[noumenal]

So, today I called the restaurant where I work to find out when I was working this week and the assistant manager told me that I needed to come in and talk to the manager. They want to offer me a "different role" in the restaurant. I suck at being a waiter. I've known this all along, but I was hoping I could keep doing it until this summer.

Here is why I suck: I don't give a shit about making tips. I take what I get and I don't hurry to appease the customers. This translates into me being "slow" and my managers get irritated because people aren't getting in and out of the restaurant as fast as possible. I just have a different view of the service industry than they do, I guess.

They can't fire me because I always come in early, haven't missed a day, and am agreeable to work with. So, they are going to offer me a "server assistant" job. A "server assistant" is a busboy.

I have this job to help out a little - I don't need the money for rent or anything. So, I'm not sure how I feel about being a busboy. I have a degree from Vanderbilt University. I know I sound like a snotty bitch, but oh well.

I was promised a teaching assistantship at the university I'm at now and it hasn't happened. There is a chance that I'll get a job next year as an instructor, teaching a Rudiments of Music or Music Appreciation class. I have too much specialized knowledge to be wiping shit off tables and refilling water for rednecks celebrating their birthdays.

God, I can't wait to leave Louisiana. This place is a cesspool of ignorance. Nashville, TN is like a paradise compared to Baton Rouge. Why am I here? As an undergrad, I never went to class and so my GPA was bad. My GREs are great, though, so I had a lot of explaining to do....

Don't skip class. Go to class. Do the stupid busy-work. Here are some Wilco lyrics that sum it up:

"I cut class
In school, yeah
Now I know I made a mistake
I made a big mistake"

I'm applying this fall to new places for my Ph.D. and I can't wait. I should get in somewhere decent because I'm pulling a 4.0 here. As long as my Master's Thesis is good.

[Hip Priest]

Wow, bad luck on the promised job. People can be real w****** can't they? Your attitude at the restaurant sounds reasonable enough to me.

If it's any consolation, I suck at being a troll. The guys from those other boards send me PM's now being all nice to me. I can see why, I was too nice, I'm not cut out for trolling at all.

Good luck mate.

[noumenal]

They didn't put anything in writing about the teaching assistantship, but they had to give me incentive to come. I understand, they have to offer the jobs to the new people to get them to come. I'm already here. And there are 5 prospective grad students coming in (maybe). What's annoying is that I'm almost certainly more qualified than the majority of the new people....

I'm going to try to find a more suitable job. I'm not oppossed to manual labor - I don't think I'm beneath it. I did my share growing up. More honest work. But there's something unseemly about the service industry. Restaurant managers are always A+ tools and the servers are always alcoholic dimwits prostituting their personality and appearance for more alcohol money.

I know it's been said a million times, but the academic life is a bitch and if you're not passionate about whatever it is you do, don't get into it. You can't care about money at all. There's something monastic about it. My professors think it is funny how I have to do these shitty jobs until I graduate. It's like some rite of passage into their little club. They're always looking at me with nostalgia in their eyes. Most people wouldn't envy my position and think I'm an idiot for being in grad school, but these guys (my professors) look back fondly on sacrificing so much for the sake of "learning".

[Hip Priest]

Sounds like the best way to succeed at it is to devote yourself totally to it.

[noumenal]

This is what I'm doing. I know I sound bitter right now, but I love what I'm doing because I love music more than anything. Even Jesus.

I have a good friend who is working on his Ph.D. in Economics at MIT and a good friend working on his Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard. Both of them got grants and have teaching jobs, so it's a little frustrating for me, watching them. All because I didn't go to class.

[Hip Priest]

Wise man say: sometimes is better to be bitter than to work with w*****s.

[samuel]

Wow. It seems to me like you deserve much more. Going for your Ph.D. is huge in my book. My sister is having job problems too, but it's completely different; she works at a pet store. Well, if you don't need the money, I wouldn't do it, but I understand how some extra cash can help out... I'm 16 and I think being a busboy would be an awesome job. But you're much older and you deserve better. My advice: don't work at a pet store. Good luck.

[Savage Clone]

Originally Posted by Hip Priest

Wow, bad luck on the promised job. People can be real w****** can't they?

"Waiters?"
"Weebles?"
"Workers?"
"Woodies?"

This is either a new swear word I am not familiar with, or one that needs no asterisks to be uttered in mixed company.

[noumenal]

wankers?

[Hip Priest]

Originally Posted by noumenal

wankers?

Correct, sir!

[Savage Clone]

Wankers is not bad enough for asterisks.
You are probably right though.
Hip Priest carries a torch for The Bambi Slam, so his questionable judgment is already on record.....

[Hip Priest]

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

Wankers is not bad enough for asterisks.
You are probably right though.
Hip Priest carries a torch for The Bambi Slam, so his questionable judgment is already on record.....

What can I say, I'm a sensitive chap.

What the f*** is wrong with the Bambi Slam?!?!?!?!?!!?!??!!?!?!??!!?!??!??!?!?!

[Savage Clone]

Now THAT was a good use of asterisks!

[noumenal]

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

Now THAT was a good use of asterisks!

LOL, thanks.

[Hip Priest]

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

Now THAT was a good use of asterisks!

Thanks, I think I've got the hang of it now.

Back on topic, noumenal, I think it's obvious to all and sundry that you're passionate and knowledgable about your chosen field, you've got a top sense of humour to match, and if one of your goals was to become employed in the field that you've studied in then you should just go full pelt at it. And if you're prepared to move to a new location anyway then you should look at what's available and go wherever the prospects are, maybe?




cccl

[noumenal]

Yeah, I'm working my ass off right now, hopefully I'll get a good offer when I apply as a doctoral student. No matter what, I'll be getting paid at that point. Even if I stay here.

[jheii]

I hear you, man. My situations slightly different, but I feel like I can relate. I have a tour guide job that pays well but pisses me off consistently. I'm preparing to start school as a 21 and a half year old freshman. I'm trying my hardest to get my writing published, and so far I've made no money from it, though I've got some interesting prospects. All because I've loved books since before I could speak. I even taught myself how to read. I just like to brag about that. I'm high and I should be cleaning my house right now... Stay free, guys and dolls...


End Note: I seem to have trouble writing straight from my brain and ending with a correct sentence. This requires a lot of tedious editing when one is trying to write poetry and prose for others to appreciate. ...

[nature scene]

I'm going to be teaching an environmental lab starting next fall.

[krastian]

Ha...yeah I have an English degree too. I feel fucked.

[dietzer123]

you konw what would be a shitty job? a chef at one of those japanese sushi places where they cook right in front of people. you have to be making their food and making fucking chit chat with these people. your job actually revolves around being charming