An Ode to the Worth of Unpaid Work
And why exerting creative effort for no monetary return can be so gratifying
Similar to so many, my husband and I come from families of workers. Farmers and factory workers dot our family trees alongside many other union members as well as members of the military, small business owners, office workers, and more who plied (and currently ply) their trades day in and day out. Some started working for pay very young as though the drive to generate income was ingrained in their DNA, which I believe for many in our families it was.
I started babysitting for our next-door neighbor when I was eleven and took on a paper route the next year. When I turned sixteen, still a busy babysitter, I began a series of part-time jobs that introduced me to town recreation, clothing retail, and county road maintenance as well as the ins and outs of a large lumber yard, a family-run nursery and produce stand, and a small grocery store. In college I worked at a campus restaurant, in a dorm as a resident advisor, and at a printing press laying out my university’s daily newspaper (at night, no less). Of course not all of these jobs overlapped, but some did.
On one summer break from college I worked at an engineering firm thanks to my future mother-in-law, who got me my first office job. The fact I could get…
