Billable hours

I’ve heard this is a phrase I’ll learn to hate.  Let me tell you what I hate so far.

My job.

Okay, I don’t hate it.  My mom always says that I should never hate anything, but I can dislike it.  So I dislike work.

I’m sure it’s interesting stuff, but I am so confused.  I’m never sure where I’m supposed to sit, whether I’m on client site or in my main office (I don’t get a desk or an office, much less a designated chair).  I do love the coffee machines–it’s one of those single-dispense deals.  I can get all kinds of coffee, tea, even hot chocolate.

I got assigned all this work, but I have no idea what it means in the context of the project I’m working on.  No one here seems to have time to explain it, and I feel silly for asking.  Plus, I’m working in civil health, which I sort of hate.  I mean dislike.

A lot of people here are young–in their 20s.  And hypothetically, I could become friends with these people and go to happy hours.  But none of us are ever in the same office, and they don’t seem like my kind of people.  Plus, they all live in Northern Virginia.  Don’t get me started about NoVa.  Let me just say that you can carry a gun in Virginia.  Nuff said.

I miss the creative type of office.  Where things are explained in English, not in acronyms.  Honestly, it seems like a lot of what goes on here is little tasks that lead up to an approval so that some kind of substantial task can be done.  But is anything we’re doing actually useful?  If I can’t explain my job to someone and have it be interesting/comprehensible to me or the other person, I don’t want to do it.

Does this make me snobby?  Maybe I’m too idealistic.  Maybe I’m asking too much.  But look at all these people working at financial firms!  And my company has 22,000 people and growing.  Clearly there are enough people to do these kinds of jobs.  I just know that a year from now, after I’ve paid my dues (and probably invested in more suits than I’ll ever need again), I’m definitely going to consider a move back to editorial of some sort.  Or something having to do with food, or music, or culture of some sort.  I just wish they paid more.

SOLUTION: marry rich.

I’m billing this blog entry to the client.  Also, the fabric of my new suit is pilling.  I guess that’s what happens when you buy it from a Banana Republic outlet.

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