Gig: Americans Talk about Their Jobs

Inspired by Studs Terkel’s Working, the editors of the webzine Word began asking their friends, and friends of friends, to talk about their jobs. The number of online interviewees grew and the project developed into a literary record of over 150 personal accounts of work in the United States. The debt to Terkel's Working is obvious, but Gig is a worthy update of the 1974 classic.

I picked up Gig in a moment of employment angst, hoping for the grim satisfaction that my job is better than his, hers — someone's! What I found was more intriguing than a self-serving pat on the back. The fact of the matter is that the employed masses share a common thread other than the basic goal: money. We all need to survive and desire comfort. But, most of us also want to produce something we can be proud of. No matter the occupation — smokehouse pit cook, carnival worker, diet center owner, squash instructor — all of us strive for a sense of satisfaction and usefulness from our work. This should come as no surprise considering, with the exception of sleep, work takes up the majority of our time.

Gig is filled with page-turning revelations — here are the everyday lives of a stunning variety of workers told with brutal honesty. William, a UPS driver from New Jersey, recounts the important things you learn on the job, "who has a good bathroom, who has a clean bathroom, and who has a paper, and who has porno for the bathroom." Shortly after, a pretzel vendor brazenly divulges that her involvement in the farmers market stand was not just about the easy money, but also the easy lovin'...with her boss. There’s the poultry factory worker who rightfully fears for his safety on a daily basis, and small-business owner Neal who cleans crime scenes for a living.

The material speaks for itself. All the subjects are allowed to relate their stories in their own words, no editorial comments added. As Marisa Bowe states in the introduction, "We don’t presume to say anything in particular about 'work in contemporary American society.' We believe that 'contemporary American society' speaks pretty well for itself." If Gig is any indication, then I wholeheartedly agree.

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