February 26, 2026
Call me side‑hustle Ishmael
The Work Behind the Writing: On Writers and Their Day Jobs
Writers by night, plumbers by day: Internet fights over “real jobs” and real art
TLDR: A piece on writers’ day jobs — from Melville’s customs desk to a USPS cubicle — sparked a brawl over whether boring work boosts creativity or just exposes privilege. Commenters traded McCarthy lore, memed Philip Glass the plumber, and roasted the site’s ads, turning hustle vs. art into the main event.
Ed Simon’s ode to writers with day jobs — from Herman Melville clocking in as a U.S. Customs Inspector to Simon himself editing a USPS newsletter with a password nod to “Call me Ishmael” — lit up the comments. The crowd loved the gritty romance of art-after-hours, but they didn’t agree on what it takes. One camp swears drudge work is rocket fuel for creativity, cheering that mindless shifts leave your imagination free to roam. As one fan put it, jobs you can do "on autopilot" power the muse.
Then came the spice: privilege vs. grind. A hot take dropped that Cormac McCarthy was an “exceptional case,” even leaning on partners so he could write — cue side-eye and debates about who gets to chase greatness. Meanwhile, the thread briefly exploded into an ad-blocker war, with readers roasting the site’s pop-up parade as “very conducive to reading” and sharing this wall-of-ads screenshot. For comic relief, Philip Glass lore stole the show: a tale of the composer plumbing in SoHo and someone blurting, “But you’re Philip Glass!” turned into a meme about secret geniuses fixing your dishwasher. Bottom line: the community is split between “suffer for the art” and “suffer at the office,” with everyone agreeing it’s way easier to read about it with an ad blocker.
Key Points
- •Herman Melville worked as a U.S. Customs Inspector in Lower Manhattan for 19 years, retiring in 1885.
- •Melville’s inspector duties included checking ship manifests and recording cargo such as wool from Manchester, rum from Havana, and tea from Calcutta.
- •Moby-Dick initially received poor reviews (e.g., The Boston Post), leading Melville to civil service while pursuing poetry in his leisure time.
- •Melville’s colleagues respected his dedication; he worked six days a week at 55 Wall Street for $4 per day without a raise.
- •Author Ed Simon served six months in USPS communications in 2020, editing a regional employee newsletter and covering operational topics like LLV maintenance and security.