Coming clean about 'Dirty Jobs'
What makes consumption so easy is its focus on what makes it to the
shelf; capitalism's byproducts are hidden away, necessary consequences
best left unseen.
Mike Rowe, who hosts the Discovery Channel
immersion show "Dirty Jobs" (9 p.m. Tuesdays), has spent the last
several years not only shining light into the dark corners of industry
but also on the people who live and work there: "Hardworking men and
women," he said in last week's episode, "who do the kinds of jobs that
make civilized life possible for the rest of us."
Rowe has
salvaged a truck from the bottom of a lake, farmed maggots, tested
shark-repellent suits, recycled tires and tried out plenty more
unforgiving professions. (This week, "Dirty Jobs" will air a
retrospective episode.) And dirty though they may be, these are jobs.
In this brutal economy, noses cannot be thumbed at them, especially
because, more often than not, this work at the beginning of the food
and product chain is probably more reliable than other categories of
employment. Someone will always have to do the scut work.
"We've had our hands on the country's infrastructure," Rowe said, echoing Barack Obama's New Deal-esque ideas about job creation. "The kinda work that just might get this country back on track."
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--Jon Caramanica
(Photo courtesy Discovery Channel)