Good for the Soul and the Pocketbook

Let’s all take a break from the serious business of enjoying this Labor Day weekend and ponder the phenomenon of work.

Work is something most of us do, or will do if we are kids, or have done if we are retired.

Work puts food on the table and keeps creditors at bay. It drags us out of bed on Monday mornings and sends us back there, weary, most nights. It gets in the way of play and squeezes our family time more than most of us would like.

But there is value in work far beyond what is left of the paycheck after all those deductions.

Our work helps define how we see ourselves and how we see the world. It gives our lives a rhythm, satisfaction, a sense that to some degree we are in control.

This is true even in a time of uncertainty in the workplace. Companies are downsizing. Career-long commitments between loyal worker and benevolent employer are becoming rare. One bitter labor dispute has just ended at UPS; another continues at the Ventura County Community College District.

In addition, many jobs have been dumbed down until you have to use your imagination to see any spiritual reward. Some people feel stuck in their jobs or are working so hard they never stop to think about them at all.

These thoughts come as Ventura County gets rolling with its program to move welfare recipients into the work force as part of the nationwide push for welfare reform. More than a dozen county, state and federal agencies are meeting regularly with John Flynn, chairman of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, to find ways to remove the barriers: child care, transportation, health issues, training, habits.

In a pilot program in south Oxnard called PRIDE--Partnerships to Restore Independence and Dignity Through Employment--welfare recipients will learn marketable skills. They will receive training in workplace etiquette and the work ethic. They, and any other citizen who wants it, will get help finding jobs.

And in time, they will discover that earning money feels different from merely receiving money.

“When you have a job and you can see that you’re making a difference, it affects your self-esteem,” said Supervisor Frank Schillo, who worked with Flynn to put the county’s welfare reform plan together.

“If you’re able to provide for your family--as a man or woman, single parent or whatever--that in itself is fulfilling. You have that independence. You have a decision to make about what you do with the money from your job. Work is just good for the soul.”

To the people who will be moving from welfare to the work force, welcome.

And to those who work day after day and rarely pause to think about it, bravo. Enjoy the holiday. You’ve earned it.