Studs Terkel, the great American journalist wrote in his book, Working, “[Having a job] is about a search, too, for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.” Truer words are rarely spoken.
We eat, sleep, love and more, but in general, to continue doing all the rest, we work. Some of the jobs are not ideal, but they are what we know, and can do well. I hope to discover how some people make do with their skills and ideas to keep doing all the rest.
A person is not like a thing that you put down and leave in one place, a person moves, thinks, asks questions, doubts, investigates and probes.
– Jose Saramago, The Cave –
Cotton Gin Stories - Informal Work in Latin America 