Labor Day, Ribs and Nonsense

It is labor day and I am making braised ribs, beef ribs. Yesterday we stripped off the membrane on the ribs and applied the rub. At present the ribs are in the oven on a slow braise utilizing Jack Daniels and Apple Juice. Once finished I will make a reduction and use that as the bbq sauce. I don't know how many of my readers have had my food because I don't know who reads this; but, I know at least one of my readers has had my ribs before and she liked them.

I think Labor Day was supposed to celebrate the workers, the people who build the roads and bridges, the people who build the cars. We used to celebrate having jobs and our accomplishments. During the 60s that all changed, we started seeing work as an offensive type of slavery.

I began working 40 years ago and have worked ever since. I have worked in a factory, as a waiter, as a gas station attendant, as a salesman, in Real Estate and in government. There was a time when I worked putting cardboard boxes together for shipments, that wasn't a good job; but, I did it and it fed my family. I wonder if my ex remembers me gluing my hands shut to stop the bleeding from all the paper cuts, I bet she does.

I couldn't physically do what I did when I was younger anymore and fortunately, I don't have to. I am on my way out and get paid to have answers and I usually have them. The pressure I feel now is over other people and wanting to make the system work for them, so that they can have a career and hopefully make things better. About the only thing I have left is to teach. In a couple of years, Labor Day will no longer be a holiday for me, it will be my life. Everyday will be a day away from work.

As each day passes, I am day closer to passing myself, that is true for all of us. A nice woman came to work with me last week. We were getting to know each other and talking. We had to discuss some problem and she said something like, "Well it could be worse, we could be underground". I don't think of that as worse, just different, a passage that we all make. I have no bucket list, nothing I feel a great urge to attain or experience or see. I am satisfied with the efforts I made even if I would have preferred different outcomes, we don't always get to determine those.

Each day has it's own challenges and rewards, today I am hoping that my ribs come out flavorful and tender, that would be sufficient for an achievement. A friend has often said to me that the person who finishes a journey is not the same as the one who began it. I am not the same as when I began my work life. I kept my integrity and showed what I was capable of and was fairly successful. When I was younger there was no chance you were going to outwork me.

I cannot imagine having grown up without working. My work life contributed to my self definition (though I have never been my job) by challenging me to push myself and achieve and create and oversee. Without work, life would have been very boring. We seem to have forgotten that, it is now just about money and not about effort or strenuous effort, it is about the quick and easy dollar. The dollar loses all meaning when you didn't have to work for it.

Writing is not work, for some it is, for me it is pleasure, it is an expression of self rather than a burden (though I have limits on how much I can write). There are three things for me to decide in the next two years. First, will I remain alone, probably. Second, will I do something after retirement, consult or teach for instance, probably to maybe. Thirdly, what do I want with the rest of my life. I have absolutely no idea; but, I do like the thought of fading away, possibly to slab city. I will link to a video at the end.

People scream USA is number one when we are not. People ask how "we" lost our edge, we didn't, there is no such thing. Effort is an individual and societal thing, you don't get to live off of past generations laurels, you are responsible for what you do with it. China and India have become world powers. We had the advantage, they outworked us, they didn't outwork me. I know I could get a job in China for more than I make here. I just don't care to do it.

I think we all deserve some time to ourselves, time to look back on our lives and ask ourselves what difference we made, the good, the bad and the ugly. Only we can know what our intent was, not the lies we told ourselves, our true intent. I know what mine was and happy with what I attempted and how I did it.

I wonder if younger people think about that, what their efforts will mean to them beyond how much they made? I hope so, it is a good feeling to know you gave your efforts to more than juts making money, that you effected others.