Comments | editrx: More employment weirdness

editrx

More employment weirdness

Oct 13, 2006 15:15

Last month I did what turned into a one-day gig at what was a promising book packager in the area. Textbooks, but we can't all work in the bestseller market, now can we? It was well situated, and turned out to be a place that had eaten another packager I'd done work for back in the 1990s -- they like me, and I liked them ( Read more... )

freelancing, publishing, books

Comments 30

fishsanwitt October 13 2006, 20:19:16 UTC

That is so bizarre.

I agree with you about karma.

suricattus October 13 2006, 20:19:17 UTC

Oy. *shakes head* Reminds me muchly of my stint with the Diet Pills Company I Shall Not Name, for many of the same reasons, but hey, at least you didn't have to deal with the daily Bible meetings announced over the office PA system...

Why are there so many crazy people out there, and who the hell gave them our contact info, anyway?

editrx October 13 2006, 20:22:11 UTC

There's some bizarre joke wanting to get out that involves Diet Pills and Bible meetings ... but I can't quite hear it in my head yet.

*shudder*

What's frightening is, given my family's background, I can "pass" at companies like that one -- have me do my "evangelical protestant" act for you sometime. It's great at parties. But it scares the animals.

readwrite October 13 2006, 23:11:12 UTC

You take the diet pills to stay awake during the Bible meetings.

editrx October 13 2006, 23:19:09 UTC

Oh dear.

Is that why they say "Jeeeeeessssussss!"? (six syllables) Jitters?

rm October 13 2006, 20:24:03 UTC

holy shit.

editrx October 13 2006, 20:50:01 UTC

You have, indeed, summed it up in ... two words.

Yup.

roadnotes October 13 2006, 21:00:33 UTC

Yeah, that was my first reaction, too. Mother of gods.

(The comment has been removed)

expose editrx October 13 2006, 22:37:43 UTC

If a design/typographical periodical would pay me for it, I'd write an expose. It would give me an excuse to dig out some more of these b*st*rds, who I'm sure are lurking around. Probably big companies, most of them.

I don't have any contacts outside the tech mags I've written for -- anybody you know have any? If I had an editor contact, I'd go for it. The worst they can say is no.

readwrite October 13 2006, 23:16:33 UTC

//sigh// Yes, it certainly sounds as though they're trying to skirt around your being an "employee."

But why don't they just do like it says and let you set the damn file at home? Seems like it would be better for all concerned. This sounds also like it just might be about this particular woman or women's megalomania. I've told you my theory, probably at some point, about how offices can be sinks of obnoxious people, as they drive the normal ones away. And thus new positions or temp jobs are sometimes clearly about "this person is a jerk but we have to find someone to work with them"?

Anyway, sorry to hear about your vicissitudes. As far as being cursed, I hold with Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven: "We ALL have it coming."

editrx October 13 2006, 23:22:34 UTC

And here I thought us freelancers were the weird ones. (Well, some can be.) I suspect you're right and we are the normal ones. At least compared to the Manager from Hell.

That explains a lot.

It's certainly put me off in-house gigs. At least for a while. Not that there are many around here; in fact, they are literally the only game in town.

readwrite October 13 2006, 23:48:25 UTC

Well, I've had a bunch of in-house work lately, and at all the places everyone has been really nice. Even when, in one case, they drove me slightly nuts, they were nice to me. (A very strange gig that I'll have to tell you about.) So it shouldn't put you off all that sort of thing.