Several years ago, I read a study (I don't remember who prepared it anymore) published by a newspaper (I don't remember which one), mentioning that the title of the ‘most comfortable' job in the world was given to a young man whose job was to sleep in a bed in a furniture gallery, to show the customers how comfortable the bed was. But government employees don't need comfortable beds to sleep; they can sleep sitting in their chairs, and the difference between them and chess players is that chess players move from time to time. For this reason, typical government employees don't drink coffee during working hours, because that would prevent them from sleeping. Now I admit that I have been looking for years for a sinecure where I do nothing. However, the people who do nothing filled all such positions, and for this reason, I am still writing, and the reader is still reading for some mysterious reason which is likely to be self torture in my opinion. But then, what is the worst possible job? I don't know what the worst job in the world is; however, I read on a website a list of the worst ten careers in the United States. At number ten, mail carriers, earning 50041 dollars on average annually At nine, meter readers, (electric and water meters for example) earning 33170 dollars At eight, construction workers, with an average annual wage of 29200 dollars At seven, taxi drivers, earning 22113 dollars At six, garbage collectors, earning 31183 dollars At five, welders (metal welders), earning 34122 dollars At four, dairy farmers, earning 32114 dollars At three, ironworkers, earning 32123 dollars At two, lumberjacks (timber loggers), earning 32114 dollars And the worst career is that of roustabouts, who earn an average of 31133 dollars per year. But the worst job mentioned in the list above, is probably better than the best job in Third World countries, including the Arab world. In reality, the smallest annual income in the list above – that of the taxi driver- is more than the salary of some ministers in many countries. Nonetheless, a salary is not everything. The most important difference between the worst job in America and the best job in the Arab world is that Americans work in an atmosphere of freedom, in which they are not afraid to express their opinions regarding the management or the manager, and that taxi drivers are not afraid that their passengers might turn out to be informants trying to set them up. Moreover, perhaps – and rather unfortunately – all those who really understand politics and the best way to govern in the United States are taxi drivers or barbers, and not members of Congress. What are the worst ten jobs in the Arab world? I did not ask this in order to answer it, but rather in order to let the readers choose. They will probably manage to come up with a hundred jobs in our countries, of which each is worse than the ten worst jobs in the United States. In some countries, there are many functions called jobs but where no actual work is ever done, a phenomenon that is otherwise known as ‘hidden unemployment'. This may take the form of a governmental job where the employee does not have an office at the department in which he ‘works', and who is subsequently not expected to be present except when it's time to receive his measly salary at the end of the month. Furthermore, there are companies in rich Arab countries that are compelled to hire native employees to satisfy the “quota” required of them. However, everyone knows that native employees don't actually work because foreign companies cannot fire them, with the result being that production costs increase for the company, and the remainder of the citizens bearing the burden of those hired locals. My personal ambition is to work a government job; this last statement however is self contradictory because there is no work in a government job. Also, the government itself does not work, and yet, the government is still accused of this or that, and the Prime Minister for example cannot defend himself by saying “but we didn't do anything!” If this is not possible, then I want to work for a foreign company that is compelled to hire people like me. And if that as well is not possible, then I aspire to succeed Abdo at work, after hearing someone asking: when will you hire someone to fill the vacuum left by Abdo? And the answer was: Abdo did not leave any vacuum. I heard about a man who works in a job similar to what I mentioned above. His son kept asking him about his work, and in the end, the father was annoyed and said that he doesn't do anything. The son thought for a moment and then asked: how then do you know when you finished work? Even if the employee doesn't do anything, he still has to have an irrational, let alone impractical, relation with his employer, because if he should ask for a raise, they will dispense of him, and if he asks for a leave, they will tell him that he is indispensable. What's the way out then? The smart employee, who if he were really smart would have his own company with his own employees, is someone who works enough not to be fired, and earns enough not to think about quitting. Finally, working is better than unemployment, because the unemployed starts his ‘job' the minute he wakes up. [email protected]
