Im only working part-time at the moment while I study full time to be a teacher. Anyway, I work in a cafe/deli/food store and I love it. Its an incredibly hard job because it is always busy so Im expected to do like 10 things at once and know everything about everything in the store basically. Ive been working there about 8 months and havent gotten bored once. Its hard work, but ultimately satisfying. Plus it helps that I get along well with the boss there and nearly everyone else who works there.

I was working as a lawyer in a big law firm making more money than I could ever hope to spend, and I HATED life. I was miserable every day. Now I'm doing more of a creative internet job for very little money, but I LOVE it because I'm doing what I want to do, watching the fruits of my labor grow, and feeling pride in what I do. Litigation = bad. Creativity = good.

Thats good to see that you choose your lifestyle over money. I had a friend who spent six years training to be a Criminal Barrister and after working as one for 3 months decided he hated it and he now works as a landscape gardener and loves it.

I had the good fortune to stumble upon my career in public radio, which I love, on a lark while in my first year of studying for a degree in engineering, which I hated. I left for about two and a half years, made a lot more money, and took a significant pay cut to return to public radio, which about sums that up, I guess.

I'm careful, though to characterize it as my career that I love, because some days the job can be a real pain.

Now Playing: "Twentysomething" Jamie Cullum Twentysomething (Verve) which is ironic because it's about being twentysomething, out of school, and trying to figure out to do with one's life

I work at a video store. It's heaven for me considering the amount of movies I watch.

I love my job at the slaughterhouse. it's really an artform.

My "job" is really two parts: writing a disseratation and teaching college undergrads about philosophy, ethics, and other fun stuff. The former is not so much fun. The latter, however, is what I love. Since doing the former is the means to get to a permanent position doing the latter, I'm making due. I really enjoy teaching at the various colleges and universities that I've been at, including my current home, Washington U in St. Louis, as well as Webster U, St Louis Community College, Georgia Perimeter College, and Georgia State U.

I've been meaning to ask, PE, but I wasn't sure if you were ABD yet. What's your topic?

Now Playing: "Dog Eat Dog" The Toasters In Retrospect: The Best Of (Stomp)

i work for a chinese resturant with two other people, both of whom are chinese and speak little english, and only when necessary. ive worked there for 6 months and i work everyday, save maybe 3 days a month. I dont have to go in until 4 or 5. Ive never had the feeling "oh, i wish i didnt have to go into work" -its become a part of my lifestyle so much that on days off i sometimes find myself not having anything to do. The great part is, i get to sit in my car with a book and my walkie talkie, and whenever there is money to be made (a delivery) i run in there, grab it and deliver. 40-70 a night in cash. The way i see it, i make that money to sit and read and drive around and watch the sunset everynight. For a college student, its perfect.

quote:

---

Originally posted by LinnTate:
I've been meaning to ask, PE, but I wasn't sure if you were ABD yet. What's your topic?

---

Given my cross-disciplinary interests in poli sci and economics (some due to my involvement in a social sciences think tank), I chose my topic strategically. It gives me exposure across a series of fields and sub-disciplines. While I'm interested in it, it's not really what I'd do if a tenure track job was guaranteed to me, post-doctorate. So, I chose a topic that had some play in ethics, political and social philosophy, legal theory, and in political theory: the problem of dirty hands.

My title, "Out, Damned Spot: An Ethical, Social, and Political Consideration of The Problem of Dirty Hands" says something about it. But not too much.

My primary concern is to get a clear conception of WHAT the DDH is, and why believing it to be true or false (or, alternately, a problem or pseudo-problem) has more to do with one's pre-existing moral system than most who have commented on it have acknowledged. Along the way, I look at practical uses of the doctrine in politics, business, and the law.

It's not too gripping, but it'll get me a tenure-track job somewhere. Hopefully. Lucky for me, I also have great teaching evals.

Thanks for the reply, PE.

quote:

---

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
While I'm interested in it, it's not really what I'd do if a tenure track job was guaranteed to me, post-doctorate.

---

That is so very smart. Happily none of our friends over the past five years have chosen a topic that is close to their heart, but career suicide, though I fear somebody in my wife's program is headed down that road if his advisers give him the green light.

So once you're tenure track, what are the prospects for publication?

And speaking of, your work is probably way over my head, but if anything you have published to date is available through standard university resources, I'd be keen to see it if you're willing to PM a title or two to me. If not, I understand. Some of my closest friends aren't always enthusiastic about having me read their work, though fortunately that wasn't the case with my friend who wrote the incredibly cool dissertation on Dashiel Hammett.

Now Playing: "This Is Always" Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan: The Complete Mercury Recordings (Mercury)

philosopherEric,

We haven't been introduced properly, but I too think your topic is sorta cool, even in the abstract.

A google search returned this (unlike our friend LinnTate, who uses google with utmost restraint, and I, with no sense of restraint whatsoever...):

"The author assesses the morality of leaders' political choices. Does the nature of leadership force us to tolerate or even accept marginally moral acts? Do acts considered unethical in one's private life become ethical when performed by a public servant for the good of the public? If the views of a leader reflect the moral standards of his/her constituency, to what degree, if any, is the leader released from political responsibility? The issue here is whether the causes of the moral acts in question are inherent in the political office or in the leader's own moral standards. At what point is it morally appropriate to set aside one's conscience for the interest of the state, even if it means relinquishing power? Three ways to assess morality of the power-holder's political acts are offered: intuitive values, consequentalism, and universalization. The writer concludes that a lust for power, even with the noblest intentions for public good, implies a willingness to compromise one's own moral values."

Does this make George Bush a monster?

Or, given that most of his apologists think he is some empty vessal, does his shallow understanding of most things exculpate him?

And this problem of the "dirty hands" - does this muddy the water when we consider Arendt's notion of the banality of evil?

Now Playing: "Chelsea Bridge" Gerry Mulligan & Ben Webster. (LinnTate, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: wong828,

No.

I hate my job... it's part time but it gets in the way of my social life. And when you're in school, it's worse.

I'm surely gonna be in the same situation Carlito...Have to find a job for this summer before going back to university. When the job is not too hard, you work with assholes and when you don't work with assholes, you have a harsh job that doesn't pay much...

I do love my job...I work in PR and Marketing and get a lot of good gossip that I love to share...it's really the perfect job for me, but I had lots of other jobs before this that make up for it...

I work in a bookstore. It's really a transitional job, as its main purpose is to pay off some debt and build up a chunk of cash for more school, so I don't take it *too* seriously. But the place can be tough--bookstores tend to attract some rather eccentric employees, so it's been, uh, interesting working there. Can't say I always "enjoy" the job but it's tolerable and I'm enjoying watching my debt disappear.

I find it's pretty hard not to let whatever happens in your little workplace world bleed into the rest of your life, but maybe that's just me. So I definitely support lifestyle over money.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Commontone,

When you're in school I think part time jobs are just that, part time jobs. They fill your idle time when you're not in school or hangin out with your friends. I get the feeling though that the workplace (when you finally get out of school and work full time) will eventually BE your life, and so it's inevitable that what happens at work will affect it. And I dread it. It's like...I can't even imagine the workplace becoming my life.

Yeah, I loved my college part-time job. I've been out for a few years now, and I definitely see what you're saying. Some would call that the "real world" and say you've got to succumb sooner or later, but I think that's bullshit. You can live your life however you want. But if you don't make your work your life, work starts to seem pretty silly and pointless very fast, which makes the whole thing a double-edged sword. My job is kind of my life right now, but I think of it as "losing the battle but winning the war"...it will enable me to go back to school to do something I'm interested in.

Also, I've found if you just go to work, do a good job, be respectful to people but not get too involved, and go home at the end of the day with your freedom--if you do that, depending on the workplace, some of your coworkers might resent you or think you're flippant. They think you should be swimming in the same crap they are, or something. It can be a tightrope act in my experience...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Commontone,

My job pretty much sucks, I work at a crappy place where I am part of the customer service for an electric company. It’s one of those jobs that you wish you didn’t have to do but you have to work there. Plus, the pay is decent. Either way, I wish I didn’t have to work there and had an enjoyable job. Anyone else hate their job?

Does not having a job count as a job? Because I would hate mine. I'm too shy/never wanted one.