I work for $4 an hour. I get my butt chewed at least once a day. Why do I stay? I love my work. However, I could deal with a few extra dollars and few less lectures.
I hope I’m not alone when I say I have no more butt for people to chew off. Somehow all the work I put into my job just isn’t good enough for some.
I currently have a job that is not considered an internship but it should be. I cannot gain internship hours for this job even though I work about 15-20 hours a week. After some calculations (my salary is semester based), my hourly rate is about $4.
When I asked to get a raise, a professional associated with my job told me my position had not had a raise in the last 7 years. Therefore, even though I am working much harder than past people in my position, I am not eligible for a raise ‘just because.’ I was never able to get a straight answer out of anyone as to why I could not earn more since I was doing more.
So my $4 an hour rate continues. Without my husband's income I could only pay my rent three times each semester. That doesn’t include car insurance, gas, groceries, medical bills, heat for my apartment, turning the lights on at night, or doing laundry.
I never thought I would work this hard at this particular job. However, I cannot look bad at this job because of future employers. Therefore, I spend countless hours working as hard as I can to make not only myself look good, but also the people that have other positions associated with my job.
I am not one to moan and groan about any job I hold. I really love what I do. It is exactly what I would love to be doing in 15 years only on a larger scale. However, it seems lately that after all these hours put into my job, I have gotten my butt chewed over everything.
For $4 an hour, I cannot stand getting my butt chewed over anything and everything anymore. My rate is less than minimum wage and I am doing more work than what I am getting paid for. I am tired of it.
I contemplated even posting this because I know it could have strong repercussions. But I have something to say and it is something I believe in. I am going to stand up for myself because I am tired of being walked on. I am tired of getting paid $4 an hour and getting my butt chewed off.
The job has taken a toll on me more than any other job I have ever had. No one deserves to get paid $4 an hour and get their butt chewed.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Running in Heels falls flat
Anything can be a reality show, even a few 20-somethings interning at Marie Claire magazine. The previews for this show on the Style network looked good and I was excited to watch it. After about 10 minutes into the first episode I realized that the three interns are boring, jealous-ridden, monotone, ungrateful girls who don’t have an ounce of ambition in their bodies.
These girls are jealous of every task the other girl gets and they are determined to undermine the next girl by snippy comments and backstabbing. Give me a break. Shouldn’t the girls worry about themselves more? If they were a bit less jealous of the next girl, they would be happier. For example, one girl was asked to help at a red carpet event while the other two interns had to do regular jobs. The two girls moaned and groaned for the whole half hour about how they should have been the ones to do the red carpet task. Get over it. Obviously there was a reason those two girls were not picked to do the red carpet task. Instead of ranting and raving about how one girl gets all the good tasks, they should just work harder to get the tasks they want.
The three interns have such boring personalities it makes me want to cry. For example, one girl was given the task of helping a prominent editor at Marie Claire with her wedding. She wanted to impress this editor (so she said) but she never smiled, was never personable and never showed an ounce of emotion. Hello?!?!?! I just want to scream in her face, ‘get a personality!’ Ugh.
Ambition is another thing these three interns could use a really big dose of. How they landed an internship at Marie Clair baffles me. They are never excited to start a new task. In fact, all three interns waited until hours before a magazine spread was due to start working on it. Sorry girls. Life is not going to be handed to you on a silver platter. You might have to actually work for something. Gasp.
I thought Running in Heels would be a fun show to watch, especially being a journalism student interning this summer. I thought this show would give me insights about working at a magazine. Instead, I have been caught up with the interns and their dull personalities. I hope I don’t have to be like them to get to the top.
These girls are jealous of every task the other girl gets and they are determined to undermine the next girl by snippy comments and backstabbing. Give me a break. Shouldn’t the girls worry about themselves more? If they were a bit less jealous of the next girl, they would be happier. For example, one girl was asked to help at a red carpet event while the other two interns had to do regular jobs. The two girls moaned and groaned for the whole half hour about how they should have been the ones to do the red carpet task. Get over it. Obviously there was a reason those two girls were not picked to do the red carpet task. Instead of ranting and raving about how one girl gets all the good tasks, they should just work harder to get the tasks they want.
The three interns have such boring personalities it makes me want to cry. For example, one girl was given the task of helping a prominent editor at Marie Claire with her wedding. She wanted to impress this editor (so she said) but she never smiled, was never personable and never showed an ounce of emotion. Hello?!?!?! I just want to scream in her face, ‘get a personality!’ Ugh.
Ambition is another thing these three interns could use a really big dose of. How they landed an internship at Marie Clair baffles me. They are never excited to start a new task. In fact, all three interns waited until hours before a magazine spread was due to start working on it. Sorry girls. Life is not going to be handed to you on a silver platter. You might have to actually work for something. Gasp.
I thought Running in Heels would be a fun show to watch, especially being a journalism student interning this summer. I thought this show would give me insights about working at a magazine. Instead, I have been caught up with the interns and their dull personalities. I hope I don’t have to be like them to get to the top.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Travel blogging gets results
An article on CNN points out a handful of travelers that, thanks to their handy dandy blogs, have gotten refunds, apologies and much more from airlines, hotels and rental car companies. These travelers all had bad experiences on their vacations with airline rules or hotel situations. What did they do? The blogged about it. These blog posts have been picked up by major news companies calling the airline or hotel out on their errors. The article is an interesting read and it has links to the original travel blogs. Check it out!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Australia
I will be the first one to admit….I don’t like watching movies. Call me weird, call me strange but I don’t care. I can’t stand sitting in the same place for 2-3 hours doing nothing but stare at a screen. No thanks. When I am finally convinced to watch a movie (usually by my husband who likes movies) to watch one, I usually drag in my lap top or latest craft and multi task.
However, the times are a changin’.
I watched a movie, from start to finish without multi tasking (applause please….just kidding). What movie you ask? Australia. Obviously I’m a little behind on my movie watching. I never saw it in theatres because of my annoying experience of seeing Marley and Me (the lady behind me chomped down at least eight big bags of popcorn…very loudly). Anyway. Australia was an awesome movie.
I’m not one to notice costumes during a movie but the costumes in Australia caught my eye. From Nicole Kidman’s blue suit to Hugh Jackman’s dirty torn shirts, the costumes were very authentic of the time period and amazingly designed.
Now I admit, I thought they movie was kind of hard to follow for about the first 15 minutes. After that though, it was so easy to follow and in the end I ended up really into the movie and crying right along with the actors.
One actor I really enjoyed was Brandon Walters who played Nullah. He is only 12 but he was absolutely amazing. This was his first movie and I really believe he will be the next ‘big one.’
If you haven’t seen Australia yet, please please rent it. Even a movie-hater like me loved it.
However, the times are a changin’.
I watched a movie, from start to finish without multi tasking (applause please….just kidding). What movie you ask? Australia. Obviously I’m a little behind on my movie watching. I never saw it in theatres because of my annoying experience of seeing Marley and Me (the lady behind me chomped down at least eight big bags of popcorn…very loudly). Anyway. Australia was an awesome movie.
I’m not one to notice costumes during a movie but the costumes in Australia caught my eye. From Nicole Kidman’s blue suit to Hugh Jackman’s dirty torn shirts, the costumes were very authentic of the time period and amazingly designed.
Now I admit, I thought they movie was kind of hard to follow for about the first 15 minutes. After that though, it was so easy to follow and in the end I ended up really into the movie and crying right along with the actors.
One actor I really enjoyed was Brandon Walters who played Nullah. He is only 12 but he was absolutely amazing. This was his first movie and I really believe he will be the next ‘big one.’
If you haven’t seen Australia yet, please please rent it. Even a movie-hater like me loved it.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Goldman
David Goldman and his 8-year-old son have been separated thousands of miles for years. Goldman's wife traveled to Brazil when the boy was young for a vacation. She called her husband days later and said she was never returning to the U.S., or to him. She remarried a powerful Brazilian attorney and later died in child birth leaving her son, Sean, in Brazil with a strange stepfather. Goldman is now trying to gain custody of his son. He has made numerous trips to Brazil to see Sean, but never to bring him home.
At the beginning of this case, the media was very biased, only presenting Goldman's side of the case. Now, the stepfather is speaking to media outlets in Brazil and the U.S. presenting his side of the story. But wait. Isn't there a third side to this case? Ah yes, the son in the middle of this heated custody battle.
What about him? What about what he wants? I'm not saying he can make an educated decision at age 8, but has any media outlet even tried to see what he wants? I'm also not trying to imply that he should not be reunited with his biological father but the job of the media is to give an unbiased view on news (as hard as this is for some people to fathom). All I want to see is what an 8-year-old boy wants. Is that so hard to present?
At the beginning of this case, the media was very biased, only presenting Goldman's side of the case. Now, the stepfather is speaking to media outlets in Brazil and the U.S. presenting his side of the story. But wait. Isn't there a third side to this case? Ah yes, the son in the middle of this heated custody battle.
What about him? What about what he wants? I'm not saying he can make an educated decision at age 8, but has any media outlet even tried to see what he wants? I'm also not trying to imply that he should not be reunited with his biological father but the job of the media is to give an unbiased view on news (as hard as this is for some people to fathom). All I want to see is what an 8-year-old boy wants. Is that so hard to present?
Only in my hometown...
Sometimes I am truly embarrassed to say I am from North Platte. It's stories like this that cause this horrendous embarrassment. I don't know who this 'tire lover' is but he's making all North Platte people look like a bunch of hillbillies. Thanks man.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Crack addict or wedding photographer?
Since we are talking about column writing in class, I thought I would post one of my favorite colums: An Awwwsome Wedding by Dave Barry.
One thing he talks about in his column is wedding photographers. I worked for a photographer for 2 years and every weekend we had at least one wedding to shoot (sometimes it was more than one, which just turned into mayhem).
On a normal Thursday working for the photographer I did work for, I would have to get out the all-important checklist of the bride and groom for that weekend. First thing to decide: how many divorces are there? That added 15+ photos. Combine biological Mom and Dad, then biological Mom and stepdad, then biological Dad and Dad’s girlfriend, and then some without Dad’s girlfriend because she’s just a tramp and no one likes her so we are just including her to be nice but we really aren’t going to buy THOSE photos. Second thing to decide: how many illegitimate children are there? My favorite bride and groom had two children each from other relationships, one child together and another one on the way (6 six weeks away from giving birth just FYI). I had to put together so many combinations I thought my brain would ooze out of my eyeballs.
The day of the wedding was different. I absolutely loved the weddings where the wedding party, including parents and grandparents, would get completely schnockered before photos. This was my boss’ worst nightmare but I loved it. Being tipsy made everyone so much easier to work with. Granted, I had to physically help the ladies and gentlemen up to the alter, but after that they didn’t go anywhere. They already had a dumb ass smile on their face from being tipsy so I didn’t have to make lame jokes about the groomsmen to get anyone to smile.
Children, on the other hand, were never drunk so they were a pain in the you know what to pose. I had toys and candy and all sorts of fun stuff strapped to me almost like a tool belt to entertain young kids and make them smile. One wedding had 3-year-old triplet flower girls and one of the girls would not smile to save her life. Her face lit up when I tripped over some light cords and onto a church pew. However, her two other sisters were not paying attention. SO, guess who had to trip over the cords repeatedly to get all three of them to smile and look at the same time?
So as Dave Barry puts it, “if you think it’s easy to make 3-year-olds sit still, smile and not mess up their dresses for long periods, then you are either a crack addict or a wedding photographer.” I totally agree.
One thing he talks about in his column is wedding photographers. I worked for a photographer for 2 years and every weekend we had at least one wedding to shoot (sometimes it was more than one, which just turned into mayhem).
On a normal Thursday working for the photographer I did work for, I would have to get out the all-important checklist of the bride and groom for that weekend. First thing to decide: how many divorces are there? That added 15+ photos. Combine biological Mom and Dad, then biological Mom and stepdad, then biological Dad and Dad’s girlfriend, and then some without Dad’s girlfriend because she’s just a tramp and no one likes her so we are just including her to be nice but we really aren’t going to buy THOSE photos. Second thing to decide: how many illegitimate children are there? My favorite bride and groom had two children each from other relationships, one child together and another one on the way (6 six weeks away from giving birth just FYI). I had to put together so many combinations I thought my brain would ooze out of my eyeballs.
The day of the wedding was different. I absolutely loved the weddings where the wedding party, including parents and grandparents, would get completely schnockered before photos. This was my boss’ worst nightmare but I loved it. Being tipsy made everyone so much easier to work with. Granted, I had to physically help the ladies and gentlemen up to the alter, but after that they didn’t go anywhere. They already had a dumb ass smile on their face from being tipsy so I didn’t have to make lame jokes about the groomsmen to get anyone to smile.
Children, on the other hand, were never drunk so they were a pain in the you know what to pose. I had toys and candy and all sorts of fun stuff strapped to me almost like a tool belt to entertain young kids and make them smile. One wedding had 3-year-old triplet flower girls and one of the girls would not smile to save her life. Her face lit up when I tripped over some light cords and onto a church pew. However, her two other sisters were not paying attention. SO, guess who had to trip over the cords repeatedly to get all three of them to smile and look at the same time?
So as Dave Barry puts it, “if you think it’s easy to make 3-year-olds sit still, smile and not mess up their dresses for long periods, then you are either a crack addict or a wedding photographer.” I totally agree.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
