Why are jobs so important? (2)
CONSOLIDATED TABULATORS CHEERING IN BACKGROUND
BRIDGET: Those number crunchers earn money at their jobs.. and spend some of it as customers of this pizza place, which helps keep the pizza store in business. And in return, those workers get the chance to eat pizza for lunch. They need each other to succeed. And that's pretty important, because not everyone likes to pack lunch every day. Or they forget. That's why we're here.
JED: The important thing to realize is that jobs connect to other jobs. I'll explain how. Look at that fancy outdoor pizza oven over there. Someone had to make that -- someone with special skills. And that person is sitting right here.
PASQUALE 1: My name is Pasquale Pilato, Pasquale Pilato, if you're Italian. We, my predominant, way of making a living is masonry construction. We have a small masonry crew and we do masonry jobs.
JED: Masons like Pasquale make things out of stone, including that pizza oven.
PASQUALE 2: When we build the pizza oven, it helps us and the people that work for us have a job.
BRIDGET: Right there, we have a job connection. (SFX - CLICK) Because of Pasquale, this pizza place can make food. And because of the pizza place, Pasquale and his employees have had some work.
JED: Let's find some more connections. Pasquale does a lot more than build pizza ovens. Hey, Pasquale, is it ok if we follow you around for a bit to see what you do?
PASQUALE 3: Sure, let's go!
(NAT SOUND - FOOTSTEPS) (NAT SOUND - HAMMER DRILL)
JED: Pasquale does a lot of things like build chimneys, stone pathways and really cool garden art pieces. Because he can do those jobs, the people who hire him don't have to do it themselves...but they get to have chimneys and stone pathways and artistic boulders. And he also relies on other people's jobs in order to do his work. Like, he doesn't always go out and dig up his own rocks. Most of the time, he buys them from someone who already has.
PASQUALE 4: if a customer would like a bright colored stone, we go to the bright colored quarry. If its customer wants, the old looking stone, maybe we'll go to someone who has a big chunk of woods where all the stone has moss and gray colored stone like New England looking.
JED: There's another job connection! (SFX - CLICK) His job of making things with stone links to other jobs where people collect and sell stone. There are also the places where he buys his tools. (SFX - CLICK CLICKCLICK)
JED: And then, here's the mind-blowing part, some of those places connect in their own way all the way back here to the pizza joint. (SFX - RESOUNDING CLANK) It's ok we brought you back here, right Pasquale?
PASQUALE 5: We really like pizza.
JED: Ok, let me buy you a slice. Or take Blake's last one...
PICKUP BRIDGET: And that's why our jobs are so important.
JOB INTERSTITIAL 3 / -- KIDS HAVE A SAY--
BRIDGET: Well, I think we've answered Jax's question about why jobs are so important. Should we head on out?
JED: Hang on. Hang on. It looks like a very important, fancy person just walked in.
ELIOT: (loud and stilted) I am a very rich entrepreneur, and I heard that there's a Lumberjack pizza here. What a brilliant idea! That idea is easily worth three million dollars!
JED: What's that, wise billionaire? You think whoever came up with it is a genius? One who should definitely be given a job coming up with exciting new pun-based pizzas? (pause) Yes?
ELIOT: Oh! Yes.
ROSE: Nice try, Jed.
BRIDGET: Jed, that's clearly your nephew under that top hat and monocle. We all know him. He comes in here all the time.
ROSE: Hi, Eliot.
ELIOT: Hey Rose. Uncle Jed, can I have my five dollars now?
JED: Yes, here. Fine. All right, I guess I'll say farewell to my peculiar pizza creator idea. And to that nasty Lumberjack special.
BRIDGET: Good riddance! Now, before we say goodbye for the episode, we wanted to bring up one important thing about jobs. As you grow, a lot of people are going to ask you want to be when you get older. If you don't know, that's ok. It's a really hard question to answer!
JED: Yeah, there are so many different kinds of jobs out there, and you've probably heard of a small fraction of them. Rather than trying to figure out what job you want to do, try to figure out what kinds of things you're passionate about. Do you like drawing? Helping others? Watching videos about bizarre insects? The things that motivate you can direct you to jobs down the line. Here's something that Pasquale told me:
PASQUALE 6: whatever you do in life, you have to like it number one, and then if you're good at it, that helps a lot because it keeps you motivated to keep doing it. And so finding those two things is is really useful.
BRIDGET: And remember, your job will be a big part of your life, but it's not your entire life. You will always be more than your job. The key is to stay curious and learn as much about the world as you can.
CREDITS
JED: Thanks for listening to Million Bazillion -- where we help dollars make more sense…
BRIDGET: We'll be back next week with our season finale! We're going to be answering the question...why do prices end in 99 cents?
JED: If you have an idea for an episode or a question you want answered, email us at Marketplace dot org slash million. // And if you want new episodes of Million Bazillion sent to your email inbox each week...along with bonus content like a tip sheet, a quiz, and cool comics. Sign up Marketplace dot org slash BONUS.
BRIDGET: Special thanks to Julia Pollack, labor economist for ZipRecruiter for helping us understand the answer to this question. And we want to thank the following folks for lending us their voices: Kimberly Adams, Drew Jostad, Kristin Schwab, Avry Smith and Eliot Thompson.
JED: Million Bazillion is brought to you by Marketplace in collaboration with Brains On! And American Public Media.
I'm your host, Jed Kim…
The senior producer is my co-host, Bridget Bodnar
Marissa Cabrera is our producer.
Sanden Totten is our editor.
BRIDGET: Chris Julin is our sound designer.
Our theme music was created by Wonderly.
This episode was mixed by Bekah Wineman.
Our digital team includes Erica Phillips and Tony Wagner.
Sitara Nieves is the Executive Director of On Demand at Marketplace.
JED: And special thanks to the people who provided the startup funding for Million Bazillion, and who continue to help keep us going: The Ranzetta Family Charitable Fund and Next Gen Personal Finance, supporting Marketplace's work to make younger audiences smarter about the economy.
BRIDGET: To all the grown-ups listening right now – we hope that you and the kids in your life are having some good conversations about money thanks to Million Bazillion. We created this podcast to help kids get an early start on learning about the economy – and to keep it going, we're counting on your support. Donate today at marketplace-dot-org-slash-givemillion, and thanks for chipping in to make our work possible.
