Most of the jobs I have had showed their ugly side right off the bat. That is the price one pays for having 'kid' jobs for most of your life. The main entrance requirement was having a discernable pulse. I was working in a carwash in my 30's as just one example of having possibly every crappy job in our society at one time or another.

I gravitated to the ugly side as quickly as possible in the few adult jobs I did have. As a cabbie I soon learned there was little money in taking little old ladies to the grocery store once a week during the afternoon. As soon as I learned the ropes I switched to the night shift and started taking Johns to hookers for a much better income. And as a Real estate agent in Detroit the uglier it got, the more I made. I never felt comfortable driving families around the burbs looking at houses. The good neighborhoods were already controlled by the old time agents who lived there. I had to go South of 8 Mile and got addicted to the adrenaline rush of squeezing money out of mean streets. Ugly was my friend.

I suppose being a politician would be the ultimate example of Baldwin's quote. To be constantly dealing in backroom deals, yet having to put on your Eagle Scout routine for the public would be wearing for anyone with principles. That is why some of the most effective politicians are not the nicest people around. They revel in politics' ugly side and like fighting in the mud. And getting stuff done.

The last job of my life was a reversal of this. Not any job out there more ugly from the outside as being a CNA. Cleaning up people's shit and assorted bodily fluids, horrible compensation, and being on the bottom rung of society's pecking order. The amazing thing was the beautiful side of this job came through later. I was caring for some incredible people in high end nursing facilities and became a crucial part of their end game. I was able to see some very articulate people at the very end of life and experience their fears, regrets, and life lessons that only facing death can provide. It was the best and most important job I ever had and came at the perfect time in my own life. My priorities were forever changed....