The workers in Gig range have some very different jobs. The Mother, Second Grade Teacher, Wal-Mart Greeter, and UPS Driver have vastly different behaviors expected of them. Furthermore, most of them seem to have been at very different points in their lives when they undertook these responsibilities.
The UPS driver is the easiest one to figure out. It's clear that he hates his job. In fact, he has a general disrespect for the entire establishment. Though his narrative was very funny at times, I doubt that most of those things actually happened. I could be wrong, but for someplace with security as high as he claims, I doubt a missing package would go unnoticed. The fact of the matter is that, at least at that job, William Rosario is going nowhere fast. He's been working the job for ten years but acknowledges that his job is for people who "need benefits and...are going nowhere fast" (9). So what does that say about him? And it seems that, in an attempt to make his life sound like more of a joy-ride than it is, he over exaggerates the perks that come with his position. Now, I'm not really sure, but I'm fairly sure that driver supervisors make more than the actual drivers and have little to no reason to be jealous of "insubordination" (7). It could just be a case of "golden handcuffs". Rosario would clearly like to be doing something else with his time (if I'm being honest, he's usually doing what he wants to with his time, just on the job) yet he's been at the same job for ten years. UPS must be doing something right.
Now what can I say about Jim Churchman the Wal-Mart greeter? If nothing else, he has an exemplary attitude concerning work and a great outlook on life. He wants to work, no matter what that work is. I wouldn't say that he views greeting as his life's purpose. I wouldn't even say that the work he put into education before his retirement was a calling either. He's a people person so he would probably be comfortable as a Wal-Mart greeter or in a public relations agency so long as he gets to interact with people. It doesn't seem like Wal-Mart greeting is the job he's been waiting for, but he was retired. He just wants something to keep busy so Wal-Mart seems to be a nice fit. If nothing else, Wal-Mart is always busy.
Katy Bracken, a second grade teacher in Chicago has a somewhat different attitude concerning her job/career/calling. Coming out of college she still didn't know what it was she wanted to do. By a stroke of blind luck she got into teaching and realized that she was "redeemed by teaching" (394). Her love of children seems to be her calling while teaching second graders is her career. Even when she had the chance to return to her first love of dancing, she realized that it was no longer what she thought she wanted. Teaching is something that she can find happiness in through simply interacting in a more innocent and childlike setting. Most importantly, when Bracken states, "I'm just, you know, comfortable. I feel like I'm in a good place" (394), that makes it pretty obvious that it's more than just a job or a career to her. Being a teacher is more than a way to pay the bills, it's a way to find peace in her life.
For me, and lastly, it was the most difficult to determine the motives of Elise Klein, the Mother character, in her interview. The text is riddled with what seems to be nervous laughter. It's hard for me not to see her as someone who is at least a little bit forlorn at the loss of her career. Just imagining how much work she must have put into graphic design, I would imagine that the decision to give it up was a very difficult one. And because motherhood is one of the most demanding and has the potential to be the least rewarding once the teen years hit, it's no wonder that she may "miss having even little bit of an adult life...It's depressing" (386). But who knows? Graphic design may never have been Klein's calling. Perhaps motherhood is the thing for her, even though nothing is guaranteed. I couldn't see myself doing it, at least not at this point in my life. So, naturally, I could see it as more of a job than a calling. But that doesn't have to hold true with everyone. I've had the luxury of helping my younger siblings grow up so I know that you don't always get out what you put in when it comes to familial relationships. Sometimes you get less. And sometimes people surprise you and you get more. Klein can say,"I don't regret doing this at all...it was worth it" (386), and I believe her. Even still, I'd feel more comfortable labeling motherhood as her calling if the change was more than a matter of regret.
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