Today's poll question, do you think that your current or most recent job would make a good reality TV show?" There is a rising number of television shows where camera crews follow people around at their jobs and put it on TV. I think it started with Dirty Jobs, because Billy the Exterminator, Pawn Stars, Ice Road Truckers, American Pickers, et all came after the trail blazing Mike Rowe. Did Deadliest Catch come before or after Dirty Jobs? I like Dirty Jobs, but a lot of these other job based "reality" TV shows I am not interested in. Quite often if you have seen one episode, you've seen them all. I am a fan of Billy the Exterminator.
There are a lot of jobs that would be an interesting 30 minutes of TV, but every day is the same and does not provide a plurality of daily twists and turns that you need to maintain audience interest. Dirty Jobs is great because it doesn't beat one single job to death, there is a lot of fresh footage.
Reality TV is for the creatively deficient TV producers to roll in dough with less effort. It is for those people too scared to live their own lives, or get themselves away from the TV. It is for making rational people feel like they are missing something when all their friends chatter about the last episode of the 'Kardashians' when the know that they are not intellectually.
ReplyDeleteLike pet rocks and Chia Pets, it is yet another sign that we take the would human race far too seriously.
Are you suggesting my business plan of raising organic free range Chia Pets is not going to make it on Dragon's Dens shortlist?
ReplyDeleteMy Job would probably make for a semi-decent episode of Dirty Jobs. Allow me to explain:
ReplyDeleteI fix "flyaway satellite terminals". These are satellite transmitters that fit in 3 easily shippable cases and can be set up in the space of about 20 minutes (less if you have a lot of experience). We have a lot of these deployed in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. If you haven't been there, you might not realize how dirty things get.
When a system comes in for repair, after I do an operational check over, I have to clean it. That requires a full disassembly of all components, dusting and vaccuming the electronics boards, vacuuming the cases, pressure washing all the outdoor components and the cases themselves.
I have a pair of pants I use for this because it is such a dusty, dirty procedure.
I think it'd make for a decent episode, though not as disgusting as the episode of the rendering facility.
Privacy would prohibit it, but it would be fun to have a camera behind a tax preparer March - April and listen to the stories from across the desk.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see them tackle some of the rigging/splicing work with wire rope.
ReplyDeleteThat was my last few jobs when I worked in Alberta, but it's done in almost every area, because the rigging made is used at sea, oilfields, construction, logging, and construction.
It's dirty, but essential work, and... most people just don't realize that beyond machines MAKING wire rope, to make it useful to lift or pull anything, that involves a lot of manual work.