Chapter 1: The Meaning of Work- Rodrigo Joseph Rodriguez

In the short story, The Meaning of Work by Rodrigo Rodriguez tells us what it means to work and the struggles that Rodriguez’s father faced. Rodriguez reflect back to when he was a child and how his father would say, “Had you been born during my day you would have known the meaning of work.” (Anderson 22) His father struggled to raise them growing up because his father was not given the opportunity to go to school and get an education, instead he had to work. Rodriguez reflect on the academic privileges he was given, as he pursued graduate study. His father told one of his co-workers that Rodriguez would one day “work in air condition.” (Anderson 23) Rodriguez’s father wanted his son to achieve more than he did. He gave his son the opportunities he was not given in life such as a good education. His father knew that the true meaning of working is when you do something you enjoy doing and in other to attain that you had to get a good education, which his father was not given. When he referred to that statement about Rodriguez working some place with an air condition he meant somewhere comfortable and relaxing. Rodriguez is reminded that his father had paved the way for him through physical labor, so he that he could "shape his space in the pursuit of academic success."(Anderson 24)