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    MizJenkinsTaylor Berman
    6/24/13 11:14pm

    As one of my favorite professors once told me: "If it didn't suck on some level they wouldn't have to pay you to do it".

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      econdaveMizJenkins
      6/25/13 8:41am

      I enjoy coming into work most days. I didn't at my old job: I love my profession, but there were a ton of deadlines and the stress was constant. I switched jobs a couple of years ago (a great opportunity came along) and now I'm much happier.

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    odette1Taylor Berman
    6/24/13 10:42pm

    I love my job. But, I need more money.

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      dinglebushodette1
      6/24/13 10:51pm

      Who doesn't?

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      odette1dinglebush
      6/24/13 11:01pm

      The rich people. What I really want is to be paid in direct relation to how much I work.

      And that doesn't really happen. I love, love, love teaching. I hate that, if I sit down and work out the work/money ratio, I'm not really making minimum wage, depending on where I teach. Eventually, if I can't make it a go full-time, I'll have to move on to something I hate, where I make good money. It bites.

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    atruekarmalifeTaylor Berman
    6/24/13 10:48pm

    It's so sad to discover the thing that you love to do and then realize that you will never make any money on it.

    I love working in public education. I love working with kids, but I will never move out of low income housing.

    So is it better to hate 40 hours of your week, make some money and enjoy all the other hours that you've got or love your 40 hours, but be essentially grounded for the rest of your hours because you can't afford to do anything at all, ever?

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      libraryscienceatruekarmalife
      6/24/13 11:04pm

      I sold out about two years ago. It is a dull misery, not the acute stress of poverty. I don't know what to tell you other than damned if you do damned if you don't. I am no happier but I think my health is better.

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      concretecloversatruekarmalife
      6/24/13 11:18pm

      What's saddest about this is that it isn't like you're off following some bizarre lark. You've invested yourself in helping to meet a basic need of society. It's not as though public education weren't a necessary career field.

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    concretecloversTaylor Berman
    6/24/13 10:52pm

    Even though I am firmly entrenched among the ranks of the "unemployed job-seekers", there are some remaining shreds of sympathy for those employed folks who are in truly horrid work situations. Harassment, nasty co-workers, and unreasonable demands from bosses can make a big difference as to how excited most people are to get out of bed, fight traffic, work all day, fight traffic back home, go to bed, and repeat the process again the next day.

    That said, I've reached the point (both emotionally and financially) that I would certainly not mind giving it a whirl at jobs that are simply "boring" or don't provide enough "perks" for some. It's amazing how unemployment can vastly change one's perspective, especially when your "catered meals" come courtesy of Banquet and Chef Boyardee.

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      Dear Zeusconcreteclovers
      6/24/13 11:04pm

      Or you're me and you feel just as shitty while employed as when you were unemployed. I reached the point where "anything" was better than nothing and I've come to realize that anything was about the same as nothing. Especially since I'm still stuck living with my parents.

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      ifandbutconcreteclovers
      6/25/13 10:18am

      I was unemployed for a year and a half. Now that I'v been working for 2 years I can honestly say that both suck ass. On one hand you have plenty of time to do what you want but no money to do it. On the other hand you have plenty of money to do what you want but no time to do it. Either way your fucked.

      That said, I think I preferred being unemployed. At least I was able to get a decent nights sleep every night. I'm thinking that if I ever get my student loans paid off I'll be taking another few years vacation.

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    YgritteTaylor Berman
    6/25/13 2:43am

    So I have a question in the interest of having my employees not hate their jobs (and be productive!): I recently started a new job, and I realized a week ago that one of the people I supervise is paid way below market rate for what we're asking her to do (it's a nonprofit—we're all underpaid, but her especially so). I want to raise her pay, but she's on actively on social media 4 out of 5 times I walk by her desk (not just open while she does something else, actively using it), so I'm conflicted—I don't want to reward her for slacking off, but...I would do the same if I was getting paid that little. Which would motivate you better: being told that you will get a raise when I see you being more proactive or getting a raise and being told that it comes with the expectation of her being more productive? Or something completely different?

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      StenchofaburnerYgritte
      6/25/13 6:56am

      In my experience as a manager, I'd say meet her half way. Give her half the raise you'd consider fair and set goals. Make those goals tangible because it can be difficult for an employee to break old habits unless they have a deliverable to show for it (if she is in the habit of checking social media all day, at this point, it might even be a routine and as such, one that has gone Pavlovian rather than out of malice). So, set a few goals for the next two quarters and inform her that if those goals are met, she will get yet another raise. Maybe even split the raise in three equal parts and make it a full year "program".

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      Bull Moose 2012Ygritte
      6/25/13 10:09am

      I think the suggestions you've gotten on structuring the raises sound pretty good. I would also add, though, that if you want to get your employee off of Facebook, etc, I would go with an approach of giving her more work to do and making sure she's motivated to do it rather than telling her she's using Facebook too much. I'm guessing that her being on the internet isn't really what's bothering you at all and that you actually feel that she's not getting enough work done. If there's work to go around and she's still not getting enough done, you might have to take a more personal interest in providing her with specific tasks, since it sounds like she's pretty bored.

      As the other posters suggested, if you provide specifics and incentives to deliver on them, I think you'll see a major improvement. If, on the other hand, you say, "you're on Facebook too much", I think you'll be missing the point.

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    ohnoshebettadontTaylor Berman
    6/25/13 8:15am

    "Americans hate their job." Shouldn't the parallel structure of the plural "American" match their multiple "jobs"? Although, all of us sharing one job would explain high unemployment...

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      Thidrekrohnoshebettadont
      6/25/13 8:57am

      You're correct, but the "singular their" also reflects a very recent example of language evolution. It's by no means a consensus yet, but English doesn't have a gender neutral pronoun to refer to people and people clearly want one. "They/their" seems to be taking that role.

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    F.Yoo LeeTaylor Berman
    6/25/13 2:41am

    I'm ready to retire.

    I just want to grow my own vegetables and fruits, live near the ocean, make my own olive oil and wine, bake my own bread, and have a roof. That is all. I live life once, and I don't want to live my entire life at the behest of someone else's "bottom line."What the fuck. Was I born to be someone else's profit slave? No.

    Except that to get back to the basics, it is costly. Ever notice how the rich get to live simple lives with whole, organic foods near beautiful, soul-soothing nature? Tell me that this is right.

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      erthgrathjaryF.Yoo Lee
      6/25/13 4:33am

      Move to New Zealand. I've done all of that while the government paid me for it :) Fuck yeah welfare state!

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      The-Gray-AdderF.Yoo Lee
      6/25/13 8:09am

      Kind of like these folks. You know, it sure would be nice to do those things you want to do while you're still young enough to do them.

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    ARP2Taylor Berman
    6/25/13 2:13am

    I would really like my job if they paid me a bit (not a lot) more and didn't make me do the work of three people.

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      LisasaurTaylor Berman
      6/25/13 12:17am

      I hated my last job so much it was soul-crushing. Not only was the work boring, but the majority of my co-workers were absolute nightmares. I was sexually and emotionally harassed on a regular basis. It paid pretty well but some things are really just not worth the money - I quit almost a year ago and I still feel gross thinking about that place.

      What happened to make people so unhappy? Or were people always unhappy, it's just now we have the internet to share this information?

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        UltimateDiscJockeyLisasaur
        6/25/13 12:12pm

        Sounds like you might be an attorney...

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        LisasaurUltimateDiscJockey
        6/25/13 7:04pm

        Haha no. Luckily(?) I didn't have to spend years of my life studying and torturing myself before hating my job. Just jumped right into it.

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      Nilla WafflerTaylor Berman
      6/24/13 10:47pm

      I love my job. BUT. I dislike my boss and occasionally try to undermine her when I feel she has it coming.

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        SmitrosNilla Waffler
        6/24/13 11:00pm

        For some reason I read "undermine" as "dismember". Whichever works for you.

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        Nilla WafflerSmitros
        6/24/13 11:02pm

        The thought hadn't yet crossed my mind but I'll just bookmark that one for later.

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