Work
The drive home is, for most, the highlight of their workday. There is always something ineffably special about the drive home on Fridays: The weaving of the chemically-impaired driver is jauntier, the curses from the driver you just cut off are more colorful- even the roadkill seems to have a special glimmer in its eye- if the eye is still anywhere near the main body.
They say that everyone needs a job- not exactly true: everyone needs money, and a job (for most folk) is simply a way to get money. Sure, there's always that lucky duck who happens to get a job doing something he loves so much he'd be doing it anyway, as a hobby, but for well over 95% of the workplace the paycheck is the only reason they walk in and get to work, instead of just chucking a Molotov cocktail in through the door.
Of course, people on TV always have fabulous jobs (just like they always have fabulous hair and fabulous clothes). Since TV time is compressed (An "hour" long show only has less than 45 minutes, so they have to make every second count) we don't see them cruise for half an hour just to find a parking spot- unless it's to milk the "humor" of the situation. Same with spending four hours in a meeting to discuss why the work isn't getting done (and yes I know that sounds like a Dilbert strip but I've actually been in those in real life!), delivering status reports to "superiors" who have no idea what you're doing or why.
TV cops generally solve their cases in an hour; we usually don't see the hours and days they spend tediously sifting a mountain of irrelevancy to find that one meaningful clue. Starship officers get to see the wonders of the universe, unless they're Ensigns assigned to the landing party as Security. CSI investigators seem to have a way cool job on TV... but in real life I imagine a lot more time is spent on hands and knees searching for any tiny residual clues.
Just as TV glamorizes conspicuous consumption, violence and general obnoxious behavior, so to does TV tend to idealize almost any given profession. TV can make any job look exciting and generally wonderful. Best to check with people in any particular field to see what conditions there area really like... and be sure to not take anything you see on TV too seriously.
They say that everyone needs a job- not exactly true: everyone needs money, and a job (for most folk) is simply a way to get money. Sure, there's always that lucky duck who happens to get a job doing something he loves so much he'd be doing it anyway, as a hobby, but for well over 95% of the workplace the paycheck is the only reason they walk in and get to work, instead of just chucking a Molotov cocktail in through the door.
Of course, people on TV always have fabulous jobs (just like they always have fabulous hair and fabulous clothes). Since TV time is compressed (An "hour" long show only has less than 45 minutes, so they have to make every second count) we don't see them cruise for half an hour just to find a parking spot- unless it's to milk the "humor" of the situation. Same with spending four hours in a meeting to discuss why the work isn't getting done (and yes I know that sounds like a Dilbert strip but I've actually been in those in real life!), delivering status reports to "superiors" who have no idea what you're doing or why.
TV cops generally solve their cases in an hour; we usually don't see the hours and days they spend tediously sifting a mountain of irrelevancy to find that one meaningful clue. Starship officers get to see the wonders of the universe, unless they're Ensigns assigned to the landing party as Security. CSI investigators seem to have a way cool job on TV... but in real life I imagine a lot more time is spent on hands and knees searching for any tiny residual clues.
Just as TV glamorizes conspicuous consumption, violence and general obnoxious behavior, so to does TV tend to idealize almost any given profession. TV can make any job look exciting and generally wonderful. Best to check with people in any particular field to see what conditions there area really like... and be sure to not take anything you see on TV too seriously.
I like this ... I'm on a vote frenzy ...
David ...