I don’t suppose the term ‘odd job man’ is considered
acceptable in the post feminist age, but do please indulge me because I find
political correctness a difficult practice to engage with. (You might also excuse
the ending of a sentence on a preposition while you’re in a generous mood.)
So, the odd job man is considered to be very much at the
bottom end of the personnel ladder, is he not? Lower than the secretary, the
clerk, the maintenance engineer, and even the typist. Calling him a ‘general
factotum’ doesn’t help, because we all know that 'general factotum' is just a
posh name for an odd job man.
Why is that, I wonder? It strikes me that a person who is
willing and able to turn his hand to a great number of jobs is actually more
skilful than a lot of people who are more highly regarded. But no, we regard him
pejoratively as a ‘jack of all trades.’ ‘That’s Fred,’ we say dismissively, ‘he’s
only the odd job man.’
Ah, but of course: he doesn’t have a piece of paper to tell us how clever he is. That explains it.
This post was inspired by some hysterical crap I read about
poor academic results at local primary schools. This isn’t the Age of Aquarius
at all; it’s the age of Systematic Establishment Hysteria.
2 comments:
I totally agree with you! What my Hubby has just been through is a prime example. He goes to school to further his education and 'better himself'. Yet he can earn more money doing something that takes muscle and skill over brain power.
I have met many people who are in 'positions of high esteem' and yet they lack common sense and any sort of morals.
But don't get me wrong, I feel that education is very important but too much emphasis is being put on the students 'making the grade' - meeting standards which has been set forth by people in power (who don't usually have a clue).
Quite.
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