Posted on: Tuesday, May 28, 2002

Passion, not profit, should be driving force behind our jobs

By Craig Wilson
USA Today

A story out of Berlin, N.H., caught my eye the other day. It seems the town librarian, Yvonne Thomas, decided to retire and volunteer rather than cut the public library's book budget by 8 percent.

So Thomas, who has worked at the library for 28 years, retired one day and returned as a volunteer the next. She was quoted in the local paper as saying, "If there's no money for books, this becomes a bad museum."

I don't know Yvonne Thomas, but I'd like to buy her a drink. Or a book. Both, if she wants.

Would I volunteer to write this column for free if the publisher said he couldn't pay me any longer because of budget cuts? Well, I do like to eat. But, you know, I would.

Thomas and I are among the blessed who actually like what we do for a living. Enough so that we'd do it for free.

Years ago, I'd go to the office Christmas party, and a colleague's husband would always corner me.

"You know, Craig, I only have 12 more years before I retire," he'd say. And then it would be 11 years, and then 10. The annual conversation was a bit of a downer for me, so I began avoiding him, something I feel a little bad about now because he finally retired, then promptly died.

I always wanted to tell him to quit, move to Northern California and grow grapes or whatever it was that made him happy. Easier said than done, of course. Life has a way of painting us all into our little corners.

Would you work just for the love of what you do? What would you be willing to do for free? It's called passion, not profit, and it's something sorely lacking in today's society.

I was talking to a recently minted college grad the other day. He said he thought he'd go to New York and work at a big investment house. How long had he been interested in high finance? I asked.

"I'm not," he replied. "I just want to make tons of money."

I think there's a librarian up in New Hampshire he needs to meet.