One summer, when I was a bitty girl, my brother turned sixteen and ventured into the world to get his first honest-to-goodness real job. While he was and is of above-average intellect, to the prospective employers he approached he was, of course, just another teenager looking for work.

After the first day of pavement-pounding he returned home frustrated and even a bit miffed. It seems the factory supervisors, restaurant managers, and sundry other interviewers were only offering him entry-level positions and he just knew that, despite his youth and lack of experience, he deserved at least a managerial position. How could they possibly expect this golden genius-boy to sweep floors, clear tables, or stack boxes?

This was the beginning of a two week pattern. Every day, off my brother would go, my mother’s breakfast warming his belly, to find the “perfect job.” At the end of the day he would return, ranting and raving about the low-quality jobs he was being offered. Mother wisely held her tongue.

Eventually, summer kicked into full swing and my brother wanted money for gas, dating, swimming, golfing, and a zillion other teenage activities. If he didn’t secure work quick, summer and all of its wonder would be passing him by. He humbled himself and took a job as a dishwasher at a local upscale restaurant.

Mother, in the meantime, posted a quote she’d found onto the family bulletin board, which I’ve never forgotten:

“There is no work undignified if done well.”

So to the girls who write to me asking questions about how to succeed in the business of phone sex: Heed that quote and hold it to your heart. It has taken me far, and I am sure it can do the same for you.

Oh, and by the way, my brother now has more money than God.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 26th, 2006 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Rhetorically Yours. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.