Today is National Work Like A Dog Day, a strange celebration because there are few American breeds of dogs that work. American dogs are domesticated lap lovers who go on daily walks, eat better than a lot of people, and have cushy beds – quite often, the beds of their humans. We’ve even managed to domesticate the breeds of dogs that were made to work. Now, they watch us work.
Oh, I know. Some are going to get all up and arms about that opening paragraph and point out the dogs that are guard dogs for businesses, police dogs, military bomb sniffing dogs, dogs that are used on farms for herding, and dogs that are service animals. Yes, I totally agree that they are wonderful, four-legged workers that deserve their due.
But how many Americans do you know with these kinds of dogs? Instead, our dogs are “man’s best friend,” intended to be his playmate. And may I remind you that in the English language, we have another idiom referring to dogs: It’s a dog’s life. People recognize (for the most part) that our furry friends tend to have it made.
For the dogs that have provided service through the years, they are the ones who inspired the phrase working like a dog. And since this is Work Like A Dog Day, let’s take a moment to recognize those who do just that.
Television personality Mike Rowe is a man who has travelled the country looking for people who have Dirty Jobs. In many cases, these tend to be the most dangerous jobs as well. Consider his findings.
A few years ago, a study was conducted and found that there were 120 deaths annually
among those working as offshore oil riggers. Working onshore was no better as the same number of lives were claimed due to accidents and/or equipment malfunctions.
Roofers were placed in the dangerous and dirty job category. Many will use their own strength to carry shingles up ladders. The actual roofing job may not be super dirty, but it is hot and dangerous. The biggest danger comes from falling.
A job with danger that might surprise us is that of the garbage collector. We are grateful for his work and scheduled pick-up of our trash. However, they are subject to the elements as well as contamination from whatever is in those bags. Also, Rowe discovered that due to the hydraulic equipment, more deaths occur in a year among garbage collectors than among those working as police, miners, or construction workers.
Farmers, firefighters, power line men, construction workers, concrete finishers, mechanics, miners, highway maintenance workers, combat surgeons, and snake wranglers all made his list as either the dirtiest jobs, most dangerous jobs, or both.1
Today is a salute to the American worker. I know, it’s not Labor Day. But shouldn’t we celebrate the worker more than once a year? Aren’t they worth it?
1 Timothy 5:17-18 says, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. (18) For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.” Though the passage speaks directly about supporting the pastor, it is applicable to all who are workers. And cheating those hard workers from their just reward is punishable by God.
James 5:1-4 says, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. (2) Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. (3) Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. (4) Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.”
Several years ago, when industry was prevalent in Bryan, there was a week or two when factories and businesses threw open their doors and invited the public to tour. I 
was humbled going through some of those places, seeing the dangerous and dirty conditions in which some of our church family had worked for years. At the same time, I was extremely honored and proud to know these people, to say that they were church members, and that they were our friends.
They definitely worked like a dog and came home dog tired. It makes the truth of Ecclesiastes 5:12 stand out: “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much…”
1https://www.grunge.com/1142210/the-most-dangerous-jobs-on-dirty-jobs/
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