3rd May 2012, 08:35 AM
angi Wrote:As a former manager often pointed out, there are dozens of people willing to do my job for the same money and conditions and while this is the case things will never change. It is galling, though, that if you told a bin man to get to work an hour before they start getting paid, check the oil and tyres on their lorry, load it up, drive for an hour or so and then they would only get paid when they emptied their first bin, then once they stop getting paid they then have to drive for an hour back to the depot, the streets would be knee-deep in rubbish!
It's a fair point, but the difference is probably that most bin men probably regard it as just a job, so would happily do something else if faced with unacceptable conditions, while most archaeologists view it more as a vocation, so are prepared to put up with a lot before they'd consider changing career. Rightly or wrongly, archaeology is regarded by many as an aspirational career, in that it's something they're desperate to do, while refuse collection probably isn't.
You know Marcus. He once got lost in his own museum