Job I Enjoy



Billy over at Spirit Doings asked me why I don't just go get a job that I enjoy. The truth of the matter is, I enjoy about 85% of my job here at the U. What I enjoy is:

1. Teaching and interacting with students.
2. Research and research writing and the discovery of new knowledge.
3. Service in meetings and organizations that are worthwhile.

And, the above three items constitute about 85% of what I do within my job. Yet, unfortunately, the 15% that remains is the bane of my existence in that often it takes over and usurps what I want to do (the above three) on many days. It is on those occasions that I tend to complain about it here. The major irritants typically include:

1. B*llsh*t paperwork issues... from all sides of the U. Paperwork nonsense that was unheard of 20 or more years ago (hell, even 10 years ago most of this b*llsh*t did not exist). This paperwork nonsense takes away the limited and valuable time I have to do the three items above.

2. Grading for whining "consumer oriented" students... during the last generation there has been a mentality shift in students where a larger and larger percentage of them think of the professor/student relationship as if THEY were a consumer of a product that I sell... and if they do not like it (or the grade I give) they feel they have a right as a "consumer" to demand a "refund"... they complain and b*tch and moan right and left. Fortunately, this percentage of the student population is still low (perhaps now-a-days about 15%), but back in the day this sort of behavior was unheard of and it is annoying as hell.

3. Colleagues who try to foist their work onto you. I think the paperwork and the grading whining has most everyone in our Department feeling the pinch and this is causing some of the more histrionic sorts here to have the notion that they have to shed their real work onto others to lighten their load. It is rude and obnoxious.

So, again, I do like MOST of what I do. But the 15% that is crap, is stinkier than usual.

PipeTobacco
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