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Carl Sagan Shoveling Coal Posted by Josh Jan 11 I rsquo ve mentioned sfdebris a couple times now most recently in my post discussing my favorite critics I lend him up because he rsquo s relevant to something going on in my day job currently In his survey of the Star Trek Voyager episode Good Shepherd he covers the initiative in which Seven of Nine gives an efficiency report and mentions that a gang member with 5 degrees in theoretical cosmology is at the seat of the ship doing menial engineering tasks Why no I didn rsquo t use this photo just because Seven of Nine rsquo s in it why do you ask Chuck puts it another way l

quo On a ship meant to explore the wonders of the universe you rsquo ve put Carl Sagan in charge of shoveling coal rdquo While this is more incomprehensible than normal in a semi utopian future world set in space it even happens in the normal everyday world Over qualification is something that happens in the workplace especially when the economy isn rsquo t behaving as good as most would like When companies cut back in areas it rsquo s usually in places they rsquo d wish to enlarge but simply don rsquo t get the capital to invest This way that a lot of the multitude who get axed are people with ideas creative folk with esoteric backgrounds who might not be focussed on patronage or profitability When losing their jobs they do what they can to search for further employment brushing up their resumes and start the arduous search for a job a look that is every bit as dull and changeable as the search for an agent or publisher Those who nonetheless have jobs on the other hand might rule themselves in a place where in addition to their regular tasks they rsquo re doing things like answering the phone for other departments or tearing the boss rsquo s plants or something Times are tough even for a Nobel laureate physicist like this gentleman Either way you get creative people doing menial tasks ndash like Carl Sagan shoveling coal I don rsquo t get any kind of real solution in judgment for the issue other than keeping one rsquo s eyes peeled for better employment elsewhere And one should continue to make time for creative pursuits because as the man has said several times if one isn rsquo t fortunate enough to be pursuing their dreams on a full time basis it becomes a spare time endeavor But that doesn rsquo t mean one should give up It only means one might get to get by with less sleep and really who needs sleep I don rsquo t And now if you rsquo ll excuse me there rsquo s coal that necessarily a shovelin rsquo At least if I rsquo m lucky it rsquo ll be coal and not something else Filed under Opinion