quoted

i subscribe to a few weekly finance newsletters from various newspapers. the one i enjoy the most is written by michelle singletary of the washington post. last week, she asked for some reader responses to a dear prudence column about being underemployed with a college degree. granted, i'm not underemployed, but i do think from time to time about switching career tracks. i responded anyway. here's the context:

Working It Out
A grocery store clerk was wrestling with customer and colleague questions about why he's bagging groceries with a college degree.

The letter made me wonder if others were employed at jobs that weren't satisfying just so they could maintain an income. Here's what some of you wrote:

M. Johnson of Orinda, Calif., says that like the grocery store clerk, he was passed over for a job because he was overqualified and they were fearful he'd resign for another opportunity.

"But more alarming is why they wouldn't bring me on and then hope to create something for me where I could continue to add significant value to the enterprise far beyond my cost to them. Shortsightedness? In this market? Unfortunately," Orinda wrote.

Teacher Ben J. from Arlington, Va., said he's "content to have a job that I enjoy, even if it feels like it controls my life at times."

One Maryland reader, who asked that her name not be used, said that she can "identify completely with the grocery store clerk." She graduated from a top school and took a fellowship that paid $26,000.

"I loved my job, but I would often skip meals just to make sure I was making my bills," she wrote. "I found work at a high-end retail store in sales and actually make significantly more than before. But I still get asked all the time why I'm not using my degree or what I'm doing there. Sometimes I feel like responding, 'I enjoy eating lunch.'"

Joseph Zairo of Pa., puts it all in perspective: "I get up at 4:30 a.m. and as I am getting ready for work I think about and plan for the day. I try to make things interesting. Work is work."

razzing

as an unfortunate consequence of being a single male surrounded by primarily older (presumably happily) married women, i've been subject to, let's say, encouragement to get settled and get myself hitched. one thing that's certainly changed in the last year or two (believe it or not) is that i don't need someone else to "complete me." sure, it'd be nice to have someone since a good number of my friends have taken the plunge and making plans with them would be easier if there were two of me, so to speak.

anyhow, friday afternoon, i was subjected to the funniest session of razzing regarding that since amber and cheryl used to get after me at lunch. or denise telling me she's going to set me up with so-and-so's daughter. or everyone saying they needed to approve of who i dated personally before giving their blessing to the relationship. especially after i related a summer fling with a girl from starke. anyhow, i got a few of my digs in back at them. oddly enough, the ringleader actually apologized this morning. said i probably get enough of it from my own mother. hell, under past circumstances, maybe i would have been offended, but i was giddy from the high of laughing my ass off.

laughter cures all. i think that's why i'm adjusting to the move so well. all my new friends make me laugh. maybe that's why i'm fending off cold and flu season too...

meetings

man, these meetings are about to kill me. i can't hardly get ahead in my classroom because of this or that. last night, left school at 4, right after the kids, got home at 8. in a meeting all day today, sub in my classroom. the meetings pile up, one after another. it's intense. that's the best i can put it.

at least it's friday, and i'm going to see granny this weekend. she's going to teach me some more italian cooking skills. let's see if i can remember the recipe because i bet she doesn't use one!

work

i've been kicking around why i'm so dissatisfied with education lately. there are the myriad reasons that i've been venting about for the last 4+ years. you know them well, especially if you live them as a teacher. those are the reasons that i may try to change if i have my way in my future.

here's some more personal reasons that became glaring on my move up to the big city.

1) the lack of men. in college, the joke was, "you're just an education major to meet women." that couldn't have been further from the truth because the majority of the teachers-to-be had no designs on ever dating, much less marrying another teacher. now, i get the standard, "aww! that's so cute," which is not necessarily the best way to make a female a) respect you, or b) date you. i didn't have nearly as big a problem with it in gainesville. i had my own friends outside of work, and the women i worked with were anti-women to some extent. they could talk about football. i never felt overwhelmed by the number of women surrounding me at any time. maybe it's because i got along so well with the men that i used to work with. i find i have little in common with many men who are in teaching or around schools, and it really gets tiring having the same tired conversations with the ones i encounter outside of my school.

2) i don't know if this is a teaching thing per se, but i don't like feeling like i'm married to my job. this might just be a growing up, living in a city thing. there is a much greater expectation up here to be constantly connected to the school and parents up here. i'm already putting in 10 hour days more often than not. (my colleagues rarely talk about lives outside of school. i barely have time for one!) for those kind of hours and that kind of commitment, maybe i should have a few more chips to stack. then again, that's not exactly why i got into teaching...