DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 142, 6 September 1927, Page 14

DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

JUST HIS JOB (Copyright, 1927) /"\UT in. California I once talked with a man who made a living from the pleasant occupation of flying kites. Ail he had to do was to wait for a bright, sunny day, when the breeze was sweeping in from the sea, and then go to some vacant lot near the edge of the town, and spend his afternnon in the sport of kite flying. And he got paid handsomely because attached to his string of kites was an advertising banner which attracted attention for miles around. Here was a man whose job was just fun, whose work was play. If anyone ever should have had enjoyment out of his work, he was the man. But no. Flying kites was "just his job.” He said he was responsible for keeping the kites up so long, that he had to watch them all the time, that he couldn’t quit when he wanted to as can boys when they fly kites. He got so tired of doing nothing but send up kites that only the good pay kept him at it. Spectators who watched Pete De Paolo, the famous racing automobile pilot, drive to victory on the track, were kept tingling with excitement at the spectacular thrills he furnished. Yet, to a reporter who interviwed him, he said he got no special thrill out of driving a race. It was “just his job,” the day’s work, how he made his living. "For a real thrill,” he said, “I turn to golf. I get more thrills out of a game of golf than I ever do out of driving 130 miles an hour on the banked oval of a racing track.” On the other hand, professional golf experts get less thrill from playing golf than from driving a fast car on the road. For them golf is "just their job.” Fun, it seems, when it becomes the source of livelihood, loses its thrill. When you are earning your living you feel a sense of responsibility. When you are having fun you don’t care. When you are playing you can quit when you get tired. When you are working you have to keep on. And it takes very little having to keep on when you want to quit, to outweigh the fun that went before. »