Memories of one of my first jobs have come back to me a bit while reading the story of Pete Jordan, who had a goal of sorts to wash dishes in all 50 states of the United States, and then write a book about his story. Even though in the New York Times book review he says "I obviously would prefer not to work", he managed to accomplish the task of getting to 33 states throughout the 90's before stopping, a symbolic act for a profession where it is all too easy, as Jordan admits to doing in the interview, to roll over, go back to sleep, and go look for another job later.
Thankfully I never had to wash dishes for long when I was starting out in restaurants, and the dishwashers I knew of were either young kids just starting out, or older guys who couldn't, or wouldn't, get any other type of work, the latter type presumably mixed in between bouts of being otherwise unemployed or being in jail.
The rest of Jordan's story can be found in the Times book section HERE.
JUNE 12TH EDIT: NPR story of Pete, with audio of the author reading, is HERE.
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