Blogs are dumb. Why do I say this? Because I am not a journalist, or an author, and blogging should be helpful information, and not just rambling diary entries, which is more what I seem to be doing. And I don't want to say that I am dumb, so I will just say that blogs are dumb. I still don't know how to type either, and that is frustrating too. But, Fuck it. I love having this, and doing it, so there.
Hey now, got that out of the way, so what's going on? Well, back in December the substitute place sent out an announcement that if you had a college degree you could apply to be a special restricted licensed substitute. That means, if you apply and qualify, that instead of just a classified sub, where you can do teaching assistant jobs, or work in clerical or janitorial, you can actually make some $. Without having a master's degree, or a specific early childhood education, or library sciences degree.
It's a nice proposition, so I am going to pursue it and see where it takes me. If anywhere. But for now, I am in the cafeteria everyday except for book reading volunteer day at the elementary school, washing dishes and handing out small trays of flavorless, yet nutritious food to hungry urchins.
The people are Great, I must say, they are kind and fair, and just very nice women. And I get to listen to podcasts on my phone, which makes the time fly by... I've had jobs where music or radio was strictly verboten, for no good reason. They said it annoyed customers, or interfered with worker concentration, or some other excuse to further crush and depress the lowly minimum wagers there.
But I got away from restaurant work for reasons, and do not relish the continuation of this type of work. It's just not...inspiring. Or motivating, or educational, know what I mean? Basically, anyone could do this job, and so I just don't feel it's fulfilling, or for lack of a better word, special. And fuck you to people who think that you shouldn't love your work, or feel special doing it, because it is possible, and it's a noble and decent thing to strive towards. So I've been doing this for so long because they are supposedly trying to hire somebody and until then they are fine with a substitute. It's honest work and that's always something to be proud of I think. There are no guarantees I would get other sub jobs, so it's nice to be doing something reliable and regular for right now.
There's a literary history of famous dishwashing characters, men who saw the menial labor as a time to think and dream and philosophize. Job:A Comedy of Errors by Robert Heinlein, and Dishwasher by Pete Jordan are two wonderful books I would love for everyone to read. Love and Peace, AJS
