This is likely going to turn into a general "bitch about work" thread, but I don't care.
So, I've managed to get a summer job. Yay me, right? The job itself pays quite well--280 dollars a week, which is super cool for me, poor college student--but the job itself quite sucks. I am a canvasser for an Environmental organization/lobbyist group. My job is to go door-to-door and basically ask people for money.
Yeah, you can imagine how well that goes. Sad thing is, I'm good enough at the job. First day I made 70 bucks, second I made 180. Yesterday I only made 15, which sucked, but whatever--there are always bad days.
My problem is that, after my canvassing was done, yesterday, I was called in by my boss (one of two)--this little 20-something hippie girl--who told me that my attitude was far too negative and basically threatened to fire me if I didn't act more enthusiastic about my job.
This I found rather offensive. Mostly because, frankly, if I do the job and I'm not causing trouble for anybody, I don't really see how my attitude has anything to do with it, especially since any negativity I may express is usually around my co-workers, and I do my best to be very respectful to my bosses. I am, after all, a professional, if nothing else.
So, after informing me of this, I go in and try to discretely warn one of my coworkers that this particular boss seems quite upset tonight and may chew him out too. Evidently, this was overheard and reported, and I got yelled at again. She seemed genuinely SHOCKED that I may have some kind of dislike for going DOOR TO FUCKING DOOR, and was like "Well, why should I keep you? With an attitude like that, why shouldn't I terminate you?"
Well, to be fair, its valid enough of a point. One shouldn't be terribly negative about ones job, at least not while you are there. Personally, I don't feel I was being that negative--I think its just because my sense of humor is wry and sarcastic, which comes across as negative to self-righteous leftists. So, yeah, if it is important that I show a better attitude or whatever, fine. I can do that. Its what the job demands, and I like to do my jobs well.
But jesus CHRIST. This is not exactly a GREAT job. It is, in fact, a pretty terrible job, and the only reason I am doing it is so I can get a rather large amount of money stockpiled over the summer. If it wasn't this, I'd be doing something else, like being a clerk or a fast food worker. I don't give two shits about the organization, and I don't really believe they are actually making a huge difference in their "war against global warming". It is a job, and my incentive for going door to door, dealing with shitty people and trying to convince them to give me their hard-earned money is so that, in turn, that hard-earned money becomes MY hard-earned money. That's how jobs basically work: I go in, I work, I get paid. That's all I particularly care about, and unless my attitude is affecting my work, this really shouldn't be a problem.
Truth be told, I really do hate the job, and if it wasn't for the convienience of having the job, I'd quit right now. As it is, I'm starting to search for an alternative employment, which I might as well, summer classes are coming up and it would be so terrible to be fired from my shitty door-to-door job and have nothing but summer school to keep me busy. And, yeah, evidently, my negative attitude might make other people "discouraged" and make them unenthusiastic about working.
Frankly, though, who the fuck needs MY help to be unenthusiastic about a fucking door to door pan-handling job?
So, I've managed to get a summer job. Yay me, right? The job itself pays quite well--280 dollars a week, which is super cool for me, poor college student--but the job itself quite sucks. I am a canvasser for an Environmental organization/lobbyist group. My job is to go door-to-door and basically ask people for money.
Yeah, you can imagine how well that goes. Sad thing is, I'm good enough at the job. First day I made 70 bucks, second I made 180. Yesterday I only made 15, which sucked, but whatever--there are always bad days.
My problem is that, after my canvassing was done, yesterday, I was called in by my boss (one of two)--this little 20-something hippie girl--who told me that my attitude was far too negative and basically threatened to fire me if I didn't act more enthusiastic about my job.
This I found rather offensive. Mostly because, frankly, if I do the job and I'm not causing trouble for anybody, I don't really see how my attitude has anything to do with it, especially since any negativity I may express is usually around my co-workers, and I do my best to be very respectful to my bosses. I am, after all, a professional, if nothing else.
So, after informing me of this, I go in and try to discretely warn one of my coworkers that this particular boss seems quite upset tonight and may chew him out too. Evidently, this was overheard and reported, and I got yelled at again. She seemed genuinely SHOCKED that I may have some kind of dislike for going DOOR TO FUCKING DOOR, and was like "Well, why should I keep you? With an attitude like that, why shouldn't I terminate you?"
Well, to be fair, its valid enough of a point. One shouldn't be terribly negative about ones job, at least not while you are there. Personally, I don't feel I was being that negative--I think its just because my sense of humor is wry and sarcastic, which comes across as negative to self-righteous leftists. So, yeah, if it is important that I show a better attitude or whatever, fine. I can do that. Its what the job demands, and I like to do my jobs well.
But jesus CHRIST. This is not exactly a GREAT job. It is, in fact, a pretty terrible job, and the only reason I am doing it is so I can get a rather large amount of money stockpiled over the summer. If it wasn't this, I'd be doing something else, like being a clerk or a fast food worker. I don't give two shits about the organization, and I don't really believe they are actually making a huge difference in their "war against global warming". It is a job, and my incentive for going door to door, dealing with shitty people and trying to convince them to give me their hard-earned money is so that, in turn, that hard-earned money becomes MY hard-earned money. That's how jobs basically work: I go in, I work, I get paid. That's all I particularly care about, and unless my attitude is affecting my work, this really shouldn't be a problem.
Truth be told, I really do hate the job, and if it wasn't for the convienience of having the job, I'd quit right now. As it is, I'm starting to search for an alternative employment, which I might as well, summer classes are coming up and it would be so terrible to be fired from my shitty door-to-door job and have nothing but summer school to keep me busy. And, yeah, evidently, my negative attitude might make other people "discouraged" and make them unenthusiastic about working.
Frankly, though, who the fuck needs MY help to be unenthusiastic about a fucking door to door pan-handling job?
