Art & Commerce: Consumer Republic

Every life tells a story. In Gig, we are what we do. A few weeks ago we popped in at the local multiplex to see A Perfect Storm, which, even by the brain-dead standards of a summer blockbuster, was lousy. (About 30 minutes into the interminable set-up that's supposed to make the audience care about the characters, my bored husband leaned over to ask, "Is it cloudy yet?") The only moments the movie came alive were the scenes in which the doomed fishermen went fishing: punishing, dangerous, bloody labor that made this knowledge worker want to go home and hug her computer. It was far more compelling to watch these guys work than to watch them drown. You'll also find a commercial fisherman in Gig, alongside a highway flagger, diet-center owner, tofu manufacturer and hundreds of others, all talking about their jobs. This hefty collection of interviews from the editors of the Web magazine Word.com, where most of these tales first appeared, is an updated homage to Stud Terkel's Working (a 1972 classic which demonstrated how riveting and revealing people's stories about their jobs can be.) These days, however, the word "work" is too earnest, too look-for-the-union-label for editors who disavow any political agenda; thus, the flippant title, which reflects the "cynical and yet playful work ethic" of our po-mo age. But there is nothing flippant about this cross section of American workers. It is a commonplace today to say we live not in a producer but a consumer economy and that consumption is our primary vehicle of self-expression. Gig gives the lie to all that. There's a lot more "self" revealed in these stories of work than in a thousand "badge" brands. Consumables speak (often falsely) about us. But when it comes to work, only the worker can tell the story. Those who make their living studying what focus groups have to say about shoes, cars or detergent will find this book a tonic. Every walk of life, Gig makes clear, has its own unique tale. But as a whole, the book suggests that a remarkable number of people get a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction out of what they do. People with challenging jobs like them because they are challenging. People with boring jobs like them because they are boring. Some love jobs that they admit destroy or blight other parts of of their lives. Yet while many people have a keen sense of the personal meaning of their jobs, it's not always clear how their work connects to the larger world. As a Kinko's "co-worker" says of her employer, "I mean, I don't know. It is very corporate. That's just what it is. And so things are the way they are. You know." One surprise in Gig: The more glamorous or prestigious the job, the less compelling the story. In the next installment (the sequel potential of this Working/Gig format is infinite), the editors should lighten up on media and entertainment businesses, which are so overexposed they hold no surprises. When a CEO natters on about creating a return for the stockholders my eyes started to wander, whereas I was transfixed by the worker in a traveling carnival. And although a Web content producer gets her say, we are blissfully spared a day in the life of a dot-com entrepreneur. At its best, Gig is like an exotic travel book, taking its readers to new worlds other people inhabit day in and out. Did you know it's best to wear duct tape over your mouth when herding buffalo to avoid accidentally startling the beasts? A professional crime-scene cleaner (he got the idea for his business from watching Harvey Keitel wipe splattered brains out of a car in the movie Pulp Fiction) reveals how to dispose of gun-blasted innards legally. One warning: There are a number of accounts in Gig which do not bode well for our "consumer-focused" economy. It becomes clear that the corporate managers, strategists, consultants and marketers who are the biggest cheerleaders of "customer-centric" business practices rarely, if ever, deal with customers. Those who do tell a different story. Apparently, the real obstacle to creating a customer-focused economy is the customer. Service and salespeople testify to the legions of rude, mean, thieving, demanding jerks that blight their world. As the supervisor of a telemarketing group (where the job turnover rate among callers is 60 percent a week) puts it: "The customers, basically, are assholes. It's like, haven't any of them had to work for a living?" K

Brand Marketing

Art & Commerce: Consumer Republic

Debra Goldman

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Debra Goldman