My Low Wage Job - Tom Allen

My Low Wage Life

Often times, people associate low wage jobs with manual labor. Indeed there are numerous low wage jobs that involve manual labor. Some include construction, gardening, and housekeeping, however, the one that I was able to experience first hand was lumber work. Lumber jacking proves to be one of those jobs that people assume “gets done” without really thinking of the people involved. In general, people take the lumber that we use for granted and it does not require much work to acquire. However, from my experience, lumber jacking proved to be extremely taxing on my body both mentally and physically. The most obvious aspect of it is that you must physically exert yourself to do any feature of this kind of work. Whether it be using a chainsaw, an axe, or just simply carrying the wood, one must be in top physical shape with a good amount of strength to carry out this job. Additionally, concentration is a key factor in successfully doing this job. If one fails to concentrate, he will put not only the quality of the work at risk, but also his personal safety. More times than not he is working with heavy machinery. Over time, I feel that the public has lost its respect for the manual labor, low wage jobs, yet they are essential to keep our society functioning.

During my short experience working with lumber, I would find at the end of each day that I would have very little energy left to do anything else. It was at these moments that I realized the hardships a lumberjack must face each day. In my case, I was able to go home and relax because it was the summer. At these moments I realized that if I actually depended on this job to sustain myself, I would lead a very exhausting lifestyle. Additionally, it is typically a low wage job, so money would constantly be an issue. I also quickly realized that this is not a job that one does for the money but rather because it is something that he enjoys doing.

One thing to admire about a lumberjack is his physical and mental strength. Unlike most jobs in which one solely depends on his brain to complete the job, a lumberjack must use his brain as well as an extraordinary amount of strength to do his job. Heavy machinery is common in lumberjack work and therefore there can be very serious consequences if one does not handle it correctly. I, personally, was only allowed to deal with the wood splitter, which is an axe with a more blunt end. However, my brother, who was my work partner, was in charge of handling the chainsaw. As the hours passed by, I would notice how taxing this work was on both his mind and body. Even though we were our own bosses and could have stopped at any time, he chose to persist because it was something he enjoyed doing. I quickly related this to a full time lumberjack and realized that because this was a low wage job, one must have a true passion for the work itself or they are going to lead a very stressful life both physically and mentally.