Thursday, September 18, 2003
(9:04 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
I am an idiot
Whenever I do something stupid, I feel like I need to tell it as soon as possible to as many people as possible, so as to deflect attention from the raw fact of my stupidity. So here goes: I got called tonight to substitute at Kankakee High School. I turned it down, out of a sense of loyalty to my current job. Here are the facts, however:
- I would work only until 2:30 or so at the high school, with ample opportunity to read during the school day, including a guaranteed conference hour and lunch period. Contrast this with working until 6:00 at the damn chiropractor, where I will likely have plenty of idle time, but where I can't so much as read radical left-wing propaganda on the Internet and am instead forced to come up with lame wallpapers using Windows paint. I enjoyed that for a while, but I am running out of ideas.
- I would be paid slightly more by Kankakee schools -- $5 more, but considering the greater freedom involved, that is almost the feather that broke the camel's back, and as we all know, if your back is actually broken, a chiropractor can't help you.
- Just today my manager at work shared with me her anxiety about keeping me on staff. Part of the tacit agreement of my working there has always been a supreme flexibility about time considerations: for instance, it has never been mentioned that I come in late almost every day, both in the morning and at lunch time, while I often show a considerable legalism when it comes to leaving on time. Also, it is almost unheard of for me to go more than two weeks without calling in for a day off, not because I'm sick, not because I have anything important to do, but just for the sheer, unadultured hell of it. Apparently my incredible job performance (when I'm there) more than compensates for my unreliability, given that they have kept me on staff for over a year! Also, they just recently trained me to analyze X-rays, which is a much-needed skill due to the shortage of doctors currently and will likely continue to be. So they probably won't fire me for calling in tomorrow.
In summary, I must repeat: I am an idiot, especially in light of my earlier post in which I firmly resolved not to work at the chiropractor's this year. But given that I've only gotten called to sub three times this year, I think it would be pretty stupid to take the plunge right this second. Of course, I don't have to: I can just ask for days off as I need them, since that is part of the structure of this particular job I have. There's really no redeeming this one.
I guess I've learned a valuable lesson....
Okay, my conscience won't allow me to end with just trailing off. Bye.
