Oriium

Whenever I start to complain, I tell myself that there are people who weld underwater. And so I really can’t complain.

This works for a number of reasons. First, these people live in the same city as me, so it’s not some ‘poor starving children’ analogy. There are people in Melbourne doing stainless steel marine welding, and the docks are, like…not that far from my house. Second, they chose to do that, and they’re probably getting paid a decent amount, what with hazard pay and all that. So it’s not like I’m imagining a scenario where people are being whipped into working 18-hour days; there are hopefully fair working conditions for all.

And finally, this culminates in a package where I’m not being forced to feel sorry for underwater welders, but I do think of how I’m sitting at a desk, in the air con/heating, and those people are playing with fire underwater (potentially), and I can’t really complain about my job. If I’m thirsty, I go and get water from the water cooler, and it tastes like plastic, but it’s definitely water you can drink. Whereas if you’re in the middle of a tricky marine welding job, you can’t really come up to the surface easily, even if you’re parched. You just have to keep doing the job, surrounded by water, and it must be pretty annoying. Not enough to make you quit your job or anything, but annoying nonetheless.

See, this is the method that works for me. Just think about marine welders. If nothing else, I just couldn’t do a job that makes me get up that early. I can’t even get up before 8 on normal workdays, and getting up for welding probably starts at 6am or something. We’re crossing into speculative territory, here…I honestly don’t know what goes on when attaching a bait board to a boat, or anything more serious. But it motivates me to not complain, so it’s all good.

-Sara