IT’S A GOOD JOB

I OFTEN notice surly waiters and shopkeepers giving the impression that customers are a nuisance. They must surely realise that their jobs or their businesses would rapidly cease to exist if it were not for the paying customer. The truth is that they are not happy with what they are doing. Customers are therefore not welcome.

Here in Nerja, businesses are opening and closing all the time as people give it a try but soon fail for a variety of reasons. Bad planning, bad budgeting, bad research, bad location, bad luck… Or bad service?

There are some jobs I could never do. As I suffer from hemophobia I could never work anywhere near a hospital. And how about spending eight hours every day inflicting fear and discomfort while peering down people’s throats and prodding their teeth and gums with instruments of torture? No wonder dentists are well paid.

Driving a bus in a major city is rather different from driving an open BMW along the scenic, sunny motorway up to Granada. Apart from the daunting responsibility for the passengers and the sheer size of the bus, it must require enormous patience to cope with other road users, traffic lights, zebra crossings, congestion and the pressures of a schedule at bus stops. Let alone rowdy passengers.

And the seemingly more pleasant occupations? The life of a top professional tennis player or footballer is glamorous and undisputedly lucrative for doing something they presumably enjoy. But behind the scenes it cannot be an easy life. Fitness training and practice every day, added to the pressures of adapting tactics to changing circumstances and of somehow winning or keeping their place in the team, is not often visible to the fans. Social life is always in the spotlight and constantly disrupted by travel. In principle this applies to some extent to film directors, actors and pop stars.

Journalism sounds an attractive career if you can handle pressure, deadlines, competition and can take criticism. The life of a novelist is more relaxed. No deadlines and last minute editing but a more introverted life, dreaming up new ideas of plot and characters and conducting the research for background details in their own time.

Most careers have a certain amount of pressure and stress.

Farmers and fisherman have fresh air and freedom of movement but also challenges with unsocial hours and dependence on nature.

Female models enjoy good pay and celebrity status. But they usually look haughty and miserable at the same time. Are they taught that the public prefers a scowl to a smile as they parade the catwalk or pose for photos? Ah, photos!

It seems to me the successful professional freelance photographer, being master of his own destiny, has the ideal career. He is making a living from a hobby; he can take his time and is accountable only to himselfand the demand for his work.

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