Relevancy

Today I started my job again at the grocery store. As part of the homogenization of their employees, Kroger requires that you complete several computer modules before they set you loose on the shiny floor.

Following what would later turn out to be too-vague instructions, I proceeded to complete the modules I thought I needed in order to start my job.

As I was sitting there during one of the sessions, I was think to myself "This is so irrelevant to what I will actually be doing in the store." It was way out of the scope of things that I would be doing. I was hired to cut open boxes and put things on shelves, and this computer program was telling me about how to order more products, various functions of the scanner, and the relationship between BOH and MIN. Tons of useless crap. I failed the quiz.

As I was retreating back into the cheesy model, incredulous that I would have to learn all this stuff, the guy who hired me walked in and said "Didn't I tell you not to do that module?"

Well, he hadn't advised me so, but that wasn't the point.

I didn't have to finish. Hooray.

All this to say--

While working at Kroger, I wonder about the people I work with. Do they find meaning in their work? Am I too narrow-minded, too sheltered by academia, too white-collar to believe that someone could be passionate about scanning barcodes and packing fridges?

Or do they see no relvancy to what they are doing? Is it a continuous meaningless computer module that leaves them saying "Why in the world am I required to slave away at this?"

I just think work without purpose would leave someone with a high degree of confusion and indignance.

We'll have to see how everybody feels after a summer at the store.

Should be interesting.