Last night I learned of the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a woman many described as having worked hard all her life for gender equality and social justice. I heard the news of her passing while watching a movie called ‘Knives Out’, and in that movie there’s a character, a young immigrant nurse, who is described as a hard worker too. I thought that was a nice coincidence.

Working hard is good, and good qualities are for others to observe in us. Some people just can’t wait, though, they have to bring it up to make sure everyone knows: “I’ve worked hard.” It’s actually a pronouncement I hear a lot, “I’ve worked hard!” It’s not always said defensively, though it sometimes sounds that way. And it’s not always spoken by people of a particular sex, or age, or skin colour, though it sometimes seems like there’s a pattern. One might be tempted if one were prone to generalizing.

It’s rare to meet someone who does NOT feel that they worked hard… to get that promotion, that tenure, that holiday, that car, and so on. I don’t often hear, “I have an average-level work ethic, but I was born in the right place, at the right time.” That’s not a thing. We are a nation of hard workers, just so you know.

If the hard work is so irrefutable, then why the need to assert it? Why mention it at all? Talk about stating the obvious. It’s like going around saying, “I breathed in. And then I breathed out.”

And it’s in the past tense, so we know the accomplishments are complete. All the work is over, time to put your feet up and enjoy a well-earned holiday. A “richly deserved” holiday, as the saying goes. The work is all done!

I guess RBG never got the memo. She never acted like the world owed her a comfortable retirement. Surely if there were a person who had earned it, it was her. Nevertheless, to borrow a descriptor of another strong, hard-working woman, she persisted….well into her golden years. And how much we have gained from that wisdom. That experience. That unstoppable drive to “do her work to the very best of her ability.”