The vision of what I thought I was going to be by the time I turned 26 came crumbling down this morning in the parking lot of my part time job at 8:30am.
I had spent two hours running around the gym trying to find ribbon to tie balloons for our open house today. It was there in the parking lot that I realized my $100k+ degree in political science has gotten me nowhere. No where but making $8/hour at an upscale gym tying balloons.
I could be a clown for more than that – so Fiance so kindly pointed out on our walk home after our workout. Unfortunately, I told him, I don’t know how to make balloon animals. Per the title of this post – I wonder if they have a class for that.
Seriously? I’m thinking of changing the byline of this blog from “I live, I laugh, and I wear a lot of pink…” to “the musings of a pink loving disgruntled twentysomething” thoughts?
I just…feel like I’m spinning my wheels. I haven’t had a hit from any of the dozens of resumes I’ve sent out in months, I’m trying to stay positive but with all these cries that DC has such a “booming job market” I’m really starting to want to punch anyone who says that.
I’ll tell you what this job market is like…it sucks. Plain and simple. Want to know why? Perfect example, a good friend of mine recently moved to the beltway after finishing her masters in health policy from a pretty decent program up near Boston. This gal, took her masters degree OFF of her resume, and suddenly she was making less than $30k being an executve assistant. Prior to that, she had had interviews but no bites, she was either “unexperienced” or “overqualified because of her two degrees.” That just makes me sad, especially since she’s smart and probably perfect for these jobs who are telling her “more experience plskthx.”
Let me tell you, people who spend $xk to get a higher degree, and then have to take it OFF of their resume to get a lowly $30k or less job are my heroes. IBecause that? Is not the sign of a “booming job market.” That is the sign of a competitive-if-you-don’t-want-to-do-my-grunt-work-for-less-than-a-livable-wage-Joe-Schmoe-down-the-street-will-for-$10k-less-than-I’m-offering-you-and-he-might-even-throw-in-a-smile-while-he-wipes-my-ass kind of market. Also known as by political science grads who think they’re too good for ass-wiping…as a crappy job market.
I am not anti-ass wiping per se. I’ve done my fair share of ass wiping, it’s what you gotta do to get your foot in the door. But, a part of me, is over that crap. No pun intended. I just want a job that I’m happy in, that pays a livable wage (and might even allow me to purchase full priced items at JCrew instead of having to wait till the sale when they just so happen to be sold out in my size for everything I like.) and sets me up for a few years with a company/job that I would be okay with. That I wouldn’t mind getting out of bed for. That I wouldn’t mind you know, staying late for or actually doing hard work for. I wouldn’t mind having a job that makes me use my brain, not just be a drone at a computer, I’d love to have a job that maybe, just maybe, challenges me.
More than all of that, at this point? I’d really just love a full time job…with benefits. I don’t need metro fare, just you know…health insurance would be nice.
If fiance hadn’t, you know, lost his job, I’d be writing the great American novel, sitting at home every day with a sleepy puppy (seriously, all Elliekins does is sleep. I wish I had her life.) reworking my life’s experiences into a 200 something page chick lit novel with a protagonist with an endless closet and an endless budget.
But for now..I’m going to bask in my disgruntledness. Harrumph.
