(no subject)
Lunchtime
So today was a pretty nice day outside with the sun boiling us alive. Don’t get me wrong I love me some boiling. So anyway I packed a huge lunch today with the leftovers of spaghetti, veggie mini corn dogs, a lemon square (purchased), a large multi vegetable salad with low fat ranch dressing, a protein Oddwalla drink, a bottle of water, and a cereal bar. It was made all the more enjoyable by the company. I went with a colleague to New Seasons grocery for the shopping and it was fun because the drive took longer than my usual walking. Traffic, stop lights, idiots pulling ewewies in intersections and steaming parking lots all lead up to the duration.
It has been a good last few days. I’m getting more familiar with my colleagues and that leads to better productivity, more entertainment and lasting happiness.
On a related note, I want to throw out a few things I’ve noticed about job satisfaction.
Most people who are really happy in their line of work are happy because of three main factors: pay, attractiveness to the work itself, and friendly co-working relationships.
These three factors are not equally stacked in most people. People stack them based on their own personal judgments about what matters.
Anyone who knows me knows that the last of the three is probably tied for importance with the second one. In fact the working relationships can actually keep me in a bad situation ala La Petite. I stayed at that particular location for way too long. It was not a very healthy place for me, but because I had developed a good working relationship with a few of the employees who were there through the storm with me I stayed in a bad situation that wasn’t healthy for me. It was a spiritual wasteland.
So, this place is forcing me to do some things I haven’t done in a while and that is be by myself.
I haven’t had an extended period of pseudo isolation in a while. The library is a place that is quiet all the time (much to my chagrin) and because of the way the classes are set up here in blocked out periods of time there are times when the library is utterly empty. I busy myself with research into teaching techniques, studying skills, librarianship, the peer tutoring program, and other things, but my interaction with students is relatively low (much to my chagrin yet again). I really hope that by stepping up my cooperation with the student services that I will put my face out there. I ever realized how much prejudice against “librarians” there was. Sometimes people slink into the Library with their necks down shoulders hunched and plastered smiles on their faces asking if they could use a computer. If they had tails they would be tucked between their legs. I always try to be super nice and smile, but I’m up against a legacy of shushing and ego.
Another thing that I have really started to notice again in a personal way is the amount of retraining and effort someone from outside this country has to go through in order to make it.
Take for example a gentleman who came into the library looking for help on his resume. This man was in his early forties and had emigrated from Pakistan about ten years ago. He had a degree from a university in some sort of advanced science and he was a graduate from Cambridge in the Medical Assistant program.
He had been working the last ten years in various odd jobs and part time work since for some reason (racial, linguistic?) he could not gain a step into his area of expertise in all his years. The closest he came was as a care giver in a nursing home (the type of place that wants a high school diploma or a GED).
This man was obviously smart and talented but for some unforeseen reasons (see above) he was denied the chance to flourish.
Now first of all, there is nothing wrong with being a Medical Assistant. They make good wages and are an integral part of any healthcare facility. They are irreplaceable and needed. However, with his educational background he should have been able to fin something that was much more prestigious.
Another example of a person from overseas being discriminated against came in this morning. She had a university degree from the Iran State school in Tehran. She had a degree in English and had just now graduated from the Dental Assisting program. Once again see above. I’m not trying to disparage the assisting health care profession, after al what am I doing right now but being an assistant of sorts, but the fact of the matter is that she had to take a step back from what she is qualified to do.
I wonder how many times this happens in this country? Is it strictly a Middle Eastern/ African/Latino thing? Or do folks from Europe/Russia have to deal with the same type of prejudice when it comes to higher education?