Overall, the kind of work I do includes many many other things that people who would love jobs #1 and #2 would find unpleasant. However, many of us self-employed / entrepreneurs / business owners / etc.. wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Then again, these kind of books are written to help people find satisfaction living in the system, not to encourage being independent.

If we choose to live in a small town with limited work options, then our choice of job is limited. That being said, there are so many opportunities to find type #1 jobs through the Internet that it doesn’t matter where you are.

That being said, I do believe that there is a tendency to ignore the jobs that support most of us, especially in books like The Four Hour Work Week – can you imagine if the people at a chicken processing plant decided they only wanted to work four hours? Not possible. Same with plumbers, firefighters, store owners, and a whole multitude of people.

But as long as we make choices based on knowing what we want out of life the remaining choices aren’t difficult to make because they support that dream. If however that first choice is made out of obligation or without any thought at all, then the rest of the choices can seem hard and menial.

What a great conversation happening here!

But that’s not me. I’m a whole person on my own. I just happen to have to work because I wasn’t born into royalty (unfortunately!). And I have a good job that earns a good salary, but I know that it isn’t my “vocare” (or vocation, calling). I’m young, so I’ll keep looking and hope I find one, but if I don’t, I know that I’ll still be a whole person on my own terms.

But this isn’t my life. It’s not what fulfills me or makes me want to get up in the morning. But it takes up so much of my time and energy, and I’m never “off,” so I don’t have the time or the energy to pursue the things I really do love – my home, my family, scrapbooking, reading, etc.

I keep telling my husband that I want to be a grocery cashier. He doesn’t understand. How could that be fulfilling? Easy. You can do it “right,” heck, be the best cashier there is, and then go home at the end of the day, and have your whole evening for yourself and your family. Work isn’t (and probably will never be) what fulfills me.

And that’s OK. I’m learning that, and I’m happy about your post because I think you’re helping others learn it’s OK to want a life beyond work.

I think that Tobias and Igypsypacker have missed the point about the type 2 jobs. These jobs can be menial and include the jobs that other people may not want, but they can nonetheless be a valuable job to have, if they provide honest work and put a roof over your head and food on the table. I’ve stacked shelves, waitressed and cleaned toilets for a living before and I’ll do it again if necessary – despite the fact that I’ve worked as a senior manager and have a PhD.

I would agree that if you choose to live in a small town there may well be fewer opportunities than in a big city, but there are usually a number of type 2 jobs available. The point is that it’s a choice. I’m choosing to live more frugally and will probably move back to a rural area so I can work towards my dreams. I may not achieve them, but I’ll have reduced stress and lived a more authentic life along the way.

I grew up in a small town in Kansas, my high school class had something like a 55% graduation rate, I wasn’t a prom-queen, or popular, whose divorced parents didn’t pay for her to go to college. Saying that living in small-town USA eats away at your freedoms is nonsense.

If you can’t tell, I feel very passionate about this issue. Read my interview on Someday Syndrome to get a more complete picture of where my strong beliefs on this issue come from: http://somedaysyndrome.com/200.....interview/

There’s a difference between finding contentment in working a monotonous job or fulfillment in your chosen work (be it assembly line or full-time mom) and working a series of lousy/tedious/undesirable jobs because that’s all that’s available & you have bills hanging over you.

I love my kids and willing change their diapers, and I’d probably be just as willing to do it for my parents if it one day comes to that, but that doesn’t mean I want a job in the sick ward wiping bottoms & cleaning up messes all day. But if I got laid-off tomorrow and that were all that was available to me, you be I’d do it to support my family. And I’d be thankful for it. But I wouldn’t love it.

Most of the daily comforts & conveniences we take for granted rely on someone else who gets paid significantly less than us doing some dirty work that we wouldn’t want to do ourselves.

However, I’m working on focusing on the positive in my current job (I’m aware that NO JOB will ever be perfect) and am choosing to believe that I can find a job that I truly love.

It’s about being happy with what you have, but not settling for something that is less than you expect for your life. I choose to believe that the best career possible awaits for me, and all I have to do is actively seek it out!

It is necessary to find our own meaning for our own jobs, to investigate how each job makes the world a better place, and to search our consciences if the job does not.

And yes, I do the jobs Tobin describes. Most women do, even if not in the paid workforce. Most of us are overqualified for that work, but everyone else weasels out of it. Check out the Langley article on AlterNet concerning one variety of this type of work, then decide if the world can do without the dirty workers.