I've been watching Dirty Jobs a lot lately, and had some thoughts about it that I wanted to share with the host, Mike Rowe. There's a message board on the Discovery site that he reads and occasionally posts to, so I finally wrote it up there, rather than find an address and send a letter that went through other people and *maybe* eventually got to him. Took me a while to write it, polish it, and get up the guts to post it, but I finally did it yesterday. Of course, I hoped for a response, but I didn't think I'd actually get one. So I was kinda shocked (and utterly thrilled) to see this message this morning. Squee!

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Gilly

Quite possibly the most gratifying letter I've read since episode one.
The lessons I've learned these last five years have been big.
Actually, more like reminders of lessons learned a long time ago, but
conveniently forgotten. Funny how we do that, isn't it?

Thanks for watching, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Mike

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My letter, in case you're curious:

Dear Mike,

When my TiVo first recorded Dirty Jobs on its own, I was skeptical, but decided to give it a try. I very quickly became hooked: in part because I like to learn how things are done, but mostly because of you -- your obvious education and intelligence, your dry wit, and your engaging sense of the ridiculous. As an over-educated East-coast intellectual myself, I found it easy to identify with you. And I was particularly impressed with the respect you showed the people you worked with, even when they were often -- I thought -- clearly less intelligent than yourself.

But the more I watched, the more I realized that I had it completely backwards. A sesquipedalian vocabulary and a library of classical quotations are all very impressive, but they don't get a job done any better or faster. In the positions you often attempt, those "uneducated" workers are the ones with all the knowledge. If anything, they should be condescending to you -- and it's remarkable how forbearing they seem to be, at least from what I've seen so far.

So thanks for reminding me that I'm not always as smart as I think I am, and for teaching me a lesson that I'm making an effort to absorb into my own life. I've always tried to be polite to everyone, from
senator to trash collector, but I'll admit I have sometimes fallen into the trap of equating education with intelligence. It's good to be reminded that there are many people in my daily life who have knowledge I probably never will -- and likely a good bit of wisdom, as well.

Thankful that I still have a lot to learn,

--Gilly

P.S. In regard to Safety Third: The MBTA, the Boston subway system notorious for its terrible service and frequent delays, often makes announcements over the PA service that "Safety is our number one
priority." I always wish that their number one priority was, in fact, transportation...