Themo was watching television today, big shock I know, when a very interesting commercial came on. This advertisement was for a new reality show on the History Channel following the lives of Ice Road Truckers, it looks fascinating, driving on roads of ice, risking their lives to deliver goods and supplies to diamond mines in remote areas of the world. This is just the latest show on television highlighting obscure occupations, shows like Dirty Jobs and Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel. These shows are definitely a step up from standard reality fare, but they aren’t perfect.
The primary problem I see with these shows is that we have become so soft as a society that we find people who actually work for a living to be something of a novelty. When you tune into Dirty Jobs, you can see people cleaning up after the rest of us slobs, working on farms, or doing shit in a factory that the rest of us wouldn’t deign lower ourselves to do. I have much respect for people who do the crap work in today’s world. Someone needs to do it, but I have to admit I feel a little guilty when I watch these shows and my first response is “Hell no I wouldn’t do that,” but then again that I why I got a degree in the first place. Maybe these shows will have a positive impact on us, erasing the stigma we attach to these kinds of jobs, because really these people are contributing so much more to our lives than these superficial celebrities we spend so much time talking about. Maybe instead of imprisoning Paris Hilton, we could just redistribute her money to people who have to clean up after her stupid ass. Just a thought.
P.S. The picture of Carmen? Hey, she's working hard here, give her a break.
