Hardiness

CHAPTER 9Hardiness at Work

“The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”

— Oprah Winfrey (US talk show host, media executive)

Are you stressed out in your current job? Have you ever thought about how stressful other jobs might be? What would you think are some of the most stressful jobs out there? Does bus driver come up as one of your choices? In this chapter we’ll talk about stress in the workplace. By learning how hardiness applies to work, you’ll have the tools to better understand how you can improve your work situation. You may want to change your hardiness mindset to better fit your job, or you may want to find a job that’s more suited to your current hardiness mindset. This chapter will help you chart your course.

Driving a Bus Is No Walk in the Park

Driving a bus can be a stressful job. In fact, it can be one of the most stressful jobs out there. There are some great rewards for driving a bus—decent pay, good family medical benefits, and a decent pension. But the costs can take their toll. Some of these costs have been documented by Christine Zook, who was president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192 in Oakland, California (Boyer & Brunet, 1996; DelVechio, 2019).

Zook, who drove a bus for an urban transit district in Northern California, describes her work as squeezing a 20-ton machine through city streets filled with traffic jams, potholes, road construction, jaywalkers, bike messengers, ...