What’s My Line?

There are people in this country who work hard every day, not for fame or fortune do they strive, but the fruits of their labor are worth more than their pay. Portions of the following program may contain prerecorded material.

You are listening to The Best of the Dennis Prager Show.

Hello, my friends. It's Labor Day, and I'm laboring. Dennis Prager here, and my tradition on Labor Day is to ask you about your labor, your work. What do you do for a living? And I have been just fascinated by your ways of making a living.

We don't realize, none of us realize, because we all live in a small world.

I mean, it's impossible not to.

You know X number of people, you have X number of relatives, and that's Pretty much it.

Now, we don't live in a small world intellectually or philosophically and the like, but we do in terms—

by definition, how many people can we possibly know personally? And so it comes as a fascinating surprise, and it's quintessentially American, the ways in which Americans make a buck. So what I do on Labor Day is I invite you to call in and tell me what you do. And it could be absolutely prosaic. It, you know, it doesn't mean you, uh, you, you drill for oil in Tunisia. It doesn't have to be exotic. If you are in a, a profession or a line of work which many others are in, that's fine. I, I just love— first of all, I love to talk to people. Which I would think would be a fairly common characteristic among talk show hosts, but it isn't. It isn't. Interestingly, off the air, a lot of these guys are, are quite introverted and are not people people.

I'm not—

and this is not an attack at all, just a personality. But I am a people person. I'm a people person. And I love to talk to people. I love— I talk to people, as you know, I've told you, in elevators, uh, anywhere. And so I love to ask people about their work. 1-8-PRAGER-776, which translates digitally into— translates digitally into 877-243-8772. This is the official one unless what?

Yes.

Oh really? He prefers— my producer prefers this to— oh, I see. Well, they're both good. I don't know if I have a preference. Isn't there even a third? There are several. No, no, no, I understand that.

I understand. But there's no reason not to use them.

So dear Francesca Morris, who has volunteered her time to work on this Labor Day along with the inimitable, the ineffable, the inexpressible, the induplicable Sean McConnell, whose name is spelled That was composed by yours truly, incidentally.

I—

there are areas where I just don't like to boast, but that is one I am really proud of. That is the only piece of music I have ever composed. I didn't orchestrate it, I didn't sing it, but I composed it. So what do you do for a living? It's Labor Day and it's an appropriate question to ask.

And I, I, I have a lot of fun.

So do you.

Are you listening?

And it is, among other things, you will see an ode to America. Because unless crushed, the spirit of people— and this would be true anywhere, it's a values issue, it's not a DNA issue, there's no American DNA—

and so unless crushed, which is what happens in the vast majority of the countries of the world People just will do whatever they do.

All right, so let's begin with Ambler, Pennsylvania, and Hugh.

Hello, Hugh.

Dennis Prager.

Welcome on Labor Day.

Hello, Dennis. Happy Labor Day to you, and I'm very thrilled that I'm number 1 on the list today.

Thank you.

Well, now that is something. That is something.

But I was just gonna, uh, I work, uh, in a grocery store, okay, a supermarket if you will. I work for Whole Foods Markets, and it's, uh, I work in the store in North Wales, Pennsylvania.

Right.

I'll say hello when I'm in Philly.

Oh, very good. I know you come here often.

Yep.

And, um, I'm a baker. I work as a baker there. I go in early in the morning.

What time?

I usually get there around 4:30 AM.

Go on. And wait, so Whole Foods, which I've been to many times, but I didn't realize— so the bakery bakes what?

Well, we do actual scratch baking in the bakery. We take, um, you know, uh, items. Uh, we don't just open boxes and bake the stuff. It's made from scratch.

And what's the stuff you bake? Breads?

Well, we, we do breads, but mostly we do cakes and pastries, and we What you would find in a neighborhood retail bakery.

I thought— maybe I have it confused with another store chain, but doesn't Whole Foods tend— oh, right, they do sell things with sugar. They don't sell things with artificial sugars.

Exactly.

See, that's it. That's it. Yes.

But the nice thing about me, I'm a fourth-generation baker.

Wow.

Okay? I'm 59 years old, so I've been doing this since I was 10 years old with my father. And what the nice thing is about working with Whole Foods is the ingredients I get to work with. Like, we use only real butter. We don't use any of the artificial shortenings or anything.

It's all real ingredients.

Let alone, God forbid, margarine.

Oh God, I got two, two, two.

So that's one of the nice things about it. But I know, like, little retail bakeries, they can't afford to use ingredients like that. But at Whole Foods we can, and we still do, and that's why people say, well, all right, so I gotta—

now it's my turn to ask you some questions.

First about the hours. So if you report to Whole Foods at 4:30, what time do you get up?

Oh, I get up around 3 AM.

And what time is your workday over?

Uh, I usually work till about 1 o'clock in the afternoon.

Okay, all right, so hold on, wait, so you come home and you take a nap?

Take a little nap. I usually, uh, when I'm napping, I have you on the radio by means of—

Uh, you know, that's very sweet. So either I help you nap or I don't help you nap.

No, but I get to listen to you every day because I usually leave like around 1 o'clock.

Oh, that's really nice. No, no, it is really nice.

So what time do you go to sleep?

Well, I try to get to bed by at least 9. It doesn't always work that way. Especially with the Republican convention, I was really struggling. And I thought, why don't we get the big— big speeches like at 10:30 at night on the East Coast. I was like amazed by that.

Well, they have to do that. Both parties have to do that.

So are you— let me ask you this—

are you married?

Yes, I'm married. I have two children.

So I assume your wife doesn't go to bed at 9:00?

No, she doesn't.

So this is just the way it's worked out?

It's always worked out that way.

We—

it's very good. Like, like, in other words, when she comes to bed, she's very, um, Very quiet. She doesn't come in there and wake me up or anything. We do have our struggles with that.

Yeah, look, everybody has struggles with something, but you're employed.

Yes, I am employed.

And on the love meter, loving what you do, 1 to 10, hate 1, just love 10, what is it?

Well, working for Whole Foods, I'm an 8. It's a really good company.

That's, that's really not—

what is your most proud production?

The most proud thing that I make?

Yes.

I tell you what, I really enjoy the pound cake and the angel food cake that we make.

So we, uh, you're speaking Whole Foods, but you specifically make those?

Yes, I do specifically make those.

I want you, if this is possible, to send me a pound cake and bill me.

Oh, I would love to do that.

All right, all right, so stay on and we'll give you, uh, we'll give you the address.

Yeah, I was going to say, do I just send it to Radioland?

Yeah, no, no, that's right, Dennis Prager Radioland America. All right, I do have a final, final—

are your any— do you have kids?

Yes.

Any of them bakers?

No, they're not bakers.

So it ended in the fifth generation.

I would love to see that. I think that— I think they would like to do it, but it's a really tough But I don't know, you know, there are like the supermarkets are keeping it alive, but it's a tough way to make a living if you have your own bakery.

All right, stay on and Francesco will give you an address.

Dennis, one more thing.

Go on, I'm ears.

Okay, I appreciate what you do. You are one of the— I've listened to talk radio for a long time. Did you ever remember a man named Dominic Quinn?

Yes.

In Philadelphia?

Yes.

Well, he was the first one I ever started listening to. And you are definitely a number 2 behind Dominic Quinn.

I think you're awesome.

Well, that's very kind of you. So maybe you won't bill me for the cake.

Just kidding! I really am just kidding.

Every moment just to keep a job, I gotta fight my way through the hustle and muck. Sounds of the city pounding in my brain while another day goes down the drain. Yeah, yeah, but it's a 5 o'clock world when the whistle blows. No one owns a piece of my time.

You are listening to the best, The Dennis Prager Show.

Me inside my clothes thinking that the world looks fine.

Yeah, you're listening to The Dennis Prager Show on Labor Day, and what I do is ask you what your labor is.

So what do you do for a living?

And we go to— let's see, I don't got calls around the country. I'll go to San Antonio in the middle, sort of in the middle.

Hello, Steve in San Antonio.

Dennis Prager.

Good afternoon.

Thank you. Well, Uh, okay, you're on the air. Go ahead.

Yes, I'm a fitness trainer in San Antonio, fitness professional.

Does that mean you do private to clients?

Yes, I teach, uh, personal training. I also do some group fitness classes. Pardon me, I'm trying to turn the radio off. Do some group fitness classes.

So, so wait, wait, the group fitness classes are at a workout place?

Yes, I have my own facility.

Oh, you have your own facility?

Wow.

Yeah, it's called Firestorm Fit Camps.

All right, Firestorm Fit Camps.

I'm also a franchise with an organization called Fitness Revolution.

Excellent. And you are obviously quite fit.

Well, I like to think so.

Well, I'm sure your, uh, your clients like to think so too.

It's hard to imagine an out-of-shape trainer.

Right, I'm in better shape than, uh, probably 90%, 95% of the people in my age.

Now, do you, do you work out independently, or, or basically once you're finished with the day you've really done enough workouts on your own?

No, I have a regular fitness training time. I meet some gentlemen at another gym and we train together every day, uh, about 4 days a week.

And how long does that take?

About 40 minutes.

And what do you do primarily?

We lift heavy stuff.

Yeah. Now, is it fair to say—

I'm obviously, I'm a layman in this regard, but I have a lot of interest in what you do—

is it fair to say that there's a sort of divided outlook on those who are very pro-weightlifting and those who aren't?

Yes.

There's a great misconception, especially with female trainers or training clients, that if they lift heavy weights they're going to get big and bulky, and that's just a fallacy. You either have to have the blessed genetics, you have to pick your parents right, or you have to take some sort of enhancement in order to get to that level of development. But for the average individual, just lifting hard Uh, short rest times, eating properly— that's the big key— will produce some tremendous results and give people a—

And what's, what's your—

what's your guideline for eating properly?

I like to say eat things like God made them. If you can't pick it off a tree or pluck it out of the water, then don't eat it. My favorite, uh, line is to tell people, if they find a 7-Up river or tortilla tree, call me and we'll eat and drink our fill.

You mean there's no Diet Coke-like?

Well, I haven't— I've been looking, but I haven't found it yet.

I, I hear you. Well, it is a real joy.

Thank you.

All right, I'm keeping a list here because, uh, often it happens we actually never even duplicate one profession in the course of 3 hours. So fitness trainer, and he's an entrepreneur, he owns his own place. That, that's impressive, sir. Good luck to you. All right, now let's go to Jeremy in Irvine, California. Hello, Jeremy. Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis.

Hi.

I've been trying to get in for 5 years.

All right, you know, very good.

Bad, not bad. Pleasure to have you, Jeremy. And what do you do, sir?

I sell laptop parts, mostly over the internet.

Now, are you making a living out of it?

Uh, so far it's been 5 years.

Well, let me— so who do you sell it to? To people who do repairs or to the end user?

Yes.

No, no, no, no or question can get a yes. There's a rule here.

I sell it to anybody that wants to buy.

So you sell it to both?

You sell it to both? Everybody. So I can't imagine as an end user taking apart my laptop. I mean, if it's a desktop, you know, you open it up and you can replace this, you can replace that, but a laptop?

Well, some things aren't too hard. AC adapters, batteries, they're not very hard, but things like putting in a keyboard or a screen are a little more difficult. There's a lot of resources out on the internet that allow you to do it pretty easily.

Well, if you sell laptop— let's say the keyboard on somebody's Sony Vaio—

I'm just picking one then in my brain— uh, breaks.

No, I am.

I'm just, just picking one as an example.

Okay, so the keyboard has broken. Where do you get the keyboard?

Well, it depends. Most keyboards I get direct from, uh, brokers in China that deal with the factories. Otherwise, I get it direct from the manufacturer. Sometimes they're not very hard to get, but most people don't want to waste the time or don't want to do the research to find it themselves, and I fill that need for them.

And so, I see. And you are findable through Google?

Is that your primary source of clients?

Yeah, we do a lot of AdWords and SEO, and we're number 1 for the term laptop parts right now.

Oh, so we is you started this business with others?

I, uh, used to be at another company. That company got bought out, so I got laid off, and I decided I'm just going to do it for myself.

With others or truly yourself?

Just by myself.

So why did—

all right, out of just curiosity, why did you say we?

Uh, because I have a lot of team members that help me get it done now.

I see.

But so you own your company?

Yes.

So you are the classic small business?

I am.

Well, I know how you're voting.

I'm not sure it matters in California.

No, no, but well, yeah, well, it does, it does on an emotional level. All right, good luck to you, Jeremy.

I will look for you on the internet if my keyboard—

by the time my keyboard breaks, I will admit if the keyboard on my laptop broke I would be searching for a new one.

But, uh, I— if you really love it, and obviously with money being what it is for many people, I think that Jeremy is going to be doing fine. And I hope you do. All right. And, uh, and, and your vote does matter. Just want to—

don't just want to tell you it does matter a great deal.

Because there are, there are a whole host of people running for office at any given time. So Californians should not think that way at all. John in Louisville, Kentucky. Dennis Prager, hi.

Hello, Dennis.

Yes, sir. Hello, it's John Turner.

I had a feeling January—

ah, you're coming on the cruise, terrific.

Yes, sir.

Yes, I have been working for Rainbow Blossom Health Food Store in the Louisville area for the last 10 and a half years, and I'm a nutritional consultant and love my job very much. On a scale from 0 to 10, I would say I love my job a 10.

Wow.

And why is that? You feel you're helping people?

Exactly.

It's like a second paycheck to me.

That is beautiful.

So this store is big enough to have a full-time nutritionist, as it were?

It is, yes.

There's 5 Rainbow Blossoms in the Louisville area.

Right.

Well, John, you're going to give me some advice on the cruise.

Great to hear from you. We'll be back in a moment. I'm Dennis Prager.

Labor Day.

Some people say a man is made out of mud. A poor man's made out of muscle and blood. Muscle and blood and skin and bones. A mind that's weak and a back that's strong. You load 16 tons, what do you get? Another A day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go. I owe my soul to the company store.

You are listening to the best of the Dennis Prager Show.

I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine. I picked up a shovel and I walked to the mine. I loaded 16 tons of number 9 coal and the skull boss Yup, it's Labor Day music selected by our beloved producer, Mr.

E.

Dennis Prager here on Labor Day, and it's a lot of fun, the Labor Day show.

What do you do for a living? And then I'd ask you questions about it because I'm curious about people and about what they do. The list is, as usual, quite— wow, I tell you, it's fascinating.

All right, let's go to New York City and Tzadik.

Hello, Tzadik, how are you?

Good, how are you, Mr. Prager?

Uh, since I'm familiar with both Hebrew and Yiddish and Jewish names, how did you get the name Tzadik, which means Righteous One.

Well, my mother's Israeli and my father's American. My father, God rest his soul, is American. And, um, they were both very artistic and they tried to have a child and it wasn't easy and they decided to name their first child a very unusual kind of name and a lot to live up to.

So that's what they named me.

Yeah, a lot to live up to is right. Uh, it's, it's quite remarkable.

I've never met a person, uh, a Jew named Sadek, and I'm sure you get this question all the time.

I, I do, since I'm a little kid. I actually went to, uh—

by the way, you know how I know you're a New Yorker?

How?

Because you said since I'm a little kid, not since I was a little kid.

It took me 27 and a half years to undo that, right? That's how deep it is in a New York way of speaking.

And I, and I sound like an upper-class Englishman compared to—

oh no, you do indeed. No, no, you sound terrific. It's just that phrase, right, that, that is quintessential New York. So what do you do for a living?

I actually sell antique Jewish objects.

How far back?

Uh, 18th century, about 1750.

And I see. So for those not familiar, that would be like a menorah.

Exactly.

And from—

so let's say a menorah from Poland from the 19th century.

Correct.

That sort of thing.

How do you get your material to sell?

I scour auction houses from all over the world. I've had stuff shipped to me from Australia, from South America, from Turkey.

Before—

during the 1930s, when Jews were getting out of Germany, a lot of them fled to many different areas. And consequently, after the war, a lot went to— besides the United States, obviously— to other countries to settle. And these heirlooms have been passed down, and unfortunately, when, when children or grandchildren don't appreciate it, they just put it up for auction, not knowing really what is the—

I don't even need the most, but what is one of the most expensive? How much was it, and what was it?

Well, the most expensive item I've ever had— I'm also a collector, so I'm a collector first and a dealer second. So the item that really just blew my mind that I came across in an auction was a completely hand-carved wooden box to hold a knife for the circumcision ceremony.

Where was that made?

In the Ukraine.

When?

And it's dated 1828. Everything in Hebrew. It says Mazal Tov. It has two lions of Judah.

And does it have a picture of a kid crying?

No, no, no, no picture of the kid crying. No, no, it's all strictly— think of gorgeous, intricately carved folk art with Jewish elements and motifs. And it's one of a kind. It's their circumcision knife boxes. Usually the knife is engraved or it has encrusted—

So how much was it?

Well, I paid less than $1,000. I've been offered 6 figures.

Wow. And 1 to 10, how much do you love your work?

From a spiritual side, a 10. From a financial, about a 3.

Oh, wow.

But I wrote a book and I'm trying to get it published, so hopefully that will be jacked up to an 8 or a 9.

Well, I wish you the best. You well. What a fascinating call. Back in a moment, Labor Day show, Dennis Prager. Portions of the following program may contain prerecorded material.

You are listening to the best of the Dennis Prager Show. Hello, my friends. Labor Day means the Labor Day show on the Dennis Prager Show.

I am Dennis Prager. Thank you for listening. What do you do for a living? I can't think of a more appropriate subject for Labor Day. What is your labor? And I am each year astounded at the variety You would think just by the law of averages we would get a certain number of, for perhaps people in sales, because there are, I would presume, a lot of people in sales.

But that just doesn't work out that way. The, the variety is just, I think, an ode to what freedom allows.

Whatever you can think up, and if you can have the niche then you make a living and often love what you're doing, which is the best. That's what I do for a living. I love what I do for a living. 30 years, and it's like day one. It's, it's, it's that exciting. All right, let's continue here. What do we have thus far?

We had in hour 1 a baker for Whole Foods.

A fitness trainer.

Man who owns a company that sells laptop parts. A consultant at a health food store. A seller of Jewish antique items.

Man— the man who monitors the heart-lung machine during open-heart surgery at the, at the a perfusionist.

Now, is it pro or per?

It's per. Yes. Uh, you say a perfusionist and a man who secures ads, the ads for the backs of supermarket receipts.

And apparently that is so lucrative there are people who make a million dollars doing it.

And I went into talk radio Alrighty, Phoenix, Arizona. Scott. Hello, Scott. Dennis Prager.

Good day, Dennis. How are you?

I'm very well, thank you.

My passion is adding value to gift giving, and I build personalized wine boxes, totally personalized with laser engraving. So we put names, dates, graphics, logos even photos right on the box, and it really makes the gift unique and different.

Oh, I see.

So somebody wishing to give a gift of a wine, of a bottle of wine, is even giving the bigger gift of the box in which they will put it, right?

A lot of people think of just putting it in a paper bag or just putting on the counter, you know.

Yeah, I'm one of them. Yes, exactly.

Now let me— so, so once the person receives that, and it obviously is a remarkable gift, but once they receive it, what do they do with it?

Well, if it has their name on it, we all love to see our name on the shelf, so it gets displayed really for a long, long time.

I see. With one, with one bottle of wine, obviously, right?

And yeah, greatest wedding gift, you know, because what's the, uh, what's the most expensive one you've sold?

Well, I do make a 6-bottle box, uh, that's pretty expensive. But, uh, how much? A lot of times we'll have a lot— well, that one's around $200.

Oh, well, that's pretty reasonable. I thought you were going to say something much higher.

I mean, you—

so you use a laser to engrave their name or whatever, or some message?

Yeah, if I design the graphic and get an okay from the customer, and then the laser machine actually engraves or burns the graphic or the names, and then it cuts out the pieces. And then I sand everything, assemble it with glue and pins, and put a sliding top on it. Makes it quite, quite different.

How do people find out about you?

Oh, we're totally an online business.

Yeah, but still, but people don't even think it exists.

See, well, that, that's the hard thing.

Yeah, exactly.

Keywords, you know, what keyword do you search for?

That's right. Yeah, I mean, you can't, you know, personalized wine box.

But now I know it, but I wouldn't have thought it before.

Maybe, maybe you'll get business as a result of this.

A lot of my, um, business is repeat business because where people are giving it for wedding gifts, so there's a crowd of people around.

So yeah, well, I wish you good luck. There you go. Talk about the man who's made a niche.

See, there I always explain to advertisers, people who want to sell a product on my own show, I say there are two types of products. This is the big The single biggest separation. There are products that you have to convince people yours is the best of that product, but they're going to buy the product. So a car, for example.

Everybody's going to buy a car.

So you don't have to convince people to buy a car.

You have to convince people to buy your car.

Then there is another type of product which is far harder. You have to convince people that they need that product and that it exists. That's a far more difficult sell to make. That's what his sell is, because if everybody wanted to buy a personalized wine box with every gift of wine, then he would just say, well, I'm the best. Fine, but who thinks of it?

So that's a, uh, that's, that's a challenge. Alrighty, let's go to some more here. Ray in Camarillo, California. Hi, Ray. Dennis Prager.

Yes, good morning.

It's an honor, sir. Thank you.

Thank you. What do you do for a living?

I'm the owner of an actuarial and ERISA consulting firm. We establish set-up retirement plans for individuals and small companies.

So, uh, you help with the personal finances of your, of your clients?

Well, it's really oriented frankly to a corporate level where the owner of the company says in combination with his own finances and that of his staff, our job is to design a plan that not only allows the owner to put away significant dollars but also to take care of key staff members because I have learned long ago that you're only as good as your staff. So our plans allow him to literally pick and choose the key employees in the company, a sales director, a CFO, even, even the guy out does shipping. He can create individually, uh, individual contributions for those employees to reward them for job well done.

So in one sentence, what do you do for a living?

Set up retirement plans that reward people and help them save for retirement.

How's business?

You know, it's very good. It's very good.

How do you make your money?

We basically charge for the type of plan and the number of employees that are in the plan.

I see. So you, you don't make any money from the places that the money is invested?

We do work on the investment side, but it's— our primary goal is to design the plan that fits the company. And if the company then wants our assistance on the investment side, we do some of it. We also refer out a lot to investment managers who do that for a full-time living.

Uh, how much do you make a year?

Do you know, before you answer, do you know what is so— if I ask this man, ladies and gentlemen, how often he has intimate relations with his wife, he would tell me. But if you ask people their salary, it is so interesting. You don't have to tell me, but remember you are anonymous.

Well, let—

I won't use you. What does the person in your field generally make?

Well, as owner of the company, basically I'm the very top of the pyramid.

My, my administrators—

my longest-term employee is 33 years, and in my staff, my median duration with the company is over 17 years. And my administrators make anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000 a year.

Gotcha. Well, good luck to you, sir. There you go.

Isn't it interesting? Why are people reluctant? I— it's Can you write that down, Sean? I, I, uh, I, I think I'm gonna pose that as a question on a, on a regular hour once. Why are people reluctant to say what they earn? I mean, people will talk to you about troubles that their children have, uh, before they will tell you what they make for a living. And I don't—

I—

and the truth is I don't understand why.

I mean, I can understand why people are reluctant to talk about, let's say, marital problems. You're embarrassed.

But why are you— there's no one— what is the embarrassment? You make too much? You make too little? I guess both. You know, if you make— you know, you make more than $100,000, you don't want to tell anybody. And you make under $90,000, you don't want to tell anybody. So if you make between $90,000 and $100,000, you'll tell everybody. No, I don't— it's so interesting, and I don't know the answer, and nobody ever asks. I mean, oh, absolutely not.

You know, how are your hemorrhoids is okay, but what do you make for a living? That's verboten.

I will, uh, be back in a moment.

Labor Day. I'm Dennis Prager.

You are listening to the best of the Dennis Prager Show.

I'm Dennis Prager.

And on Labor Day, I talk about what you labor at, what you do for a living. So far, no duplicates. Seems like everybody does something different.

But I would imagine too that I appeal to the—

if I have a vocational appeal, and there are people in every vocation who listen to the show, we know that, but It would seem to be that the entrepreneur and the small business owner and the person who works, who's developed his own niche, is going to be the most likely vocationally to respond. Is that— you think so?

I don't know why.

I'm just saying. It's not good or bad. It's just something that—

otherwise, there would be more, more people calling in from regular professions.

But I don't know what regular means. Maybe there isn't— there must be regular professions. I have to think that among the jobs that people work at that most consist of listeners to this show— I, I am— this is purely anecdotal, I have no basis on any scientific survey— is sales, people in sales. Who listen to the show, and, uh, from going, you know, from sales to sales, and, and women who are raising kids.

That's a huge, huge listenership because— I'm here, here comes a very jolting statement—

you get more intellectual stimulation from me than your 5-year-old.

Oh, I said it! Ah, ah, ah, of course it's true.

I mean, you know, and, uh, a lot of women want intellectual stimulation. God bless them. All right, let's go to some more of your, uh, of what you do for a living here, and we'll go to Corona, California.

Eric.

Hello, Eric. Dennis Prager.

Hey, Dennis.

Hi.

Uh, I do computerized access control in, uh, some of the most—

computerized access control?

Correct. Meaning make sure that the—

I make sure the good guys can get where they need to go and the bad guys can't. Bad guys meaning, uh, petty theft to terrorists to everything in between.

Well, what exactly do you do?

Well, uh, we have, uh, card readers that, uh, you swipe your badge at the reader and it allows you through a doorway, through a gate, through an elevator.

So what do you— which part do you work on? Do you make both the card and the reader?

We integrate them. We, uh, Some companies make the reader, some companies make the cards, um, and some people make the circuit boards, some people make the software.

Okay, so you are— you're the final—

you're the final step to the buyer?

Yeah, we interface with the end user.

What's the most— or one of the most sophisticated examples?

Um, I've been where military satellite data was analyzed. And if I looked the wrong way, a guy with an M16 wasn't real thrilled with me.

What does it mean, look the wrong way? What does that mean?

You—

when I was in this particular room, they had curtains up blocking things I couldn't see because I was— I didn't have a high enough security clearance to look.

Oh, so you were there selling— you were there selling them your product?

Integrating. I was actually assembling it, um, manufacturing it.

Well, not manufacturing.

So what is the— what is the future of this? Eyeball reading?

Well, that is extremely secure because it's very difficult to cut somebody's eyeball out and carry it over to the reader, whereas technically a finger, you could chop somebody's finger off. So that's about the most secure method. It's very inconvenient. Most people really don't like it. Biometrics where you put your hand on the reader, it analyzes your bone structure, and that's very secure and it's a lot more user-friendly. You can just rest your hand on it, and you can control how sophisticated it is. If you gain 1 pound, it can reject you, or you can dial it back to where it won't be quite as sensitive.

But yeah. Has any system you've sold been broken?

Breeched?

Yeah, breached. That's the word.

Due to user error?

Yes.

Due to user error. He was quick on that one.

Well, the New York airport, some jet skier got onto it. I didn't install that system, but I've installed systems at airports and maintained systems at airports. And after that happened, I saw a lot more police presence at airports out on the—

What is your background, computers?

Yes, I see.

I was in the military, got technical training there.

And well, let me just say, Eric, we need you.

We need you.

And I appreciate your call. That was good. All right, let's go to Katie in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Hello, Katie.

Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis. Um, I'm one of those, uh, stay-at-home moms that uses you for intellectual stimulation.

Yeah, exactly. I, I— there are so many of you And I commend you. And let me just tell you, I love you for it.

Well, good, that means a lot to me because I'm, I'm one of your great advocates.

I know, I know. And it means a lot to us. And so that's why I also kind of just wanted to kind of just say what we, we do to give a little shout out to stay-at-home moms. And also, um, I also homeschool my kids. Um, my boys are 6 and 8. I've been home with them since they were born, and we decided to homeschool a few years ago for numerous reasons I won't get into. But, um, I do have a pretty long list of responsibilities, obviously, um, schooling them, and which I enjoy immensely. And it is pretty much getting re-educated myself.

Of course.

I love it.

Of course.

I just finished studying the American Revolution.

I loved it.

It was so much fun. They had a blast. They know—

what do you remember? What books did you use, or, or We use a lot of books.

We do a lot of reading.

Right, I know, I know. Look, when I meet homeschooled kids, I can tell within 20 seconds.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun. That takes a lot of work, you know, the prep and the implementation. On top of that, you know, the regular household duties, running the house, doing the finances, cleaning, which cleaning after 2 small boys, 3 dogs, and a cat That is a job all by itself. All of the meal planning and everything I do for my husband because I am a wife also.

Music to my ears.

He works full time, so I take care of him too, which I enjoy very much. He also takes care of me.

Do you have any clones who are single for men listening who are—

Unfortunately, at this point in my life, All of my friends are pretty much married.

Right.

So, uh, no. But, um, uh, I also do— I serve at my church every week. I serve for— I volunteer for an organization here in Phoenix called Raising Special Kids. One of my sons has autism, so I do work for them. Um, I try to maintain a little bit of a social life outside of— outside of homeschooling. I'm one of the Prager girls, so we have our regular luncheons, which usually lasts about 5 hours, and that's a good outlet.

And we—

you and any number of other things.

You are beautiful in every way.

You are listening to the best of the Dennis Prager Show.

Hi everybody, Dennis Prager here. I'm still, uh, thinking about the last call. This is the Labor Day show. I ask you what you do for a living. That was a homeschooling mother, eloquent and wonderful sounding. And I, I mentioned, and she's one of the examples, I know this and it makes perfect sense and it It's no boast, but I, and not only I, I am the intellectual stimulation for a full-time mother. There are many wonderful things, I think unbelievably great number, in raising children, but intellectual stimulation isn't one of them.

If it were, we would have 10-year-old talk show hosts. Right? I mean, it's— but it's not possible.

So I'm just imagining the kid starting to, uh, crank her up, you know, crying, and I'm making a really good point, and the mother says, all right, will you hold on just one minute?

Let Dennis finish.

Exactly.

You'll cry then.

All right, let's go to some more of what do you do for a living. And, uh, let's see here. This is a, uh, this is not one I would have, uh, thought, uh, thought of. Bill in Camarillo, California. Hi.

Hi, Dennis. Hey, pleasure talking with you.

Thank you.

Yes, I am a freelance writer and my field is, uh, I test street motorcycles for motorcycle magazines.

Awesome.

You know how many men envy you?

Oh, uh, it's, it's about $40 million last time I checked.

Yeah, you know, no, it's— you, you should walk around with a mask. You, you cause—

with a dark shield.

Yes, exactly, that's right.

You cause large numbers of men to violate the 10th Commandment of coveting what somebody else has.

So you actually— so Wow, so you must love your work.

Oh, absolutely. I've been doing this for 34 years.

So what you need are two, two different skills. You need to know motorcycles and you need to know how to write.

Yes, back in my early days, I always wanted to be a writer. I always had been a motorcyclist. I was a photographer and suddenly lucked into a job at a motorcycle magazine And I've been doing that ever since. And about once a month the editor calls me up and says I've got a particular bike or 2 or 3 to test. And so I come in, pick up the bike, ride it around for a few weeks, get reimbursed for my meals and my gasoline, write the article. Often I'm photographed on the motorcycle for the test and turn that in and I'm a happy man.

Now, do you— I always wonder this about critics, whether it's of—

well, not, not forget movies, but critics of, for example, I'm into stereo, so I read a lot of, you know, reviews on stereo equipment.

Does it ever pain you to write a bad review?

It does, but I, I was told something years ago at my first job that in the magazine that really stuck with me. And the editor told me that if you're going to say something positive, you can have fun, you can kid around, you can exaggerate, you know, within reason. But he said, if you're going to say something negative about a motorcycle, you have to say it so precisely that even the manufacturer could not disagree with you.

Oh, what a good rule.

And you can't put a line like, I wish Charlie Manson would ride this bike. No, that wouldn't work.

Well, what is the ratio? I mean, are most— is, in other words, are the vast majority wonderful but some are more wonderful than others, or some are lousy, some are mediocre, and some are wonderful?

Well, all the bad ones have been gone for many years because the market is so competitive, I would imagine. So most of what I do is differentiate what a particular motorcycle does and how it does it relative to the other motorcycles in class. This one may be more comfortable for long-distance trips. This other one may have better handling. This other one may have better brakes. So you're kind of fine-tuning exactly what they specialize in, but there really aren't too many that are bad.

All right.

One final question.

If price were no issue, are you— can you— do you feel free to say what your favorite is right now?

As long as you understand it's my favorite, not the best, because that's fine.

That's good. Okay, not the best, your personal favorite.

My personal favorite, I would love to have a BMW R 1200 GS because to me it's one of the best overall motorcycles made.

I give you my word of honor, my dear listeners, I thought he'd say BMW because of my talk with Frank Pastore. Thank you, sir. Portions Attention, the following program may contain prerecorded material.

You are listening to the best of The Dennis Prager Show.

The work music is appropriate to the day and the show. The Labor Day show. Dennis Prager here. What do you do for a living? I wish I had kept the list from previous years. I have it from today, but I have to remember to keep it. The variety of work that you folks do is just fascinating, and I love talking to you about it. So that's what we do on Labor Day—

What's Your Labor?

No politics today, which is a pleasure in and of itself. And so let's go to more of your calls.

And if you missed it, I touched on an area that I think we'll explore during a regular hour on a regular day. People who hate their work, why do they hate it?

And I think the meaning issue— I think there are two big issues, but we're not gonna— I'm not asking for your opinion on this because I want you to call in on what you do for a living. But I think there are two things. One is the people that you work with And 2, do you believe your work is meaningful? And I use the man who monitors the heart-lung machine in heart surgery and bypass surgery, very complex surgeries, for many hours standing and just looking at the machine. Under other circumstances, the same work would perhaps be terrible. Monotonous, but because of the significance. That's what—

that's a great— it's a great analogy of life itself. If you feel that your life is meaningful, that's everything.

I got that from Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. One of the book— 10 books that most influenced my life. We have that list somewhere up at DennisPrager.com. All right, my friends, let's go to more of your calls. West Lafayette, Indiana.

Bob.

Hello, Bob. Dennis Prager.

Mr. Prager, it's an honor to speak with you.

Well, thank you for that.

Um, I do apartment maintenance. Uh, some of it's student housing, some of it's residential.

So maintenance means, uh, ensure that it's clean?

Uh, no, uh, they have cleaning people. Like if somebody moves out, somebody else— there's people that go in and clean, do the carpet.

So what, what, what do you maintain?

If the toilet's plugged up, they call me.

So no, now wait, wait, hold on. So you do this for apartment buildings?

Yes, uh, if somebody's toilet's plugged up, they call me. If somebody's shower drain don't drain, they call me. If the— there's a drip, uh, they call me.

So is that analogous to what we used to call the superintendent?

Well, I go over— I actually spread over most of the county as far as to what they maintain. But, uh, I just do all the repairs.

Uh, so you per— you personally, or it's your company?

What exactly? I work for—

I work for somebody else, right? The guy— okay, I get sales in the morning. So somebody's toilet's plugged up, somebody's shower—

I see, I got you, I got you. So, okay, now may I ask And again, you can say you don't want to say.

What do you make a year?

I make about $30,000 a year.

And you work all day?

Uh, generally speaking, it's, uh, 40 to 50 hours a week. Uh, some weeks where you got a roto-rooter, a sewer, or something like that, because we do that ourselves too. And well, I do that as in for the company. Me, but I could run into some 16-hour days doing that.

But so, are you paid by, uh, by salary or by the hour?

By the hour.

Uh, that's what I thought. I understand.

So you're on call pretty much? There might be a day where you—

they leave me alone on weekends. I mean, I check my email, and if somebody's got a disaster, we're soon—

yeah, yeah. What was the worst disaster, among the worst disasters you've had to maintain?

Uh, water main busted next to the foundation of a house that had, uh, 3 finished apartments in the basement.

Well, what did you do?

Shut off the water and started backing things out.

What, what is it, with water extractors?

Are there the machines?

No, well, just start with big shop vacs, and then when you get it down to the nitty-gritty, then you call in professionals and have them get this right.

Now, what's the most common thing you're called to do? The most common—

oh, uh, well, see, that depends on where you're at. If you're on campus, it's busted windows. If you're in residential housing, it's, uh, Toilets.

Yeah, uh, do the people— I'm just curious, the people— one sec— the people with the toilets, do you ever wonder, does this person not know how to use a plunger?

Or is it a lot of— no, most of the stuff they call me for is beyond—

okay, fine. All right, so it is— they do— they did need you.

Well, yeah, if you drop a shower curtain ring in a toilet, it'll get stuck in the little snake thing going on in there. And yeah, it'll— you can plunge it and it'll unplug and it'll be fine for about 2.

And how many years have you been doing this work?

Oh, uh, as all I do, about 2 years.

Oh, what'd you do before?

Oh, I'm a diesel mechanic.

A diesel mechanic?

Yeah.

Okay.

And how do you like your work, 1 to 10?

Uh, give it a 7.

Okay, well, we need you. It's all I could say. You're more necessary than, uh, than, uh, I was—

well, I don't want to get political here, but, uh, I would say that we need the maintenance men a lot more than we need, um, some of the professors that teach at the universities in certain, in certain disciplines. But I, I won't name them because, uh, I don't want to go there right now. Not that professors in general are not necessary. I love the life of the mind. We go to Dave, Los Angeles. Hello, Dave. Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis, how are you?

I'm well, thank you.

Yes, I'm a union organizer. Been one for 35 years now.

Well, I'm glad you listen to the show, given how much I knock the unions.

Yeah, well, I listen religiously, literally, because I, I first found you from Religion on the Line. It used to be such a godsend on Sunday night. In fact, I can say that's what actually changed me from being a fallen away Catholic back to a devout one.

Ah, that made my day.

That's wonderful to hear. I'm glad it did.

So are you— you organize the folks that are not unionized?

Uh, well, I do both. I mean, we all—

now wait a minute, wait, wait, do you do it in the— you don't do it— you see, I'm a little confused here. You are with the SEIU?

Yes.

So you're doing it for state employees?

No, we represent, uh, I work exclusively in the private sector.

Oh, I don't have an issue there.

Oh, that's all right.

Yeah, I, I don't know.

My big issue is with state and federal and local employee unions.

I think if you work for the public, if you work for the public, you shouldn't be unionized.

But if you work for private industry, that's, that's your prerogative.

Yeah, I wish—

it's too bad.

I wish people could be—

could sort of make that fine distinction when they talk about the labor movement, but it doesn't seem to work that way.

So what does it mean? You will go into a sector and you will, uh, are you like an agitator?

Well, that's part, yeah, that's part of the job. And the places where the workers that I'm working with don't have a union contract or the union's not in, you know, doesn't deal with the employer yet, yeah, we agitate, get people together and organize for their own benefit and protection, ultimately get a union contract.

So how do you explain the fact that there are a lot of employees, for example, various airlines lines. They don't want, like for example flight attendants, they often vote not to unionize.

How do you explain that in the few seconds remaining?

Well, the labor movement has, you know, I'm Dave here, I'm kind of anonymous. The labor movement has, you know, from 1955 onward when they had this great mass of workers, rather than being competent, there was a lot of incompetence that led to a lot of people thinking unions are worthless and that term union, it's like saying government is worthless in my opinion. But people, you know, again, once you get that reputation, it never goes away.

Well, as I said, I am truly delighted you listen to the show, Dave.

Thank you.

You are listening to the best of the Dennis Prager Show.

Hello, my friends.

This is the Labor Day show on the Dennis Prager Show.

What do you do for a living? That's the question. And it's, um, every year I'm amazed at the variety of work that Americans do.

I— what was today's most obscure one?

That's what I thought. Exactly what I thought.

And they make—

they make— they can make a good living getting the coupons and ads on the back of the receipts at your grocery store.

All right, let's, uh— well, I, I think obscure too is, uh, running the heart-lung machine in those.

I mean, how many Yeah, and the motorcycle critic. And the more— yeah, we had a lot of that.

Yeah.

All right, let's go.

Let's go on here. Brian, Alpharetta, Georgia. Dennis Prager, hi.

Hi, Dennis, how are you?

Good, well, thank you.

I have not called in since 11 years ago when I was 15 years old, and you sound the same over the phone as you did then. Just wanted you to know that.

Well, that's very nice. I feel the same, actually, if not better. So, well, let's see.

You called in at 15?

I did. Well, you were talking about, uh, I believe it's what kind of music kids my age at the time listened to, right? I was a member of a symphony orchestra, and so I guess I was more of an exception. Um, I didn't listen to as much of the pop culture music.

So what about today? Do you listen to pop music today?

Um, I did more in college, but it's, uh, it's amazing what having a 2-year-old will do. They start to say things they shouldn't because you're listening to music you shouldn't be.

Oh, that's funny.

Change your tune pretty quick.

That's like the woman who called me once to say why she took her kid out of daycare. The first words that she heard her daughter say were, 'Come on down.' They had, they had The Price Is Right on all the time, right? Okay, go ahead.

Okay, I called in today, uh, first of all to say I was listening to your show in the last hour and the mother who homeschools her kids called in, and that's when I started dialing because I was homeschooled. I was homeschooled at the time I called you, uh, and for 9 years before that. And now I am a power engineer living on the other side of the country with my family, my wife, and my, my 2-year-old daughter. So I'm a power engineer. I was homeschooled. And I guess the reason I wanted to do power engineering is because in high school and in college, people of my generation, if you're interested in engineering or math or even video games, we all wished we were around when Bill Gates or Hewlett and Packard were doing their thing. And you kind of feel like you missed the Silicon Valley boom a little bit. And what I realized in college was That's happening in the power world right now. I'll put it this way. If I were to drive by your house, I guess how many computerized devices would be in that house?

Oh, a dozen.

All right. Do you know what a substation is? It's that area where all the power lines go and they're surrounded by a barbed wire fence or razor wire fence and there's a little control house sitting in the middle there and that usually is the side of the road. And people tend not to pay attention to them. But if you were to drive by a substation, the chances are pretty high that you would not find a computer chip in any device inside that building. And so the computer revolution in the power industry is happening right now. And it's pretty fun to be a part of.

Wait, it's happening in that— oh, now computers are entering that world. Right, exactly.

I see.

We're so used to the buy a new cell phone every 2 years and throw it away, put it in the trash bin and everything. And for power, you don't want to invest in equipment that you're going to have to replace every couple of years. So it's been a major challenge to get computerized devices into the power industry.

Well, so why is that an asset?

It's an asset because if you're relying on switches and springs and electromagnets to control the flow of your power and react to problems like trees falling against your power lines, once it's done its job, it's done its job. The power's out. How do you know where the problem was? Or how do you know why it turned the power off on this neighborhood? There is— there's no way to know. If you're using a computerized device, you can have memory, much like a computer in there, and it can be constantly storing the voltage and the current, the power that it's seeing. And so when it divides— when it decides to turn the power off on somebody, you can go connect to it even remotely and ask it why. And it should be able to give you a reason why, and it should be able to give you—

and that's what—

and that's your—

so that's your area of work?

Yes.

At the, at the cusp of, uh, of the power industry?

Yes. It's fun.

Well, call me 11 years from now, if not sooner.

Okay, sounds good, Dennis. Thank you.

Yeah, you're wonderful. Really, it's heartwarming, isn't it? Called me when he was 15, and now he's, uh, you know, at the cutting edge of this industry. You're a good man. And he's already made a family at 26. That's good stuff. Gene in Philadelphia. Dennis Prager. Hello, Gene.

Hey Dennis, you know I've always wanted to thank Sean for something.

Oh no, no, he gets too much, he gets too much praise here, please. But all right, go ahead.

Through his bumper music, he's introduced me to one of my favorite bands, the Fleet Foxes, or Fleet Foxes, I should say.

The Fleet Foxes?

Yeah, I'm sure he knows what I'm talking about.

Sean, do you know what he's talking about? Alan gets credit for it, that's what Sean said. That's why I like, you like Sean because of the music. But I like Sean because he gives Alan the credit for the music because Alan wrote the music.

That's why. So I'll give him double thank you.

Okay.

That's right.

Well, I write and illustrate children's books for a living.

Get out!

I do.

Both write and illustrate?

Yeah. Give us the name of one.

Well, I guess my latest one is called Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives.

I like that title, Timeless Thomas.

Yeah.

So your background is in art?

Well, I'm self-taught there. Yeah, but I started as an illustrator in books and since about 2005 I've also been writing as well.

You love your work?

I always have to, when things get a little frustrated or you get notes back from the publisher. Things you don't want to do. Yeah, I mean, you know that feeling.

Yeah.

Um, you still have to just thank your—

you know, thank the heavens that you're doing something you love for a living.

So who did publish the last book?

Henry Holt.

Oh, you're, you're okay. I mean, it's very hard to make it in your field.

Yeah, I—

that's where I knock wood too, because I've been able to make it a consistent living. Yeah, do well and get reviewed well.

Yeah, that's very, very rare. Congratulations. Thank you. I know, I know about that. I mean, I, I have not done children's books, but I know, I know people who have. It's very, very— well, all books, it's very hard to get published. I probably—

I, I published my first book on my own.

It did so well, Simon Schuster then published it, and then the rest of the books are published by, by reputable or, and, you know, famous publishers. But my first book was on my own and, uh, did very well. Thank God.

Okay, my friends, we continue. Let's see, we got an actor calling in.

They're always fun.

We'll be back in a moment. This is the Labor Day show, Dennis Prager Laboring. I hear something saying—

You are listening to the best of the Dennis Prager Show. That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang. That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang.

All day long they're saying, I love this Labor Day music for the Labor Day Show. With a laboring Dennis Prager. One of the only times of the year that I come into the studio in shorts, knowing that only Sean will be here. Otherwise, and he can vouch for it, it's a shirt and tie and slacks every day. What do you do for a living, my friends? That's the question on this day. And, oh, there are so many good calls, it's difficult to choose. Katie, Arizona. Hello, Katie.

Hello.

I make teeth. So does God, and he does a much better job than me, I will I will confess that.

All right, okay, that's humble.

What does it mean you, you make teeth?

Well, you go to the dentist and he tells you you need a crown, and he grinds your teeth all up and takes an impression, and the impression comes to somebody like me, and I'm the one who turns that into the crown that goes back into your mouth.

You make the teeth from, or the tooth from, that impression?

Yes.

So does that amount to essentially filling that, that, uh, what is it, indentation?

What is it again?

The impression. The impression the doctor takes.

So do you fill it and, and then it hardens and then you have the tooth?

Well, you make, uh, you make a model out of that, kind of like pouring up a plaster mold, right? And then you, depending on what it is you're having made You know, we make, we make a tooth that goes on that. A lot of them are, you know, nowadays they're all porcelain, and sometimes they have metal substructures. But yeah, we make the tooth, we make it fit your model, make it fit.

What's the biggest difference between the God-given and the Katie-given?

Um, the materials. You, you just can't make, um, you know how you think about how diamonds can cut glass? Right, they're stronger. Yes, you just can't make a material that wears on your opposite teeth, um, as, as well as a natural tooth. So you're always going to have problems with teeth wearing down and stuff like that opposite of your crown, unless you get a gold crown. They're still the best, unfortunately.

No thanks.

Oh, oh, that's—

see, isn't that amazing that we can't replicate nature in that way?

They're getting better. There's a lot of good materials out there.

So, well, what is the best new material?

Oh gosh, you know what? It depends on what you want. If you want something really highly aesthetic, or, which is what most people want.

So it's usually a trade-off between durability and aesthetics, correct?

Exactly. Yeah, exactly, yeah. So you have to come back, but I go for aesthetics. I agree with you.

Yeah.

So do you actually meet the patient or you just meet their mold?

Oh, never. I just meet the mold. In fact, all of my clients are out of state. How's that?

So what, do you work at home?

Yeah, I do.

Oh, would you like to meet the patient, or are you very happy the way it works now?

Um, I'm even happy not meeting the doctors.

So why did you study to be a dental technician?

No, nobody, nobody studies to be a dental technician. You fall into this line of work and you get trapped and you never get out. So you can study, you can get—

All right, so then I— All right, look, this brings out the, the obvious question: 1 to 10, how much do you love it?

Um, you know what, I love the actual work. I give the work a 9. It's the schedule that's sometimes like a 5. It's very, you know, unsteady work. Some— sometimes in the year you're working 12, 14, 16 hours a day, and then sometimes in the year you're you're, you know, hardly have any work. There's a, there's a definite curve to when people get their crowns done.

Is that right?

Is—

and wait, that goes year after year, the same time of the year?

Yes.

Oh yeah. When do— I have no idea what the answer is. What is the— when do they want their crowns done?

Um, at the end of the year, at Christmas time, so you never get to go to any Christmas parties, and, uh, at the beginning of the year, but not during the summer and not when kids are going back to school. You got to spend money on other things.

Do you have a family?

Um, yes, I do.

So do you— you have kids, obviously.

I mean, so do the kids watch you do this?

Yes, they do.

They get a kick out of it?

Um, they're a little too young right now, but they, they do find it interesting.

Yes.

Well, Katie, I thank you, and I think you do very important work being the owner of Crowns Myself. We return on the Labor Day show on the Dennis Prager Show.

I'm a hardworking man.

I wear steel-hard hands. You are listening to the best of the Dennis Prager Show.

I can ride rope, hammer and paint, do things with my hands that most men can't.

I can't get ahead no matter how hard I try.

I'm getting really good at barely getting by.

You're listening Dennis Prager Show. I can't believe that we're coming to the end here. It's, it's been so, uh, interesting. What do you do for a living? Stephanie in California is a life coach for artists, painters, musicians. She connects businesses with artists. They can work together. Cliff in Queens, New York.

Is, uh, what is HVAC?

Uh, installation and maintenance. He's originally from the country Jamaica, and now he lives in Jamaica, Queens. Ralph in Manhattan is an actor, and I wish we could talk to you because I promised that we would. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Okay, Ralph, you should be the first next year. David in Texas is a substation engineer for utilities. Alan Houston owns a company that makes and sells various charcuterie artisan foods, bacon, guanciale, sausages, smoked cheeses, mustards. Says he gets paid to play a mad scientist in the kitchen. Richard in Colorado develops franchises for businesses. That's fascinating. I'd love to talk to you. I'll— in the final minute, I'll tell you what I do for a living. I try to make sense of life every day for 3 hours and offer you my best thoughts reflecting my highest values, and make it interesting for 3 hours a day. And I am extremely fortunate to be able to do so. But everyone who loves his work is fortunate to do so. It is not a unique fortune. That's why so many of you rated your love of your work highly, and I appreciate that fact. And I want to add one more word, that those who stay home and take care of kids are doing the most important work to make a home, to be a good spouse, to make a happy home. No job compares in ultimately making a better world. It's just, it doesn't bring in a direct paycheck. That's the only difference.

Thank you, my friends, and a wonderful Labor Day to you.

I'm Dennis Prager, and I remind you to visit StandUS.com. Usa.com for the values we share.