November 12: Airport Shuttles and Taxis

(Written 11/22)

I didn't really want to write any journal entries after-the-fact like this time. When I was in Japan, I often used to back-date things in order to keep everything in chronological order. However, lately, I am not really writing about anything in particular anyway, so I shouldn't need to right Wednesday's entry on Friday. However, I have been thinking about going back to the old format of having a clearer subject to each entry, rather than just talking about my day. Anyway, today's topic is airport shuttles and taxis (sorta).

Being an idealist, I often sit around with friends and talk about all the jobs that I would REALLLY like to do. Maybe a butler for a wealthy family. Maybe a flight attendant for a few years. Perhaps I'd try being a waiter or a carpenter or something. Professions that really do something. There is something noble about the accounting profession, but the fact is that it is the classic paper-pushing job. I wouldn't make anything, not ever indirectly.

So I have romanticized the life of a airport shuttle driver. Since I don't have a car, I have flown to a couple office visits/ job fairs lately. Rather than borrow a non-existent friend for a ride, I just take the convenient shuttles that run between any airport and its nearby city. Here in Champaign I have met some nice people. Talkative people. One guy is a student working through college. Others are just supporting families and enjoying their lives.

Then I met this really cool guy in Chicago when I went to visit Quaker Oats. Very nice middle-aged black man. Being the racist that I am, I assumed that he was some under-educated poor guy just scraping by. It turns out that he was a very interesting man. We talked the whole way into town. He was laughing at my whole life story about being from a small town yet traveling around the world. He asked me about sports. I told him I used to run fast, but not fast enough. He said that my 5K time was pretty good. Then he tells me that he runs marathons and triathlons in the summer.

The guy was a commercial real estate broker. I guess he just worked night for extra money, or extra fun. He seemed to really enjoy his job. And because of his great demeanor he gets lots of tips, I am sure. I was discussing this with some friends, and someone said that the guy probably gets good stock tips too. Imagine all of the different people that he shuttles to and from the airport. That is probably worth more than an education at one of the finest B-schools.

So I decided to add airport shuttle driver to my short list of "jobs that I'll never do, but should." What makes us internet-reading, utopia-thinking, unhappy-with-life wanabes any better than the average Joe on the street? The cabbie who talks to the world every day. The chef who feeds the world every day. The garbage man (er, sanitary engineer) who takes care of the world's rubbish. It is a little twisted that our society has slowly grown to cherish material wealth, yet the most "successful" people don't make anything material. Where do all of our toys come from?

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