As I was reading chapter 40 "Over the Counter", I couldn't help remembering my last job. I worked for a multi-million dollar computer company in California that my uncle owned. {And man, if you want to hear stories about Capitalism & money, and Male Patriarchy, and have a ton! But that's another story.} I was a receptionist, and my job was programmed to a T. Pick up the phone, "Hello this is Heather, how may I direct your call?". Pick up the phone, "Hello this is Heather, how may I direct your call?" All day long this is what I did. You had a certain number of rings that you had to pick up the phone by, you had a certain amount of time people could stay on hold before you had to check back with them, and you had a certain amount of time they could wait before you had to transfer them. And they wanted me to have a personality! The routine was so boring that I completely lost interest in the job. I never had to use my brain, and I felt so unchallenged. I hated it. I responded by starting to be late to work, then I started calling in sick, and finally I quit. I just couldn't do it anymore. I didn't see the point of sitting in a cubical and saying the same line a thousand times a day for crappy pay. {Oh, and I love when a multi-million dollar company says they can't afford to pay you more than minimum wage! What a crock!} Plus, I was the only girl in the office of men, who all knew everything {Just ask them!}and felt the need to constantly remind me how I needed to do my job! The job I held before that one was completely different. I taught swim lessons to small children at a Sports Club. That job was the exact opposite. Sometimes I even felt like my brain was going to explode because I was using it so much! Try to teach a 1 or 2 year old to swim, plus keep the other 6 on the stairs so they don't drown, and then try to make it fun for the 1-2 kids who refuse to get in the water and scream if you touch them. Everyday was different, and presented it's own challenges. But even though it was hard, I would take it any day over the routine of answering phones. I think that while routinizing jobs may be a money maker for the corporates {which is all they care about!}, the staff gets more and more frustrated. Eventually it will blow up in their face! Allowing people to be themselves {really be themselves, not just telling them to fake it}, and use their brain will be more productive because then people are motivated to do their jobs!