Работа, похожая на ад. Какая она
Мечты стать артистом, певцом, космонавтом сбываются не у всех. Рано или поздно приходит понимание, что сцена и блеск софитов где-то там, а реальная жизнь с ее ежедневными потребностями - здесь. И для поддержания этой жизни все-таки нужно где-то работать.
Может, конечно, мечты были не о славе, а более приземленные. Например, об офисном кресле в ( Read more... )
Что быть гребцом триремы наверху:
Получше вид, и даже воздух свежий,
Однако цепи, кнут и весла - те же.
(с) мой
И заодно - о том, как я год развозил газеты в upstate New York:
A kid's job, you may think. A boy rides his bicycle in sunny morning, throwing newspapers into the yards of his neighbors... Not at all. It's a nightmare. Literally, because it's done at night. Every night. No vacations. No days off. No weekends. Weekends are, actually, the worst days, because each newspaper gets an advertisement supplement weighting more than a pound. No bicycles of course, the whole cabin and trunk of your car is full with this paper shit. If you are ill or your car fails, it's your problem. You must deliver every night, or find somebody to replace you - which is hardly possible because nobody else knows your route - or be fined or fired. No exclusions for the weather either. I had to deliver to three hundred customers - which means three hundred separate houses - every night in rain, in thunderstorm, in snowstorm, whatever else. And you cannot just throw the papers from the window - you have to run to every porch, sometimes knee-deep in snow. You put the papers in plastic bags to protect them from elements, but nobody thinks of protecting you. Do you remember Sandy hurricane which hit New York? We had to deliver during Sandy as well, no kidding. When radio and TV warned everyone except emergency services to stay at home. Emergency services and newspaper carriers, that is. The only easing we got was 'come two hours earlier to have more time to deliver.' To finish no later than 6 a.m. as usual, or you are fined. For all that, you get about one thousand per month. Plus tips, of course. Yes, while customers usually don't see their carriers at night, they can give tips. That's done by phone, sometimes by leaving cash in an envelope on the porch. But guess what? - very, very few people do that. Yes, for that kind of work. For delivering their newspapers during a hurricane. Only Christmas makes some of them more generous. But only some of them. At least two hundred of my customers had Christmas decorations outside. All that Santas, deers and snowmen, many of them illuminated, flashing and moving all night long - I don't think that's very cheap, especially when done for many nights, not a single one. But only five or six of them gave me any tips. All the rest preferred to spend money for illuminating the peopleless night
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment