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s.penkevich's Reviews > There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job

There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura
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it was amazing
bookshelves: japan, work_culture

I’ve worked quite the variety of jobs. Looking back, an odd job always seems rather surreal as individual jobs seem to exist in their unique culture, an aspect of working life that Kikuko Tsumura deftly captures in There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job. As the narrator navigates five different jobs over the course of a year and all the oddities that surround them, I was reminded of my own eclectic mix such as delivering bulk coffee around the midwest, bartending weddings, managing a Goodwill or working for a large park not unlike the final job in the novel. My own park experience mainly consisted of driving a garbage truck or operating a lawn mower, yet any job has it’s unexpected side and our work-crew that bordered on found-family discovered that finding dead bodies was just a fact of the job. It was during the recession while I was still in college and the park was apparently a scenic location for a quiet suicide, and us as the first in every day tended to discover the aftermath. Not to get grim, but this is the sort of element that I found Tsumura’s work really vibes with, always pushing mundane work life towards surrealism but never quite reaching a magical-realism in a way that reminds us that having a job is really quite its own bizarre reality. With humor and a charming wit, the novel follows a narrator who, having left a career due to burnout, skips around the workforce in search of ‘a job that was practically without substance, a job that sat on the borderline between being a job and not.’ With each job, Tsumura dives deeper into a darkly-comical investigation of work culture and the grip any job sneaks around you, slowly digging its claws into your life and consuming you in surprising ways as the titular statement that there are no easy jobs becomes evidently clear.

Whoever you were, there was a chance that you would end up wanting to run away from a job you had once believed in, that you would stray from the path you were on.

I simply adored this novel and there were many moments where I found myself nodding along in perhaps too eager of agreement. It is a book that make me laugh, and I loved sailing happily along the prose (beautifully translated by Polly Barton). It moves like doing a mundane task, though in a way that unlocks it as well and becomes oddly peaceful. Like a mindless task! As someone that quickly gets caught up in analyzing the society of a job, from the interpersonal dynamics and office politics to the ways each job is a window its own unique culture around the job and those who consume your product, the narrator’s observations struck me quite personally and effectively. Each job seems fairly mundane on the surface: watching spy cameras trained on a novelist who doesn’t do much, writing ads that play on a bus route, writing fun facts for cracker packages (such a satisfying phrase, say it out loud slowly a few times), putting up government posters and, finally, sitting in a hut in a park. Yet with each she finds herself drawn deeper into the job and discovering it overwhelming her life, a life that almost doesn’t exist on the page outside the context of her job. In an attempt to escape from her work burn-out, she finds each new job to be just another avenue leading back towards potential burn-out.

While different in tone and aim, Easy Job still makes for a excellent companion to Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman , beguiling the reader with it’s piercing insights into the workforce that unearth the absurdities we often overlook to get through our days. I appreciated how the novel dipped into absurdities without ever breaking from reality, the closest being the fairly Haruki Murakami-like second job where a coworker may be able to make a business appear or disappear by running bus ads (perhaps unwittingly), but each job has its own surreal quality to it with the postering job being by far my favorite. The book reads as if it could have simply been a collection of job-centered short stories, but Tsumura connects them with an overarching narrative that helps make them something greater than the sum of their parts.

While the book is specifically about Japanese work-culture, something unique and (I’ve been told) more strenuous than the US, it deals in universal existential quandaries of work life that are sure to strike a chord. Work-burnout is real, and seems to be an ever-amalgamating issue as jobs demand more of workers. A recent study in the US showed that 3 in 5 employees report negative impacts of work burnout and 61% of employees say burnout has worsened since the Covid pandemic, returning to regular work with higher expectations, longer hours little increase in pay. Throughout the novel we see many succumb to burnout, with the narrator often being their replacement. Even something seemingly simple as a favorite sports player leaving can be the final straw that makes someone’s already-overworked-and-weary emotional house of cards collapse. Almost everyone in the book seems to be barely holding on.
Nobody's life was untouched by loneliness; it was just a question of weather or not you were able to accept that loneliness for what it was. Put another way, everyone was lonely, and it was up to them whether they chose to bury that loneliness through relationships with other people, and if so, of what sort of intensity and depth.

It almost seems one must either commit fully to a job and let it become them or burnout. We see how something like a lunch group can abate the loneliness, and in each job the narrator finds herself in a new social structure around her job. I find it all too true how a job makes you see the world around you, even otherwise familiar places, in a new light. The world unlocks places or people you never knew were there and you discover vague society of psychographically linked people around the job (like in the cracker package job). I enjoy the way the narrator is often marketing to herself, craving the same meals as the author she watches on the spy camera, or riding the bus and eating at the restaurants from her ad job. And each has its own social structure with employees the narrator is acutely aware of, some more intense where ‘Staff votes left me so much at the mercy of others,’ and some with more freedom but little direction.

Yes I’d grown to be crafty, and boy did I work for it.

With each job we see how it’s inevitable to become too invested. Ideas or possible mysteries catch her attention (is there a ghost in the park? How to stop the predator lurking at bus stops?) and lead to obsessions, and it even explores that awkward feeling that spending your own money is needed to get a feel for the job. I was gripped by the story of the postering job turning into a rivalry with the ominous, vaguely threatening and ‘self-aggrandizing’ vibes of the Lonely No More group that seemed to prey on the loneliness of older people on her route and couldn’t put down the book as I was just as invested in her figuring out who they were as she was. There is this excellently executed off-putting vibe that reminded my of college youth groups marketing themselves in the dorm halls where you’d feel bad at first when people were mean to them but then saw they sort of got off on it in a weird way and it just…felt eerie and awkward. Had this section been expanded as an entire novel I would not have minded. Each story stands as uniquely awesome (the middle few the best) but this one just hit the mark for me. I also found it interesting how much the novel hinted at privatization putting a lot of social service duties on untrained employees who end up looking for missing people or stopping a wave of crime.

There Is No Such Thing as an Easy Job was a blast of joy in my life that I needed just as much as the Spring sunshine finally arriving that coincided with reading this book. It’s offbeat and vaguely dark, but in a way that comforts me deeply and completely harmonizes with my own impressions on job cultures. The narrator’s personal life is teased out through the book, making her almost only a product of her employment than a person at times, but the reveal of her past career also brilliantly puts much of the narrative and her brand of observations into an even more meaningful context than I’d imagined. This was a blast and I honestly didn’t want it to ever end, slowly savoring each section and being as engulfed within the individual job culture as the narrator herself. While there is no easy job, this also arrives at some resignated conclusions about work (though I would have preferred more of a condemnation but hey) and this book is a lovely companion to help see you through all the absurdities and surrealism of your daily grind.

4.5/5

Also a huge shoutout to Nenia for co-reading this with me! Read her amazing review here!
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Reading Progress

June 15, 2021 – Shelved
June 15, 2021 – Shelved as: to-read
Started Reading
2023 – Finished Reading
April 3, 2023 – Shelved as: japan
April 3, 2023 – Shelved as: work_culture

Comments Showing 1-50 of 78 (78 new)


s.penkevich Ingrid wrote: "Adding to TBR because same hahahah"

Haha right? Seems so relatable hah


Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell I just finished my Elizabeth Bathory book, so let me know when you'd like to start this :)


s.penkevich Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ wrote: "I just finished my Elizabeth Bathory book, so let me know when you'd like to start this :)"

Oh perfect! I’d say I’d start right now but I know damn well I’ll fall asleep two pages in so I can start tomorrow haha


Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell s.penkevich wrote: "Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ wrote: "I just finished my Elizabeth Bathory book, so let me know when you'd like to start this :)"

Oh perfect! I’d say I’d start right now but I know damn..."


YAY

Tomorrow sounds good!


s.penkevich Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ wrote: "I just finished my Elizabeth Bathory book, so let me know when you'd like to start this :)"

Oh perfect! I’d say I’d start right..."


Can’t wait!


Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell Her job is so weird and interesting. I'm oddly fascinated.


message 7: by s.penkevich (last edited Mar 22, 2023 02:18PM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

s.penkevich Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ wrote: "Her job is so weird and interesting. I'm oddly fascinated."

RIGHT?! I actually just started so I'm only 10pgs in but already hooked. I love the whole illicit materials in a DVD case.


Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell s.penkevich wrote: "Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ wrote: "Her job is so weird and interesting. I'm oddly fascinated."

RIGHT?! I actually just started so I'm only 10pgs in but already hooked. I love the who..."


Omg yes. I actually wrote a book where people smuggle coke in VHS cases so I kind of want to sit down with this author and have a meeting of criminal minds over coffee. xD


message 9: by Mir (new)

Mir Existential Crisis? Different from other work experience how? Ha.


Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell OK so I just met Ms. Eriguchi and I'm wondering what's up with her LOL


Karen Patrick Having a job is really its own bizarre reality. Beautifully worded review! I was thinking the exact same thing when I came across the magical-realism aspects of this novel. It was one of my most enjoyable 2022 novels as well.


Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell Great review, Spenk! I really enjoyed our BR! We should do another sometime. :)

I definitely feel that when burnout is such a prominent issue in a culture/society, something ought to change.


s.penkevich Karen wrote: "Having a job is really its own bizarre reality. Beautifully worded review! I was thinking the exact same thing when I came across the magical-realism aspects of this novel. It was one of my most en..."

Thank you so much! I’m glad you loved it so much as well (amazing review by the way) and I miiiiight bump to 5 stars? I went back and forth, but this just delighted me the whole time, just a good mood read for sure.


message 14: by Samantha (new) - added it

Samantha Great review! I have been chasing the Convenience Store Woman high ever since I read it, so I might need to bump this up the tbr.


s.penkevich Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ wrote: "Great review, Spenk! I really enjoyed our BR! We should do another sometime. :)

I definitely feel that when burnout is such a prominent issue in a culture/society, something ought to change."



Me too! We definitely should, sorry I’m actually a pretty slow reader haha
And YEA! I feel like if you get burnt by a job it really does take awhile to like…get back on your game (I was so jaded after leaving Barnes and Noble it took me a buffer job before I was like back to being my normal me haha). I did enjoy the way this captured Japanese work culture in a way that still felt universal though. And also all the food references, I wanted to eat everything she mentions haha


s.penkevich Samantha wrote: "Great review! I have been chasing the Convenience Store Woman high ever since I read it, so I might need to bump this up the tbr."

Thank you! And SAME, I loved that book so much. This is quite different but like…scratches similar itches when it comes to just how bizarre having a job is when you overthink it haha I hope you enjoy


message 17: by Julio (new)

Julio Pino I've done a lot of terrible things in my life but a 9-5 job isn't one of them. It's worse than any of the Seven Deadly Sins.


s.penkevich Julio wrote: "I've done a lot of terrible things in my life but a 9-5 job isn't one of them. It's worse than any of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Haha indeed! And good work. I had one, sort of hated it and I recall one thing I noticed first was I missed having days off that weren’t a weekend. But then again I also worked 3 jobs at a time for two years and only had some Sundays off so I suppose that was better haha


Taeko I remember enjoying this very interesting book.


message 20: by Stacey B (new)

Stacey B I must have missed this. I enjoyed Convenience Store
Woman and had a different take on it than others did.


message 21: by Julio (new)

Julio Pino s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "I've done a lot of terrible things in my life but a 9-5 job isn't one of them. It's worse than any of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Haha indeed! And good work. I had one, sort of hated it ..."


We should all follow the advice of Paul Lafarge (Max's son-in-law) and exercise the "right to be lazy". Indeed, that was Paul's conception of communism and the title of his one book.


s.penkevich Meera wrote: "I remember enjoying this very interesting book."

Glad you enjoyed it as well! Interesting for sure, the offbeat vibes really worked for me


s.penkevich Stacey B wrote: "I must have missed this. I enjoyed Convenience Store
Woman and had a different take on it than others did."


It’s worth a read, pretty offbeat and absurd in an oddly calm way. Yea that one was quite excellent too, and while they are fairly different in aim I feel they scratch similar itches if that makes sense.


s.penkevich Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "I've done a lot of terrible things in my life but a 9-5 job isn't one of them. It's worse than any of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Haha indeed! And good work. I had on..."


Woah I actually put that on hold just last week haha I was gathering library loan books and that was one of them that I thought “okay I need to read this” haha


message 25: by Zoe (new)

Zoe Artemis Spencer Reid Fabulous review, friend, you make it sounds so appealing to read !


s.penkevich Zoe wrote: "Fabulous review, friend, you make it sounds so appealing to read !"

Thank you so much! This book really charmed me


message 27: by Julio (new)

Julio Pino s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "I've done a lot of terrible things in my life but a 9-5 job isn't one of them. It's worse than any of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Haha indeed! And good ..."

Absolutely, S. Also, recall the slogan of the Yippies on work: "Let the machines do it". That demand came true, though not in the way Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin imagined.


s.penkevich Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "I've done a lot of terrible things in my life but a 9-5 job isn't one of them. It's worse than any of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Ha..."


Yeaaaaa I wrote a big paper on that for a class (I have an Econ minor for some reason) that like…what did anyone think we were making robots for, our economy has to adapt because the whole goal was to not have to work which….didn’t go over well with about half my classmates haha


message 29: by Chantel (new)

Chantel Once again, not going to read this whole thing until I've gotten a chance to read it myself but, I'm so thrilled to see that this is so highly rated by you! :)


s.penkevich Chantel wrote: "Once again, not going to read this whole thing until I've gotten a chance to read it myself but, I'm so thrilled to see that this is so highly rated by you! :)"

Yay I'd love to hear what you think of this one! It seems pretty hit or miss with people and while I initially had 4 stars...I just absolutely loved the experience of reading this and was thinking about it constantly in between reading so I bumped it up since it was just overall a lovely 2 weeks with a book haha.


message 31: by s.penkevich (last edited Apr 06, 2023 06:58PM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

s.penkevich Elyse wrote: "Wow!!! s.penkevich…. I’m so inspired —thanks for sharing your personal experiences— and a great review of this book.
I had a library copy ways back - but never got to it in time. I ought to try ag..."


Thank you so much! Ha i swear that Park job is actually one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had…minus the random bodies.
It was pretty good! It starts a bit slow and I see why people wouldn’t like it but it just REALLY hit the right vibes for me. Hope you enjoy if you get to it again!


Southern Lady Reads Great review! I love the title of this - adding to my TBR immediately.


message 33: by Julio (last edited Apr 07, 2023 07:48AM) (new)

Julio Pino s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "I've done a lot of terrible things in my life but a 9-5 job isn't one of them. It's worse than any of the Seven Dea..."
"Human beings fashion technology, and then refashion themselves in the image of that technology".---John Brockman, EINSTEIN, GERTRUDE STEIN, WITTGENSTEIN AND FRANKENSTEIN: REINVENTING THE UNIVERSE


s.penkevich Southern Lady Reads wrote: "Great review! I love the title of this - adding to my TBR immediately."

Thank you so much! It’s really lovely, I hope you enjoy!


s.penkevich Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "I've done a lot of terrible things in my life but a 9-5 job isn't one of them. It's worse than ..."

Oooooooh i need to read that, that sounds very much my jam haha


message 36: by Julio (new)

Julio Pino S. tis a masterpiece but for some strange reason the only copy I've ever found, and the only one listed here on GOODREADS, is the Portuguese translation, which I bought in Brazil. I hope you can find the English original.


s.penkevich Julio wrote: "S. tis a masterpiece but for some strange reason the only copy I've ever found, and the only one listed here on GOODREADS, is the Portuguese translation, which I bought in Brazil. I hope you can fi..."

Ha Yea i was noticing that trying to track down a used copy briefly last night. Seems it at least had a hardcover release in English but couldn’t seem to find any English paperback editions. Might snag one of the hardcovers though, sounds amazing thanks!


message 38: by hope (new)

hope h. EXCELLENT review, this sounds like an amazing read! i love books about work culture by japanese authors because wow they nail it every time (i felt entirely too seen while reading convenience store woman hahaha) and this sounds like a great continuation of that trend. and also kind of like it was tailor made for you? i love that it gets into the social hierarchies and cultures in different workplaces too, because that is so fascinating to me and i feel like it always ends up as this unspoken thing. i want to see more books dig into that! there's so much to talk about (as we have proven because wow that makes up a solid chunk of our conversations). i love that line of yours "It almost seems one must either commit fully to a job and let it become them or burnout" because.....yeah, been there. i definitely need to read this one, great job on the review!


s.penkevich hope wrote: "EXCELLENT review, this sounds like an amazing read! i love books about work culture by japanese authors because wow they nail it every time (i felt entirely too seen while reading convenience store..."

Thank you so much! I just really loved this one it had all the right vibes for me. But yea definitely a good continuation of the ideas in Murata and definitely gets into the sort of work convos we have. I think you’d dig it! Also did you ever read The Nakano Thrift Shop? Another fav of mine and gets into like…how you start to too much gossip about your regulars or locals around your workplace haha, I love it.
But YEA burnout is real. It makes me think of how like…the library started off as an “easy” job and now I’m on way too many committees haha. It’s so spot on in so many ways, definitely a fav of the year so far.


message 40: by Hoda (new) - rated it 5 stars

Hoda Marmar Yes indeed it is a companion of Convenience store Woman..


message 41: by Julio (new)

Julio Pino s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "S. tis a masterpiece but for some strange reason the only copy I've ever found, and the only one listed here on GOODREADS, is the Portuguese translation, which I bought in Brazil. I h..."
You are very welcome, S. John Brockman is an amazing writer of popular science. I suggest you try his anthology, WHAT IS YOUR MOST DANGEROUS IDEA?, which I have reviewed here on Goodreads.


s.penkevich Hoda wrote: "Yes indeed it is a companion of Convenience store Woman.."

Yea I like to think of Convenience Store Woman, Mr Nakano’s Thrift Shop and this as my trilogy of jobs haha


s.penkevich Julio wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Julio wrote: "S. tis a masterpiece but for some strange reason the only copy I've ever found, and the only one listed here on GOODREADS, is the Portuguese translation, which I b..."

Oooo okay just read it and ordered a copy that sounds right up my alley, thank you!


message 44: by Julio (new)

Julio Pino Great. S. Let me know what you think. Brockman explores the farther shores of everything from linguistics to chaos theory.


s.penkevich Julio wrote: "Great. S. Let me know what you think. Brockman explores the farther shores of everything from linguistics to chaos theory."

Yea that is an amazing mix, looking forward to it!


message 46: by hope (new)

hope h. s.penkevich wrote: "hope wrote: "EXCELLENT review, this sounds like an amazing read! i love books about work culture by japanese authors because wow they nail it every time (i felt entirely too seen while reading conv..."

yeah that sounds perfect, i need to check it out sometime!! and yesss i did read nakano thrift shop! i read it all in one sitting, i FLEW through that one because i just enjoyed the vibes so much. all the coworker bonding and gossiping about the regulars and weird bosses is too real hahaha
and yeahhhh i mean even just working with patrons makes it hard for the library to be an actual easy job because of how quickly you can get emotionally involved i think? and then you do like eight hundred side projects haha you gotta stop taking on more work! but also i get it i always want to do more too and then i'm like oh i overcommitted whoops


s.penkevich hope wrote: "yeah that sounds perfect, i need to check it out sometime!! and yesss i did read nakano thrift shop! i read it all in one sitting, i..."

Oh that’s right! Yea I love that one as well, all the gossip and just like, floating through the work week vibes haha
And TRUE, I feel like on the surface it seems like a laid back job but there is definitely a big layer of emotional labor that gets overlooked, and then the constant wanting to do more/do better. Which like, at least at a library it feels like actually doing something meaningful and helping the community and not just ticking off the boxes for stocks to go up haha
But yea I think you would like this one a lot!


message 48: by hope (new)

hope h. s.penkevich wrote: "hope wrote: "yeah that sounds perfect, i need to check it out sometime!! and yesss i did read nakano thrift shop! i read it all in one sitting, i..."

Oh that’s right! Yea I love that one as well, ..."


yes!! i love those vibes haha like where life is just sort of happening and floating by but the pov character isn't particularly worried about it and kind of just keeps gossiping and poking into people's lives. that's the DREAM. i also loved that it was set in a thrift store so you have all the weird stuff that people bring in and the trinkets in every corner, it's so charming
YEAH like i appreciate that when i'm working hard and like going above and beyond at the library it's because i'm actually doing something that's positively impacting my community and there's a slightly less pervasive "slave to capitalism" vibe hahahaha. but yeahhh the emotional labor is real and nobody talks about it unless they also work in the library circles. like how every time i tell someone i work at a library they're like oh that must be so relaxing and i'm like....no not really actually haha


s.penkevich hope wrote: "yes!! i love those vibes haha like where life is just sort of happening and floating by but the pov character isn't particularly worried about it and ..."

YEAH I love how each part was centered around a certain item, and how like objects can be a gravitational center that collect the debris of life to form a story in their orbit. I love that Japanese women authors seem to have found the pulse on that vibe, those books have been my favorites the past few years. Like even Breast and Eggs sort of touches on work culture in an interesting way focusing a lot on how work culture is coded with misogyny? I just like books where people think a ton about everyday things haha give me a book built on vibes not plot any day.
And true! Do you ever like kind of dig into the interplay of working both a library and bookstore? I find it’s so similar but also accesses different parts of my psyche in a lot of ways too? We should have a convo on that, I’d be interested in your thoughts. Because I love both and see them as how being better at one makes me better at the other especially when I approach the bookstore more like a library.
But TRUE. And like, when you work with patrons and then see how much the rest of societal systems are working against you and them? Nobody talks about how much it is integrated with unhoused services, I LOVE that we partner with CAH and spend a lot of meeting energy toying with the guidelines on how to best get them cards and access, but then like once a week some patron will saddle up next to you and be like “uhhh there’s homeless people here and…” Like I sometimes feel like decades of library generalizations have created a…not a stereotype but just false impression?…that overlook that access for all is one of our primary priorities? And that it can become a really emotionally investive goal that you have to quickly learn how to process to not get overwhelmed? It’s nothing like being a doctor but I see a parallel in like..the first time the reality of the job and human frailty and society comes down hard and you sort of break for a moment and have to learn from that and sort of have a metamorphosis into a stronger library worker? Which all sounds FUCKED talking about a job that doesn’t even pay that well haha. Have you read much on vocational awe? Worth a good google deep dive.
Wow that got long, hell yea libraries haha.


message 50: by hope (new)

hope h. s.penkevich wrote: "hope wrote: "yes!! i love those vibes haha like where life is just sort of happening and floating by but the pov character isn't particularly worried about it and ..."

YEAH I love how each part wa..."


yes!! i think because the japanese work culture is so intense that it kind of permeates the book even when it's not necessarily about work (like in breasts and eggs) and it's always such poignant observations where it's like YES it's EXACTLY LIKE THAT. but same here i love when a book really gets into everyday things or like it all happens internally, i think you can get some really cool stories out of that (albeit slower ones)
oooh yes i think about that a lot, like the similarities and differences between the two jobs and how people would assume that they're very similar but like...the customer service aspects of both are SO different. like serving a patron is so different from serving a customer even if it's technically similar. but also in both you end up being a sort of jack of all trades hahaha. i really like the idea of approaching the bookstore more like a library though, we should definitely have a proper conversation about that
YES i totally get what you mean!! like i think what we're doing is SO cool and at this point i'm so used to it that i forget that people come to the library and have this like this idea of it as this quiet calm place that's super orderly (which always translates to no homeless people of course). but it's also interesting comparing that idea to the way the landscape is changing today and more people are like, creating this idea of libraries as evil places where librarians groom children hahaha. both of which ignore that one of the biggest purposes of the library is to serve as a community resource
and yesssss no i get what you mean it's like you get thrown straight into the fire and then you either go 'oh shit i thought this was going to be an easy job' and quit or you go 'oh shit this is going to be emotionally exhausting and underpaying and tough but we are like helping people who really need it here' and then you get INTO it. (and yes i have read some about vocational awe, i know you sent me some articles on it a while back? i need to read more though)
HELL YEA LIBRARIES hahaha a long comment and an even longer response but how can you keep it short when there's so much nuance right?


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