Blue Collared

I am 60 days into my new role as Inventory Coordinator at Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville. This is a pivot from my more than ten-year white-collar career in SEO and editorial.

When I was laid off in January, I had savings and free time. After five months, 100 job applications to "good fit" roles, and interviews with around 15 companies totaling 30-ish interviews, I had neither an offer nor the will to push forward.

Part of this is on me. I am damaged goods, as recruiters and hiring managers might say. The things I have seen and heard in the 18 months before my layoff and the months after… well, yeah. I could not have gone into any white-collar role with enthusiasm.

Thus, my gaze turned to blue-collar work.

I tried a warehouse job at USPS over the summer. I lasted about 90 days. The job tore through my physical and emotional limits, leaving me entirely broken. Gratefully, I have a very supportive partner who helped me pick up the pieces.

Fast forward to October, when I started work at the hospital. I wear hunter-green scrubs and restock nursing storerooms around the hospital. I start at 6 am and work until 2:30 pm, Monday to Friday. Good hours for beating Nashville traffic. I miss the perks of remote work, but I have no qualms about working on-site when the function of a job requires it.

One of the best parts of this job is that it has provided a feeling of worth.

Worth may not be the right word.

What I mean is that I get to see people in a range of positions, from nurses and doctors to kitchen and environmental teams and shipping and administration staff, all working long hours and being challenged by a variety of… situations, but still managing to remain cordial and offer a smile, despite my lugging around a flatbed of supplies while being entirely in their way.

You might not realize how many people it takes to keep a hospital running smoothly. Many little things can go wrong that create huge problems. Seeing things from the inside has been enlightening.

It is also encouraging to see others pushing hard to "raise the bar" and "run a faster mile" in what they do - action instead of talk. I like to think that if my storerooms are fully stocked in a timely manner, organized, and clean, I contribute in some way to patient care—the best I can offer given my position.

And what lesson can I impart from all of this? It is still too early to know. Life has taken quite a few unexpected turns recently. Good and less good.

To that end, many people in my life and career have been a positive force for personal growth, creativity, happiness, and so on.

Those people have made this easier, and it helps me feel like I can trust that things will end where they should.

This path is not for everyone. Some blue-collar work will crush you unless you are still in your twenties or resilient in old age. But if you find the right opportunity, it might be worthwhile, whether temporarily or permanently.