“But I need something to DOOOOOOOO,” opined the character of Julia Child, as played by Meryl Streep, to her husband, in the movie Julie and Julia.
Whether or not Julia Child actually spoke those words to her husband will never be truly known.
They were posted to Paris, France, for his job for a year.
And that’s when she began taking French cooking courses, and ultimately became reknowned for her work.
But that sentence epitomizes what we need more of in our society.
More people needing something to do.
No more of this entitlement.
That the government will take care of us.
Or the government owes us a living.
We all need to do something.
To contribute something to society.
To earn our keep, so to speak.
How can someone not want something to do?
How can anyone sleep at night not having anything to do?
I think of the many friends around us who are entering retirement.
It’s a sad statistic that within the first year of retiring, people die.
Perhaps it’s because they don’t have anything to do anymore.
We all need a purpose – to be needed – to be wanted. Right?
I can’t imagine not having anything to do.
I don’t want to sit around and eat bon bons all day.
Although I am looking forward to perhaps taking a step back from a frenetic work pace.
But in my mid-50’s, I feel I may have earned it.
I am not adverse to still having my toe in the waters of contributing to society. To still working part-time or more. To having something to do. Somewhere that needs me every day. To be a contributing member of society.
I have contributed to society, and my upkeep, since I was old enough to earn a living.
I remember at the tender age of 13 getting my first jobs: delivering Sunday papers, and babysitting.
At 14, I had an official part-time job dusting furniture.
And working summers at a plastics manufacturing plant packaging urine sample containers. Definitely justification for a higher education.
Throughout my teens I worked part-time through high school selling clothing at a ladies clothing store, and selling merchandise at a retail giant at the local mall.
Other summers were spent working in an office for a roofing company, and at a local disco radio station as receptionist.
There was so much fun and experience to be found working in those jobs – and when I look back on them – I am so grateful for all the experience they gave in that they contributed to what I became and what I was able to do with my life.
So how can anyone not want something to do?
Laziness?
Not worthiness?
Perhaps.
Entitlement?
Perhaps.
What I do know is that such a mentality is not good for society.
Look at Oprah.
Did she get where she is today resting on her laurels and expecting to be compensated?
Nosiree!
She invented the word “workaholic!”
And she boasts the success that accompanies that.
Fully deserved. And fully earned.
So, to anyone who is content to “contribute nothing to society”, as the Kramer character stated to one of his loves in the series Seinfeld, I say, “Find something to DOOOOOOOOOOOO!”