Muggleborns choosing WW

[stbjohn2]

No: HPFGUIDX 118232


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "manawydan" <manawydan at n...> 
wrote:
> Pippin wrote:
> >It seems to me jobs are like marriages, the people who are
> >happy in them can find just as many things to complain about
> >as the ones who aren't. We can't be sure Stan and Ernie aren't
> >happy and contented because they've been taught not to aspire
> >to anything better, just like the House Elves.
> 
> Ffred replied: 
> It's true that the only time we see Ernie "off-duty", he's not 
> talking about the joys of being a bus conductor but then, you 
> can't but make allowances for the circumstances!
> 
> If our own world is anything to go by, even though many people are 
> taught not to aspire to anything better, it doesn't stop them from 
> being discontented with their lot...
> 
> But really, the point is that Muggles, like us, have to put a lot 
> of hard work in in order to get things done. There are a lot of hard, 
> dirty manual processes involved in almost everything from cooking and 
> cleaning up to mining and metal bashing. The WW doesn't have those 
> processes because magic is so much more efficient than technology: 
> its processes are clean, quick, and seemingly healthy. There just 
> isn't any evidence that the kind of pointless demeaning jobs that 
> abound in our world even exist there. And if you strip out the 
> unpleasant part of work, then it's understandable that job
> satisfaction would be higher.


Sandy Now:
Maybe I'm just stuck in Muggle thought processes, but I don't see 
that most wizarding jobs are all that much different from their 
Muggle counterparts, or "stripped of the unpleasant part of work." 
Teachers still have to plan lessons, grade papers and keep an eye out 
for the exploding cauldron or stray spell that turns a student into a 
water buffalo or causes their teeth to grow like a beaver's; civil 
servants still have to deal with paperwork and red tape; shop keepers 
have to be physically present during business hours, etc.

And magic just doesn't seem to be used as much as you seem to be 
thinking -- after all, the folks in Honeydukes climb down the stairs 
and carry up boxes of candy from the storeroom, instead of using the 
handy summoning charm, Waitresses bring out food and drink on trays, 
and the  barkeep at the Hogs Head has the wipe the glasses, etc. Mrs. 
Weasley seems to fold the laundry by hand.

We haven't seen any manufacturing processes, but even if Madam
Malkin can bewitch scissors and needles to make robes, it seems she'd
have to supervise the project -- make sure the needle makes gathers 
where they are needed in the sleeves or whatever. (If supervision
wasn't needed, Hermione could just bewitch some knitting needles and 
let them churn out elf clothes day and night.) You can't just conjure
up a flying broom, someone still has the tedious-sounding job of picking 
out the right sticks and twigs and putting them together properly, as 
well as adding the appropriate charms to guarantee it flies, is 
balanced and will brake when needed. An assembly line job to create a 
magical product.

And not everyone seems thrilled with their jobs, either. Think of the 
receptionist at St. Mungo's, who spends her days telling people to 
check the board to find out which ward they need to go to ("Would
you like fries with that?")  I guess after you've seen a couple of 
people who've sprouted wings or turned into teapots, it gets a little
old.

I will grant you that driving the Knight Bus would be a whole lot 
more fun than the Muggle equivalent of driving a Greyhound through 
rural Mississippi, but even then you have to deal with nauseous 
passengers. 

The only job that sounds totally cool is the one there's no Muggle 
equivalent for -- Bill Weasley's exotic job as a curse-breaker in 
Egypt. But I'm sure it has its own dirty, dusty, dangerous drawbacks 
as well.

Sandy