Fun With Anonymous

When i wrote about my new job at Fox Music the other day, one of Baxter Sez's perineal [sic] anonymi was out there lurking, waiting for yet another chance to pounce. As far as these anonymi go, if it isn't Alison's folks always lettin' her know she's a baby stabber and that god is comin' to get her in her sleep, it's my anal one that demands i maintain my socialist agenda with a consistency that matches four day old organic oatmeal. If you didn't read the comments down there, here's what old anonypuss had to say this time:

so, you are being environmentally friendly, but aiding the petite bourgeoisie and new rich in conspicuous consumption? why are you not doing something to help the suppressed workers? this work sounds like nothing more than escapism

7:15 PM

Here's an actual answer to your comment:

First off, y'all just wouldn't believe how long i've looked for a job that i could do in good conscience. In the woodworking field, which it appears i have an aptitude and an enjoyment of, this becomes even harder. If the job doesn't have the non-rewarding aspect of nail-gunning plywood boxes together all day, or simply autocad-ing what i want and emailing it to China, or spraying layer after layer of stain and finish on birch so that it looks like a patten leather version of cherry, then it almost doesn't exist.

Oh sure, i could be self-employed, have my own shop and stuff, but have you ever tried to deal with me one-on-one? I'm an ass, man. I have a hard enough time living with myself. I do not need to be in a customer service position. (Remind me to tell you about the dining room table i made for a couple south of Broad sometime.)

Anyway, here are some reasons that i have actually taken this job and can feel good about it:

1) I have the option to not pollute the crap out of the air.

2) I repair things as opposed to manufacturing things. Repairing, after all, is a form of recycling, and in this day and age of it's-probably-cheaper-to-just-replace-it, repairing is a rare thing.

3) The people to whom i give my labor:

a) treat their employees with respect
b) pay me a more than fair wage
c) actually use their business as a way to lift up the oppressed (as opposed to the "suppressed worker" that anoni mentions in the comment. i don't know what a "suppressed worker is.)

4) Most of the instruments Fox sells , as Wendell Berry so succinctly puts it, "use some form of solar power (such as that of the human body)" to operate, i.e. once a piano is built, it provides years of joy powered only by its human player.

5) The things i am repairing are in a category of what i call "non-vexing machines." They are not cellphones or automobiles, ipods or high-heeled shoes. When's the last time you became angry at a piano?

6) While some pianos do indeed play the conspicuous consumption card, it's the actual owners with the problem, not the instrument itself. In other words, a Humvee, when properly used, pretty much disrupts the peace of everyone around it. A piano just brings light and music into the world.

7) Additionally, a large portion of the repair work i do is on old pianos that are going into young student's homes as teaching instruments. Only a few are showpieces that go into the homes of the wealthy. (As a side note, i will mention that The Most consumptive aspect of this job has to do with the installation of pipe organs in churches. Churches spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on this stuff. Perhaps they could spend more for the suppressed worker and less on a set of handmade monitors for the choir?)

8) And finally, this work is very, very rewarding to me.


There's more, but i have to go to work now.