The Psychology of Labor

Often on the trails of the Grand Canyon I would pass by animal droppings and wondered what creatures people were riding around. Finally, I noticed a horse/donkey looking animal coming up the trail. I stopped near an opening to allow the animal to pass and asked the tour guide what it was. I think he appreciated me standing to the side at an opening, so that we wouldn't have to s queeze on the narrow trail. 

The guide stated that the animal was a mule, which is a hybrid of a male donkey and a female horse. He added that if you use a female donkey and a male horse you get a hinny, which apparently is less effective. The reason why mules are used on narrow trails is that they can see all four of their feet, whereas horses apparently can only see two of theirs. Donkeys can see all four of theirs too but are too ornery to carry people along the trails. Most notably, because horses have 64 chromosomes and donkeys have 62, mules have 63 chromosomes. This means that mules cannot reproduce. However, the guide told me that this doesn't stop them from trying. 

Similarly, I have noticed that customer service has improved in recent months. While studying for the bar exam I rarely went out to eat, save Starbucks. On my road trip and over the past week I have noticed how much better customer service has become. When the economy was good, people probably didn't like their job and didn't care about keeping it. They could always get another. However, now that the economy and job market are so bad, customer service has improved. Even where someone has a job that they hate, they know that they have to keep it, as there are so few jobs out there.