Cafe Hitch-hike

2004-10-22

Show me da' money!

I got an e-mail from a librarian from another library on our campus. Lyle, a librarian who retired but has been working on a part-time basis, suffered a stroke. They are short-handed, so they need some assistance. Would I be able to assist (their words)?

Oooh, I didn't know what to say. I haven't replied to the e-mail yet, but I will say something like this:

What will be the pay? (I make a librarian's wage at the public library, and if I worked full-time it would be an OK wage to live on... However, I'm not gonna "assist" at another univ.lib if it means I'm going to have to keep making a paltry technician's salary

What will be the status? (I currently work on a semester-by-semester basis. There's no way I'm going to quit my relatively permanent pub.lib job over more temp.worker conditions.

Will my status allow me benefits? (it sure would be nice to have health insurance!)

Oooh, I loved how the librarian said "could you assist." Sure I could assist. But dammit, I'm not going to assist for the sheer love of assisting and thinking it will help someone else.

Selfish as it sounds, dammit, ASSIST ME! ASSIST MY LIFE! I should get a fair trade for the work I do!

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I went to a going-away party for Jody last night. Gees, the social interactions were terribly awkward. Other people were talking about things, and when I wanted to add to the conversation (assuming I'm part of it because I'm sitting among them), they had no interest in anything I had to say. I was even interrupted a couple times! I'm not the most sociable person on the job (partly because I'm terribly busy, partly because it's cliquey, and partly because when I do try to initiate conversation most people aren't interested in talking). Man, that was a drag.

Someone told me that it always takes time for people to get to know each other. I talked to John about this and he says I think too much about how people seem to take me. Yeah, it does take a while for people to know each other, but what about the times they don't even want to acknowledge your existence? Well, John would simply say, "fuck 'em... they aren't worth it, so you move on and go to others who are."

I just so happen to work with these people and have to get along with them.

John also said to not acknowledge what they seem to think or feel, and to just do what I need to do.

John's a lawyer... The guy makes a living from fighting other people's battles for them. He jokes he's got pissing others off down to an art, but that's a good thing for him and his business. It doesn't seem to bother him for long when other lawyers or judges get on his case (no pun intended). Last night, I realized, "I need to pay attention! I can get lessons from this guy!"

It reminds me of this Italian guy I dated in my hometown the last 2 years before I moved away to the university. He was obnoxious, crass, and didn't give a shit about what others thought. We used to have these heated arguments (I never argued with anyone but my sister before him). I walked away from that relationship with tons of assertiveness as a result (he was an Aries just like John... huh, coincidence, hahah).

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On the flip side, I have a telephone interview with a university in sunny and hurricane-recovering Florida. I visited the webpage and they had a gallery of photos of the wreckage, with students bunking out in the library (haha-coincidence). Obviously, the show is going on for them. The interview's gonna be next Wednesday... Oooh... Fingers crossed...

(Last week, I was talking to Uncle Joe down in Austin. It was 8:00 Eastern Time... I asked, "how's the weather?" He said it was 80, and they were having the most gorgeous sunset...

...Southeast Michigan: sky was pitch black, rainy, and 45 degrees... Daaaaaamn!)

...Needless to say, the thought of sunshine put a huge glow in my ♥.

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