Mike Rose- The Mind at Work

{quotes} This text is basically about him discussing the difference of classes in terms of jobs. He talks about how just because you come from the working class and have more labor related jobs does not mean that you do not have the same intelligence as upper class jobs. He talks about how these working class jobs use a lot of cognition and the divide is not as big as we thought between the classes in terms of jobs. He says that the working class jobs use a lot of intelligence and critical thinking even though we tend not to think so. He begins talking about a guy named Frank who works for the Railroad. Frank is part of the working class and you can tell he values his job and values working hard because that is how he feels can contribute to the world he says, "Work hard, nobody likes a half assed man". He talks about how the working class feel like this is how they are valuable. He stated, "jobs provided a means of doing something in the world", like they had something to offer.
              He then goes on to talk about his mother who was a waitress for most of her life. We tend to think of waitressing as a low class job that does not take much skill but this is wrong. He talks about how it involves "intelligence embedded in social interaction, routines of service, and emotional dynamics". This type of work takes much more than we would assume. They are constantly multitasking and looking at the bigger picture. He talks about how the job filled her economic need but it also filled a cognitive, social, and existence need. Basically he is saying that when we think about a low class job like waitressing we think that it does not involve any sort of skill or intelligence but it involves both. This work, "calls for strength and stamina, memory capacity and strategy, heightened attention, ability to take stock, prioritize tasks, and make decisions on the fly". In terms of cognition it requires 'mindfulness' which means seeing the bigger picture which would be the entire restaurant and therefore being able to multitask. She must be keep her mind knowledgeable and alert. She must also tailor herself to the needs of the customers whether it be emotional or 'gender stereotypical scripts'. It is a tactic to increase her economic gain. This customer interaction interweaves cognitive processes and emotional dynamics. He states, "memory draws on emotional material to aid in storage and recall". She lastly stated that the fact that the job was fast paced meant that her mind could never stay idle which is good because you always want to keep the mind moving.
                Lastly he looked at the occupation of hair styling. He talks again about gender and how it is primarily a woman's profession. Once again it is not  a highly regarded profession in terms of cognition but he proves that wrong again. He talks about how hair styling relies heavily on analysis and technique. They must consider so much when doing hair. For example, length, style, texture, face, bone structure, eye color, skin color, etc. They acquire this skill over many years of training, observation,  and classes. He talks about how there is a technical and mechanical dimension in what they do. They must also have good communication with clients. He states this is important in "cognition, cultural, and linguistics aspects". He also states, "The competent stylist negotiates an understanding of the literal and the symbolic content of a clients request". Overall he states cognition has a lot to do with this profession. They must think through things, decide what will work on certain hair and what won't. Aesthetics and communication are big in this profession, it is much more than just a simple job it requires much more than society thinks.