I dropped out of high school in 1987 and got a job doing landscape construction. I learned how to drive tractors, dump trucks, skid steers. It was basically farm work. It was really hard. I’m 6 feet tall and back then weighed about 145 lbs. I was not strong. I felt like Conan the barbarian on the Wheel Of Pain. Hard physical labor through 100 degree humid temperatures into the late fall and freezing snowy days. I still remember how desperately hungry I was all the time. We’d have eating contests at lunch to see who could pack down the most 12” hoagies in our half hour lunch break. We started at 7:00 and ended at 5:30. Most of the summer was 6 days a week. Over time I became friends with the guys at work. We had a “soda” machine at our shop that was stocked with Budweiser. On Saturday we’d all get drunk and fuck around racing our cars around the tree nursery until we got stuck in the mud. I distinctly remember one day the boss had me demo a concrete patio with a sledgehammer. I broke up the pieces, load them into the bucket of the tractor and dump them in the dump truck. I managed to haul out over 8 tons of concrete in a ten hour day. I got a 25 cent raise. I was making $7.50/ hr in 1989. I still lived at home and could kick in something for my family. I had been so miserable in high school. So physically constrained on cut off from nature. It was unbearable. With my work, I was so much healthier, stronger, more confident, happier than I had ever been in school. Looking back now, I realize I have pretty bad ADHD and dyslexia. Back then I was just stupid and “not working to my potential” in school. I know this is way too long, but I have a point.
My point is that now, at 52, I’m still working. Im a union plumber and still have very physically demanding days. I also am very interested in this antiwork movement. The stories I read here are really depressing. The labor movement and unions in America helped build a thriving middle class. And much of that good work has been undone by demonizing unions and denigrating physical work. I support strong unions and strong worker protections. I support telling your boss to go fuck himself and walking off a job. I support taking a sick day at least every 6- 8 weeks just because.
But I am sad that work itself has been cast in a negative light. Hard physical work has been a consistent factor in my adult life. It has provided a contrast that makes a soft chair or relaxed day feel so much better. It has built friendships and brotherhood with my fellow workers. When you suffer through something hard together it naturally brings people closer together. And it reveals who we are in that adversity. It’s been really rewarding for me at every level. I hope I won’t be misunderstood here. I just believe that most of the complaints in r/antiwork can be solved through unionizing and improving workers rights. The people who seek to exploit us think they are above working. They think they are not supposed to have a sore back or a callous. Those people are parasitic pieces of shit living off piles of inherited wealth. And I don’t want to be anything like them. I like work.