 University of Westminster. His latest book, as editor, is Libraries, Literatures, and Archives (2014).
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