I really like my job. I really do. It is a wonderful and terrific thing to know that there are going to be 40 hours every week that are just going to be great.
First, I work with really awesome people. I think it's a black hole for good people, only maybe black hole is the wrong term. It would be a white hole in terms of good and evil, right, because they are so good?
Second, I do really cool work. Most people don't really think so, but they don't have to, because it's my job and I don't want competition. I am an archivist and for people who are clueless what I do, I usually explain it by saying, I go through other people's papers and decide what to keep and what to get rid of, and how to organize them. At that point, most people say, "I should hire you to do that for my stuff." But, see, archivists are trying to preserve historically significant records for as long as possible. What is historically significant/ Well that all depends on context and my job is really a little more complicated than just sorting papers. Go to an archive and use a collection, and then we'll talk. But, this doesn't explain why my work is cool. So, let me tell you why:
1. I get to learn a little bit about everything. I have learned about transplant surgery (more the history, less the technical details, but I can tell you they really struggled with rejection and you have to stay on meds til you die for that. Also, in the days following 9/11, they couldn't fly organs around), bugs (lepidoptera--fun to say, and the scientific family name for butterflies and moths. Bees? They can be oligotropes or polytropes. And some of them are social parasites. Ants? Sometimes they are slave-masters. Literally), sororities, affirmative action, and a billion other random things. I don't have to know about any one thing (other than being an archivist), but I get to learn about pretty much everything. I get paid to learn!
2. I get to look at really old stuff. Letters from the 1800's, novels about business in America in the 1920's, and a bunch of other stuff. Once I even got to see a document with Henry VIII's seal on it.
3. I can't talk about some of the stuff I know. Seriously. It's like working for the CIA, other than the "I'd have to kill you" part. Which is fine, because really, death is pretty extreme. But, if I told you, I would really run the risk of being fired. (Nothing I have said so far could not be found on your own. It is information that is open to the public, should you be so inclined).
4. In a very real way, I control history. I could get rid of documents, and destroy history, or keep documents and maybe preserve very tedious history. I wield power.
5. I get to play with dollies/handtrucks. You know, that the moving guys use? I get this very weird satisfaction from seeing how far back I have to lean to get the handtruck to tip back. It's a balancing act--my weight against all of those boxes.
6. I get paid to surf the web. Mind you, I'm looking for specific information, and I can't just look anywhere, but you know how the web is. You start out, and it is pretty hard not to get sidetracked. Still, I do try to stay on topic.
7. I get a great workout on the job. Moving 40 lb. boxes around all the time gives you some nice biceps.
8. I just love knowing how to find answers. I'm not always the best at it, but I love the hunt. Hidden in the stacks are untold nuggets of information just waiting to be found. SO COOL!!! We are like superheroes. Nerdy ones, maybe, but lots of people appreciate us.
I know my job in many ways is expendable. I mean, if there was an alien invasion tomorrow, I don't know that anyone would care about the archives (although, in the preview for World War Z, I think, they were taking the really important stuff out of the National Archives--you know, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution). But, you know, once we kicked the aliens out (or, gasp, were enslaved by them), we'd really want that history.
I'm just saying.
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