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Northwest Living: Get paid for doing nothing
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Anonymous user Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 1 comment It’s just occurred to me that I may have chosen the wrong profession. By no means am I seeking pity for my error –– I have the coolest job in the world, I really do, it’s just that they insist on me coming to work every day, and it’s really beginning to cramp my style.

My dearest wife, Lisa, is a teacher, and a very good one at that. For the last two weeks I have done as I have for the last 14 years –– get up at 3:30 a.m. to go slay the dragon. In this same two-week period Lisa has several times slept in until the 8 o’clock hour because HER employer doesn’t seem to mind that she skips out for weeks, sometimes months at a time! 

I know teachers work hard and all of that, but c’mon! Didn’t she just have a week off at Thanksgiving? And can you believe she’s already counting the days to yet another week off for spring break?!

Teachers aren’t alone in this "pay for not working" scheme. My sister’s dating this guy, let’s call him "John S. Lacker," and he hasn’t been to his job as an emergency room nurse since before Halloween! The story I got was he’s “tired,” and “wants to find himself.” 

What?! If I pulled that I’d “find myself” out of a job! Who are the managers who allow this to happen? Are these slackers so important that unlike you and me, they’ve found a way to tell their bosses how it’s gonna be?

Can you imagine having the power they seem to enjoy at their jobs in your own work situation? This is like imagining you’ve won the lottery –– oh, the things you’ll do! Every day could be casual Friday if you so desire. For me, my morning drive radio shift would start at noon. I’ve earned it! Do you know how much sleep I’ve lost getting up at 3:30 for the last blah blah blah?! Do you know who I am?!!

I didn’t think so. We’re all just a bunch of cogs in the wheel, and our bosses know it.  If one of us not-a-teacher-not-a-nurse types try to pull this “don’t show up and get paid” thing, well, we’d find out real quick what it’s like to have our summers off, too. 

Then again, that may not be such a bad thing. I have earned it, after all.  

E-mail Dean at dean@kgfm.com.

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Comment From: lakessler1

Hi Dean. Like your wife, I am a teacher. Your choice of words "paid for doing nothing" is interesting, to say the least. I work 2 hours "off the clock" on a daily basis. As a teacher, I have papers to correct, lessons plans to write, report cards to do, children's books to read, etc., etc., etc. How often do you work "without pay"? Let's add it up: 2 hours a day "without pay"--that's 10 hours a week and 40 hours a month. With a 10 and a half month school year....well, you do the math, Dean. How much time do I give "for free" each year? If you did do the math, you should have discovered that the 2 and a half months of summer (without pay, mind you--we have to put money aside for that) doesn't make up for the 420 "free" hours I "donate" each year. Also, I, like many teachers, spend close to $1,000. of my own money in the class each year (many educators spend more). How much do you spend on your job? Work for nothing? Hardly. Laurie Kessler, 4th Grade Teacher Bakersfield City School District