Work Ethic

Today is Christmas, and so I watched one of my favorite movies, White Christmas. The score and the main song itself were written by Irving Berlin.  Irving Berlin was born in Russia in 1888, and came to the United States with his family at the age of five in 1893.  He grew up poor, and often found himself singing for pennies.  It's a pretty classic story, but it's a reminder of the work ethic of many immigrants, many of whom never forgot their roots.  Throughout his life as a composer, Irving Berlin would write a song every day, starting in the evening and staying up sometimes until 4 or 5 in the morning.  That was after a full day of work.  He lived to 101.  Not too bad.

Working has always been important to me.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe I just felt a responsibility.  Perhaps I wanted to make sure that I was self reliant.  All I know is that work has always been an essential part of who I am.  When I was 15, I went to camp and worked part-time in order to have a lower tuition.  I actually tried to see if I could work full-time instead once I was there!  I didn't really have much interest in the other camp related activities.  As soon as I turned 16, I got my drivers license and I got my first part-time job working behind the counter of my cousin's Baskin Robbins.  I continued to do that until I went to college, where I worked in the library at UCSD.  After dropping out of school (a whole other story for another day), I worked making brake parts for the F16 fighter jet, coming home covered in carbon fiber at the end of every day.  After a short stint in Israel, again working in the dairy farm while learning Hebrew, I was back in school, and back at work.  This time, my job was a technical writer for Allergan.  I even worked in a lab during my first year of medical school.  Ten months into my second year of residency, I started moonlighting at Kaiser, working urgent care during the day, and covering the hospital at night.  I continued to do this during my Fellowing, where I actually earned more moonlighting than I got paid for my Fellowship.

When I started working at Kaiser, I took extra shifts, but also took on greater responsibilities that weren't associated with earning more money.  I often say that I'm a workaholic.  I guess that goes without saying.  Flash forward to today.  I tell people that I've failed retirement three times.  No kidding.  I need to be working.  And, when I work, I take it seriously.  I didn't grow up poor, or lacking in any way.  But I have always had a strong work ethic.  Is it genetic? Perhaps.  No matter, it's who I am.