16 December, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Those of you living in the greater London area may have heard a loud noise around 3:00 p.m. No worries, that was just me screaming at the top of my lungs.
You see, today I am free. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Free from what? Well, I’m glad you asked. Over the years I have alluded to my American job, which I do via the internet. It’s an intense job and it’s practically 24/7 with no breaks except at Christmas. [Imagine a GAP sweatshop for people with master's degrees.] This job has been a big part of my life and I’ve never been able to write about it. I’ve never even been specific about what it is I do for a variety of reasons. In fact, I’ve often been paranoid about the people I work with finding out about this blog. Many of them come from the deep South and I don’t think my political views would go over too well. I had quite a scare a little while ago — one of my alma maters outed me [Anglofille] on the internet by accident. It only took about two months for them to remove the offending material from the college website (thanks, by the way). It was all very stressful.
Anyway, after three years of doing this job, I’ve called it quits. I gave notice more than a month ago and things have been slowly winding down in that horribly torturous way that all jobs seem to end, where each day becomes more unbearable than the previous one. I’ll still do occasional work for this company, but my regular everyday job is done! It’s done! I still can’t believe it. I’m done! Since I just finished, I haven’t felt the effects of this change yet. This will represent a major seismic shift in my life. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like. There’s going to be a lot more space in my brain.
And let me tell you, I have some strong views about the internet as a result of all this. After three years, I’ve never met one of my co-workers. Most of them I’ve never even talked to on the telephone. This is not healthy. And what’s also not healthy is the way that this job has tethered me to the internet seven days a week for years. If this is the direction much of the workforce is heading in, with telecommuting, etc., then I weep for the future.
So on my last day will there be a leaving party for me? A cake? Some champagne? Will anyone acknowledge my work over these three years with so much as a freakin’ card? Nope. We’re not real people in Internet World. We’re just lines of text. We’re robots. And that’s how they treat us. I’m not a real flesh and blood person to them, just a name, just a person who logs in and does her work and gets paid. Today I feel more dehumanized by this job than I ever have before.
So can anyone guess what my job has been? [If you already know, you can't guess!]
Anglofille said @ 3:55 pm | personal |
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Rebecca Says:
December 16th, 2007 at 5:41 pmI actually cannot imagine what this job might have been. Perhaps writing random articles for an online ‘zine? Maybe copy editing?
OH! Are you Dear Abby? I would die! hahaha!
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Me as Dear Abby! Ha ha! I think that would probably pay a bit better.
As for your first two guesses…no!
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Gregory Says:
December 16th, 2007 at 9:48 pmI have a lot of sympathy for those views, it is just so completely on the button.
“So on my last day will there be a leaving party for me? A cake? Some champagne? Will anyone acknowledge my work over these three years with so much as a freakin’ card? Nope. We’re not real people in Internet World. We’re just lines of text. We’re robots. And that’s how they treat us. I’m not a real flesh and blood person to them, just a name, just a person who logs in and does her work and gets paid. Today I feel more dehumanized by this job than I ever have before.”
It is like working for the CIA. If you blip out, they will send somebody else to blip on, you may not even get a star on the wall.
“This job has been a big part of my life and I’ve never been able to write about it. I’ve never even been specific about what it is I do for a variety of reasons.”
I was in the same position, even stuff like your blog was completely & so very totally verboten.
“In fact, I’ve often been paranoid about the people I work with finding out about this blog. Many of them come from the deep South and I don’t think my political views would go over too well.”
When the rank and file of my thing discovered I was on-team, they didn’t really flip, they just stopped sending baskets of fruit and good luck messages.
I am an affiliate, for want of a better expression, to a US govt. program. I don’t work for Hadrian, I work for Honorius, I think I am on the wrong side of history.
Eventually, they will stop sending coins, and on the vine the faithful will wither.
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Congrats on your escape!
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online sex chat operator?
all that ranting about tart cards was a beard - right?
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Finally, someone guessed online sex chat. That’s not it, but I’m kind of insulted no one guessed that until now.
