I Used to do That for a Living; Landing and Leaving 108 Jobs Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2 | Page 24

Roger Scott Jackson

virtue. Industriousness is a necessary but not
sufficient condition of virtue (which I use in the
secular sense). Without it, good thoughts cannot
become good works. But industriousness alone
is neither good nor bad; its worth depends entirely on what it is turned to. Toil itself is not
ennobling. The woods are full of hard-working
assholes, busting their humps for the wrong reasons. For all I know, Stalin put in very long hours.
Lazy or not, Jack exulted in being as independent as a hog on ice. And he resisted and deeply resented any authority other than the divine
(which was subject to his ratification). Brownnosing, boot-licking, kissing-up: obsequiousness
by any name was hateful to him. If that precluded
getting ahead, so be it. His self-esteem was keyed
to how he thought other people viewed him, and
trumped all other concerns. It could not countenance capitulation. He boasted that he never compromised (which, of course, he did— all
the time). But any fiscal benefits of concession
were outweighed by the emotional wealth to be
mined from his own stubborn self-satisfaction.
Jack would not count himself any kind of a man
if he let some boss or co-worker assume dominion over his person or his dignity, even in passing, no matter the consequences. The more Jack
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