Both the governor and a candidate for U.S. Senate recently announced that they will revive Bob Graham's "workdays." This caused me to reflect on the many "workdays" of my life.
I was 10 years old the first time I was paid to work for someone else. I made a whopping 50 cents to mow lawns. I later had a paper route, scooped ice cream at an ice cream shop, cleaned a movie theater every day, and worked at a record warehouse -- all before I was 15.
In high school I worked as a photographer for a small newspaper, worked in the Sears customer service department, was a janitor for a dry cleaner's and prepared tax returns for a local accountant.
In college, I dug ditches for a plumber -- raking in $20 a day -- and spent many nights loading and unloading tractor trailers, while attending class in the day. Driving home at dawn every morning covered in dirt and sweat is something I will never forget.
One of the most rewarding jobs I had was working as a bookkeeper at the LARC. We provided paying jobs to the developmentally disabled. Great people with big hearts.
One of the most interesting jobs was working as security at the local civic center during concerts. I found out that some fans who attend George Jones/Hank Williams Jr. concerts consider fighting to be a recreational sport.
I was once assigned to be the bodyguard for Andre the Giant during a pro-wrestling event. Even though I had a blackbelt in karate, at 8 feet tall and well over 300 pounds, he really didn't need my help.
After law school most of my jobs involved practicing law, although I did teach a college class one semester. I also worked as a volunteer on several Habitat for Humanity homes. My back has never been the same after a full day of laying sod!
All of these experiences have taught me the value of hard work. More importantly, it helped me to not only understand the challenges of people who live pay check to pay check, but also to appreciate the person who signed my pay check.
"Workdays" performed bypoliticians are well-intentioned and can help them learn how different jobs are performed from a mechanical standpoint. But spending a day learning how to perform a job is far different than going to a job day after day, working as hard as you can and hoping to someday make more money to provide for your family. It's different when it's your life.
Thus, if the purpose is to experience what it's like to be a construction worker, or maid, or nurse, or teacher, the only way to really do so is to live it.
That is not to say that workdays are a waste of time -- they do provide the opportunity for hard-working people to speak directly to elected officials. You can learn a whole lot when you listen to the unfiltered thoughts and concerns of those you are elected to serve. For that reason alone, workdays are time well spent.
Jeff Kottkamp served as Florida's 17th lieutenant governor and served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives.
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