Whoring, but not whoring
It's another day. Tonight I'm attending my first writing group meeting in Santa Cruz. The group meets at a coffee shop downtown. I found them online on Sunday and emailed the organizer for information. By noon yesterday I was a member. I had to read and critique two stories for tonight. I'm not sure how old the other members are (one thing the organizer's email lacked was what I wanted: information), or what type of people they are, but I'll find out tonight. I'm excited and anxious.
But before I get to satisfy my curiosities about the writing group, I have to drag myself through another day at my temp job. It's not a bad gig, as I said in the post I deleted, but I have nothing to do. My only responsibilities are answering phones and distributing mail. No one in the office feels it's necessary to train me on other tasks. As Maggie, the woman I'm replacing, told me, "I'd show you how to do this, but you're only here for two weeks and it's not worth your time. It's too complex, anyway." That's cool. But what am I going to do otherwise?
I've boiled it down to this: I work, but I don't work. Along with answering phones and sorting mail, I also play online games at MiniClip.com, get lost researching related links on Wikipedia (somehow I found my way to this yesterday), and read Herbert Kornfeld's columns in "The Onion." I also play solitaire and pinball. Once in a while the mortgage bankers or consultants have pet projects for me, like filing or folding papers. I have an ongoing project to fold letters and insert them into envelopes. Of course, Maggie said I don't have to if I don't want to, but playing Tribe gets boring. (On an interesting tangent, Tribe was previously known as Savages until today. I guess they got complaints about the name.)
Another thing I do to waste time is write blog posts. My last three posts have been written while sitting in my little half cubicle near the front door. No one can see my computer screen, so no one knows what I'm doing. It looks like I'm typing, but it's a mystery what I'm working on.
This job numbs my mind. Office work isn't my niche, even when all I do is stare at a computer screen. I need something interesting to stimulate my mind, something I can engage with. Who doesn't like having fun at work? Every time I look back at the underwriters and accountants in the office — watch them punching numbers and reviewing applications — I think of all those accounting and business majors at Iowa. Poor bastards. They'll spend their lives wearing business casual attire, working within a maze of chest high walls, and the only fun they'll have is the occasional rubberband fight. At my office there's one every Friday before close.
Sorry. Not for me. But it pays. That's the trap. It sucks, but you have to whore yourself to pay the bills.
But before I get to satisfy my curiosities about the writing group, I have to drag myself through another day at my temp job. It's not a bad gig, as I said in the post I deleted, but I have nothing to do. My only responsibilities are answering phones and distributing mail. No one in the office feels it's necessary to train me on other tasks. As Maggie, the woman I'm replacing, told me, "I'd show you how to do this, but you're only here for two weeks and it's not worth your time. It's too complex, anyway." That's cool. But what am I going to do otherwise?
I've boiled it down to this: I work, but I don't work. Along with answering phones and sorting mail, I also play online games at MiniClip.com, get lost researching related links on Wikipedia (somehow I found my way to this yesterday), and read Herbert Kornfeld's columns in "The Onion." I also play solitaire and pinball. Once in a while the mortgage bankers or consultants have pet projects for me, like filing or folding papers. I have an ongoing project to fold letters and insert them into envelopes. Of course, Maggie said I don't have to if I don't want to, but playing Tribe gets boring. (On an interesting tangent, Tribe was previously known as Savages until today. I guess they got complaints about the name.)
Another thing I do to waste time is write blog posts. My last three posts have been written while sitting in my little half cubicle near the front door. No one can see my computer screen, so no one knows what I'm doing. It looks like I'm typing, but it's a mystery what I'm working on.
This job numbs my mind. Office work isn't my niche, even when all I do is stare at a computer screen. I need something interesting to stimulate my mind, something I can engage with. Who doesn't like having fun at work? Every time I look back at the underwriters and accountants in the office — watch them punching numbers and reviewing applications — I think of all those accounting and business majors at Iowa. Poor bastards. They'll spend their lives wearing business casual attire, working within a maze of chest high walls, and the only fun they'll have is the occasional rubberband fight. At my office there's one every Friday before close.
Sorry. Not for me. But it pays. That's the trap. It sucks, but you have to whore yourself to pay the bills.
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