EDUCATION AND WORK

Have you ever asked yourself what you’re working for? If you have ever had the time to (1)_____ this taboo question, or put it to others in moments of weakness or confidentially, you (2)_____well have heard some or all of the following. It’s the money of course, some say with a smile, as if explaining something to a small child. Or it’s a satisfaction of a job well done, the sense of achievement behind the clinching of (3)_____ important deal. I worked as a bus conductor once, and I can say I felt the same as I staggered along the swaying gangway trying to give out tickets without falling over into someone’s lap. It’s the company of other people perhaps, but if that is the (4)_____, what about farmers? Is it a conversation in the farmyard that keeps them captivated by the job? Work is power and sense of status say those who have either attained these elusive goals, or feel aggrieved that nobody has yet recognized their leadership qualities. Or we can blame it all on my breath, that if most of us work rather as Mr. Micawber lived, hoping for something to turn up, we’ll win the pools, and tell the boss what we really think. We’ll scrape together the money and open that little shop we always dreamed of, or go around the world, or spend more time in the garden. One day we’ll get that (5)_____ we deserve, but until then at least, we have something to do. And we are so busy doing it that we won’t have time to wonder why.

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