Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I Think I've Made A Terrible Mistake

Oh Holy Shit. I’m losing it. 

For extra money this semester my Dept. Head hired me to be her PA and do his bidding. He’s rude and passive aggressive and yells at me and makes me sit through utterly inane meetings where he yells at someone else and nothing can get done. Like, I can’t move forward until he makes up his mind on things and that is always at the last minute. I definitely DO NOT work that way. 

This week I told him that I would not be around MWF because I am teaching at another school, because I need the money. That also means I won’t be around to answer emails and get things done now now now. Last night when I got home there were literally 15 emails, back and forth, some were forwards, some were cc’s about things I needed to get done…at 7 pm for tomorrow morning. Most of them concern Hamster Cage Design, but I’m a hamster scientist, so anything with the HCD takes me a loooooong time. 

I was so stressed. I may have even cried a little. Into my wine. But I finished. To get here this morning to find more emails about more things that were supposed to be done yesterday. And that because he doesn’t like to get up early (rolls in about 11 – but it’s ok because he stays late), the schedule for the lab is screwy and my lab is always scheduled during the hour when there are no classes…and there are activities for students, or seminars, or in this case a fucking evacuation. So I have to just cancel the goddamned lab. 

But you know what, I’m going to the bar during that time. Especially because I have to be on campus for 12 hours that day doing the bidding of the Dept. Head. Shoot me!

14 comments:

  1. I had a boss like that once. I got another job, and departed from his baleful influence. Not before he helped himself to a computer with my grant, of course.

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    1. That crook should have been beaten with an iron rod for buying a computer with another person's grant money.

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    2. It was all perfectly legal, of course, which is more than I can say for beating him with an iron rod, as satisfying as that would have been.

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  2. Replies
    1. Oh, personal assistant. Sorry, I'm dumb.
      Your dept. head sounds like a regular POS.

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  3. That sounds horrific. Can you give up the duties as his personal assistant and go back to your regular duties?

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  4. In what universe do department chairs get PAs who are adjuncts? There are administrative assistants (unionized where I work, and available only during business hours), graduate student researchers (also unionized, and expressly prohibited from being used as gophers or secretaries) and faculty (not unionized, but protected from doing the personal bidding of their superiors). I have never heard of this BS!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I sure hope you at least get paid well for this nonsense.

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  5. I don't get paid well, but it is known that I need the money because I can't find another job, so I get taken advantage of...probably like a lot of people right now. I am pretty sure I am not coming back after this semester, even if it means full time unemployment. The universe where I live in is dark and corrupt. I am still doing my regular duties as well as these new duties, as well as odd jobs here and there and market research groups! Woo.

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    Replies
    1. Professor T, if you have to moonlight, do it outside the institution for which you work. When I was in a crappy low-paid job I did all kinds of stuff for extra money -- but for the place I worked, never anything but teach an overload from time to time.

      Some thoughts: tutoring the children of helicopter parents, transcription work, lap dancing, being the personal assistant of a regular old rich person (aggravating but separate from your real job), freelance editing, college admissions consulting, teaching for Kaplan or other test prep service, temping. I did them all.

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    2. Um, lap dancing? This is a joke, right? Ha-ha?

      If it isn't a joke, what happens when one of your students turns up in the audience? In subsequent classes, it would make for a tricky classroom dynamic, even more so than usual in the modern classroom.

      One reason I never go to places like Hooter's is, aside from it being a matter of principle, the chance is too great that the waitress will be one of my students. "PROFESSOR Frankenstien, FANCY MEETING YOU HERE..."

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    3. I work outside of my school as well. I have a lot of debt. I take it where I can get it - but after this, I'm done.

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  6. "Into my wine."

    So many things wrong with this there's nowhere to begin.

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    Replies
    1. Now you know one reason why you got the obviously lousy education that you got. Good luck in the real world, you're going to need it.

      Delete

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