I Hate My Job

Okay. I lied. I don't hate it. I love it. But you know, that's part of what has got me so distressed today.

I am helping work on a research project with bilingual first graders. They are the sweetest little things you'll ever see. They call me teacher when I pass in the hall, and the little girls come up to hug me. ^_^ Well, I will admit that I was a little scared of that fact at first. I could not help but think, "Wa-wait . . . Is this allowed?" America is so scared of people taking advantage of their children that touch has become very taboo, especially in the school systems. But then I reminded myself that I was working with a completely different culture--one in which touch and other physically loud interactions are much more of a norm and not seen as a precursor to rape. Anyway . . .

I guess I should have known from my first day. I drove all the way into a major city (about a twenty minute drive) showed up at the school we were supposed to be at, and no one was there. 0.o After calling my boss, I found out that the school had not had any children ready for testing, so the research group had been cancelled for the day. They had not even bothered to call me--or email me, for that matter. There's some gas wasted. ;_; The rest of that pay cycle, however, everything went pretty well.

But this week, I worked a total of 2.5 hours. I'm sorry. I can't live off of $25 a week. I've got a cellphone, a car, and I've got to eat. This is crap.

Plus, I just got my first paycheck. During the interview, I was told I'd be making $9 an hour. That's a step up from my old job, plus it's pretty decent for a college student given the area I live in. During training, she told us that we'd been bumped up to $10 an hour. My paycheck comes . . . and it's short. Given the number of hours I worked, they only paid me $9 an hour. *sigh* Now I need to find out how much I'm really making, and who screwed up.

So, it looks like I'm going to have to be looking for another job. You know, I really wish I had known that it would be this way before I took the stupid job. Since we're pretty far into the semester already, it is going to be tough. That is, if I want a job on campus. *siiiigh*

Don't be surprised if I start selling a few cels in the near future. I'd much rather not touch my savings this semester. This sucks. Really.