This book talks about everyday work of different people. It seems that none of them has very high-paied or admirable jobs, but from my reading, I can tell that not everyone can do the jods they do.
As the author said"particular kinds of work can be defined and perceived in ways that mask the range of human abilities that make the work possible."
Each kind of work has different requirements and personalities. In chapter one, the author observed his mother, who used to be a waitress in many restaurants. It has never occured to my mind that the waiters' and waitress' job contains so many 'theories' in it. Being a waitress needs to has a good memory, knowledge of all the staffs in the restaurant, attention, the creation of service, her own personal satisfaction, tolerante and so on.
If one wants to be more efficient and earn more money when working, she has to bring all her sense organs into play. What's more, she has to be more creative and talktive, which can help her get more tips. Just for facing customers, they have to have emotion mangement, the waitress play out with the customers within stereotypic gender scripts. And in order to get more tips, she must try to suggest as many items as she can and always smiling to tolenrate rude behavior and insult.
Though being a waiter or waitress may not need to be highly educated, they can learn many things and rules in the context of the restaurant. They learn from the from occurs, informal social exchange...We can learn many things from any people, so we should show our respect to everyone.
In the book, I think the author is just like an observer to look how they work.And there are many detail descriptions running through the whole essay, which makes the writing vivid and let the readers seem to see the scenes by ourselves.
You are understanding the book well so far Carrie. Rose is trying to make an argument that even these less admirable jobs require intelligence and should not be taken for granted. As you read think about what intelligence he is saying that each job requires.
回复删除You mention the writer is acting more as an observer which is true. Are there points when he begins to make arguments to the audience in each chapter rather than just observing?