Workin’ for the man

Ok, so when I first got interested in the newspaper business, I was 12 or so. And I think when I pictured my dream job, I sort of picked out some stereotypes in my mind.

To be honest, it was all very Daily Planet from Superman.

I would be very glamorous, a la Lois Lane, and wear pencil skirts and carry a notebook and maybe have chic glasses. Meh.

But what was really important my editor. I always pictured an older, semi-rotund, gruff guy with a heart of gold.

When I met my editor here I was slightly disappointed because I thought he wasn’t old enough! I thought he was 40 or so. Not quite what I pictured! But it turns out he fit every other thing I wanted him to. He is sarcastic and grumpy, but still tells me I am wonderful when he thinks I deserve it (or I am totally freaking out). He has that slightly rumpled look of someone who was supposed to be somewhere ten minutes ago but will get there on their own time, dammit! He gets the job done, even if he has to yell at a police officer to do it.

Well, he was talking to me the other day. And mentioned grandkids. Who are 14.

He is in his min-50s! Hurray!

Now that I have a much older editor than I originally thought, my life is back on track.

Even if he will never understand my love for google and wikipedia.

Or get how I come up with random information so fast…

It’s retail, but it sure ain’t therapy…

I have recently given up on the hope that some big, important newspaper job will lure me out of Pullman and into the real world. At least not in the next few months.

But, my measly five hours a week at the bookstore are not going to pay the rent. So I have embarked into the wonderful world of job applications galore.

There are a few things about retail job applications that really piss me off. Mostly, though, it is the random questionaires that are inevitably attached to the end of them. Where you have to select anything from strongly agree to strongly disagree in order to help your could-be employers know your “personality.”

Two things employers:

1) There is no way you can discern anything about me from some questions with multiple choice answers.

2) It’s called lying.

I consider myself to be a pretty good person. When I say I have never stolen anything from work, I mean it. However, it would be more than easy to click strongly disagree on “I think doing drugs at work is ok” and then show up high for your first shift.

These questions don’t show you how good of an employee I would be.

That being said, I Strongly Agree that “I love to work with people” and Strongly Disagree to “I quit working if I feel the job is not challenging enough.”

I can has job now?