"Adults are just children who earn money." — Kenneth Branaugh
This pretty much sums up two preoccupations on my mind recently. First, I secretly (OK, probably not much of a secret) feel like a kid most of the time. Which is fine with me ‘cause I really don’t want to grow up anyway. After a long day I invariably end up watching cartoons and eating “kid food,” ie. Mac and cheese, PB&J, cereal, etc. Previous co-workers use to laugh at the types of food I brought in as my emergency stash… until they came around mid-afternoon trying to score Pop Tarts and Lunchables. See, it’s just too much fun being a kid… even if the other adults think you’re a little off.
The second and more pressing preoccupation… I have been desperately casting about for work. It’s not like I have any outstanding bills or anything… but Christmas is coming! I need cash, damnit, and my reserves are tapped. Here’s the background: I have a BA in English and have been working as a freelancer in high tech marketing for the last three years. So although I live in Silicon Valley and the job market here has sucked, project work for me was pretty steady until I got preggers. Then I had a sudden hiatus.
(I was also working on a MA in Literature until I got knocked-up (not that it wasn’t planned, I just didn’t expect to get pregnant so quickly). That’s another whole dynamic, because a lot of English academics think marketing and advertising are four letter words. Many directly attribute the decline in US literacy to diet food marketing campaigns. However, usually you have to WORK to pay for SCHOOL! Long story short, I learned to be quiet about what I did for a living.)
Naïve me, I really didn’t think it would be that hard to pick up work again, BUT IT HAS! I pinged all my contacts, been scouring good old craigslist, but nothing came through. Shit. I was starting to think about getting a job at Nordstrom’s for the holiday season. Or selling t-shirts on cafepress (yes, I know everyone’s doing it). I even saw the “hiring” sign at Toys R US, but I’m not THAT crazy. I needed something!
Until now. YES, I finally got a project! I am inordinately pleased. I’ve been celebrating by eating Baby Ruths and staring at my computer for way too long. I feel like a kid in a candy store… making money… by dealing chocolate.
Or, as my fellow students in the English program would say, “Whoring your soul to the corporate machine, eh?”
Yes. Yes I am. – the weirdgirl
“There’s no nobility in poverty anymore.”-Gordon Gekko
I never understood the whole bias against “whoring your soul to the corporate machine” either. I have a lot of friends who are pursuing dreams of becoming writers or artists. But a few of them stubbornly reject working in ANY type of corporate atmosphere. They’d rather work long hours for less pay waiting tables or tending bar (jobs which ironically leave them less time to pursue their passions.) Go figure!
Whatever puts food on the table and pays the bills…I too have an English degree.
I work in sales now…ha go figure! To be honest, all the skills I learned particularly in writing have served me very well.
So whore, my friend, whore away!
You go girl! Nothing wrong with “whoring your soul” for cash. BTW: I want a very expensive Christmas present because I gave you know who your number so that you could be a slut like me. Ha Ha
Just call me one happy hooker. I’d rather have cash in the bank and peace of mind, and then work on my “art” on the side. Being poor sucks.
And Auntie, please, you know you’re going to get something fabulous.
Good for you, Girl! You gotta do what you gotta do. Forget those snobs.
two words: law school.
I was a classics major. you think an english degree makes employment difficult? try putting on your resume that your only skills are translating what Plato said Socrates said to Alicibiades at some gay banquet 2,600 years ago.
then I went to law school, and man oh man did I love the free time! I spent most of it rummaging for creepy gospel records at gigantic detroit thrift stores, but in the end I was marketable and now I have a job with a lot of down time where I can write all day and get paid for the other stuff I’m supposed to be doing. congrats on the gig, and never let anyone make you feel bad for selling your soul. I view it as sucking the corporate teat dry from the inside. someday they’ll figure it out and fire me, but until then, cha-ching!