Actually Macauley, I think the top line would be the PERFECT
epitaph! G
I_Dig_Bad_Boys
I know what you mean.
It used to piss me off to no end whenever I was hungry and my mother harassed me about it. She would tell me she was “cooking for me”, but I couldn’t believe how frigging brazen she was for not knowing I was a vegetarian (even though I didn’t tell her). I told her I didn’t need her stupid food, and that I had no intention of stooping to the level of a Burger King slut or something. She would mention that her cousin’s friend’s uncle’s sister had a spare fridge that would keep my food from spoiling and alleviate some of my problem. But I waived her off, telling her I was a big boy and if I needed meat that wasn’t rotten, I knew what to do about it. Just like when she was sick and couldn’t cook and I made her instant mashed potatoes for breakfast, lunch, and supper. (It was all I could cook). She was just a meddling old bag lady who got on my nerves. And lo and behold, I did indeed eventually come to appreciate her meddling into my life and trying to make me like her.
I really miss her, God rest her sainted soul.
Not sure I’d use Hamlet as an example of how to handle family disputes. As I recall, durn near everyone kilt each other at the end of that one.
I don’t know a damn thing about Kelly Girls, so I’m not gonna comment.
But I do know about parents.
Me: “Gee, I have this problem, X. I guess I’m going to have to do something about X.”
My Dad: “I know what to do. Go see Mr. J and tell him you’ve got the X Problem. He can hook you up with the K Process, and then your problems will be over.”
Me: (Jesus H. Christ in a bunny suit, Mr. J is a goddamn pervert, he has yet to figure out the concept of “personal space”, he lives 800 miles from here, and financially, I wouldn’t trust him with fourteen cents and a burnt out match) “Um… thanks, Dad, I’ll think about it.”
(later)
Dad: “Have you gone to see Mr. J yet?”
Me: “Um, no, Dad, I’m still thinking about it.”
Dad: “What for? I told you he can fix the whole thing.”
Me: “I said I was thinking about it. I don’t feel like driving 800 miles, and there CAN sometimes be more than one solution to a problem, you know.”
Dad: “Well, suit yourself. Mr. J could fix the whole thing in a week, though.”
(later)
Dad: “Have you gone to see Mr. J yet?”
Me: “No, Dad, I’ve decided to try the N process. I hear it’s very effective with the X problem.”
Dad: “What the hell are you messing with that for? I told you, Mr. J could fix the whole thing in twenty minutes! You know, your diddling around and being indecisive like this just shows me that you’re not quite up to step with the rest of the world yet, not like a man of your age should be. Why, I just don’t understand…”
Y’know what? Mr. J really was a whiz with the goddamn X problem.
That didn’t mean that I wanted that particular solution, though.
Get off the kid’s ass.
Good point, Wang-ka. I have only one thing to say to Miss IDBB:
Sometimes, and more often than not, the only thing you can change is your attitude.
Another pro vote for temping, here.
I’ve temped, and plan to temp again when both the kids are in school. It’s honestly not that bad. And it really is very flexible. As others have said, if you find another job, or don’t like the assignment, you call the agency and bail. No problem.
If you don’t get work right away, you call them and bug them (nicely) about wanting work. And the more assignments you do, the more you get. Because most of the assignments are things a brain-dead monkey could do in its sleep, and being someone of some intelligence, you’re bound to do them well. Being pleasant and smiling is the icing on the cake, the clients send in good reports of you and then the agency assigns you more often, because they know you’re good.
You can also get training at temp agencies, in using different office software and such. And as others have said, when you do a good job on a temp assiginment, you often can either make contacts that may help in the future, or even can be offered a permanent job right there.
And in the meantime, it would be bringing in money until you found something you liked better. I assure you it’s no more “whoring yourself” than any other job that doesn’t set your heart on fire.
You’re not obligated to try it, of course, but I don’t think you have a realistic view of it.
Almost two years ago I lost my job, IDBB, and after a month of sitting on my ass, bemoaning my situation, I noticed that no jobs came my way! I smacked myself in the forehead and decided that if the mountain can’t come to Muhammed…of course, it took me several months of applying almost everywhere I could think of, and I eventually had to bring myself down to the level of telemarketer (no rotten tomatoes, please–I quit that job). My parents were worried about me, and gave plenty of unsolicited advice. It got annoying, but not because I was frustrated with them; I was frustrated with my situation. Might I suggest that that may be the case here, and you’re taking out your anger on the wrong target?
The jobs are probably out there. They’ll stay out there, but you’ve got to go find them…they won’t fall in your lap. I’m sure you’ve been looking, but your mother is trying to help by giving whatever suggestions she can. Isn’t that what you’d do for a close friend? Would you rather she just shrug and say “Well honey, I know you don’t have a job. Tough shit.” She doesn’t want you to wait until you get to the point where you have to “whore yourself” to Kelly Temp–she knows that will just make it worse. If you swallow your pride before you need to, it will taste far better. And once you have something that’s bringing in a little money, you’ll feel a bit better, and can still look for a job you want.
And good luck finding something. Many of us know what your situation is like and should be able to sympathise, if not feel some level of empathy…though you wouldn’t know it, considering some of the responses.
And folks, please. Lighten up on IDBB. Obviously she’s lost a job, has money troubles and is understandably depressed. When that happens to other Dopers, y’all band together and try to cheer them up, even help out in more tangible ways. Quit gang-banging her–you never know when you might be in her shoes.
Temping really isn’t that bad, IDBB. Register with several agencies, if you can, not just Kelly, and call them at least once a week to let them know you’re available. I’ve done temping for long stretches at a time, and while the work itself wasn’t terribly stimulating, I did work at some semi-interesting places (travel agency, TV station, etc.) And temp jobs often lead to permanent jobs.
Job-hunting sucks. Good luck!
Totally, completely off subject.
But despite all the years away from newspaper writing/editing/layout and design:
REPETITIVE TITLES ANNOY ME! Please stop starting almost every post with: An open letter to <blah>.
I hear there’s a job open at the candy factory!
[Frank Nelson voice] “Are you sure you’ve done this sort of thing before, Mrs. Ricardo?” [/Frank Nelson voice]
Well, I tried these…
|:confused:|
/
\
and they just didn’t seem to convey enough mullitude. 
Hey, I was a Kelly girl for a while. The world neither burst into flames nor spun off its axis. It paid the bills.
I temped for a while as well, and you can definitely get out of a bad temp assignment. The whole point of temping is that it requires no commitment whatsoever from the company or the temp. And if you get offered a full-time job in the meantime, you can certainly quit; you can walk away from any job. Some temp agencies might not want to use you again if you leave without warning, but if you’ve got another job lined up, who cares? When I was temping I’d tell my supervisor that I needed to leave a little early because I had a job interview and they’d say, “Great! Good luck!” They have no illusions that you’re trying to make temping a career.
IDBB, I sympathize; I spent a good period of time unemployed and desperately looking for a job, and the constant stream of “helpful” advice can be utterly infuriating. I’m the naturally mule-headed type, and I hatehatehate being told what I should do. However, I also hate it when, as often seems to be the case, I later find that the advice really was helpful and I should have followed it. I’m making efforts to listen to people more and be open to advice, but it’s tough to turn off my auto-filter that says, “I know better than everyone else…”
Good luck finding work, and seriously: take anything. If it’s really, really intolerable you can always walk.
Oh, and did anyone else think of Jerry Jeff Walker when they saw the thread title?
I did. And I was disappointed that we went a whole page without a reference to Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother. Glad you mentioned it.
I can’t believe no one’s picked up on this comment yet.
Yes, going to school would accomplish quite a lot.
Even going to a career counseler would accomplish something. You could take some aptitude tests and find out where your interests and strengths lie and get some direction.
Minimum-wage retail is not the way. Sitting at the computer and writing rants about your mother is not the way. You need to get off your butt and find something to do. Stay away from the mall, job-wise.
My mom was a Kelly Girl for years, to earn a little extra money and just for something to do. She could turn down any job she didn’t like, she could turn down jobs to go on a field trip with me while I was in school, and she could turn down a job if it was too far or in a part of town she didn’t want to go to. She always got offered permanent jobs, but usually turned them down, because she preferred the temping option.
:smack:
Sheesh! I completely MISSED it!!!
Right on BiblioCat. good catch.
I know I must be the millionth person to say this in this thread, but definitely give temping a try. Not too long ago, I was stuck in a rut and feeling very down on myself, until I decided to quit the job that was making me unhappy. My boss just laughed when I told her that I would be temping while looking for another job, and said I was crazy for even considering it. According to her, temping is in-betweener work for drifters :rolleyes:.
Turns out she was wrong. As well as being able to pick and choose my assignments, and having the flexibility to work them around my job hunting, I get paid shitloads of money to boot. Plus I’m gaining new skills, and developing the ones I already have - which will only serve to make me more attractive to future employers.
You really don’t have anything to lose. At least give it a try; the least you’ll gain from the experience is a sense of purpose (which will boost your mood), some much needed cash and a change of scene.
Actually…I now have no need to give temping a try…thank the Goddess. I have gone back to work (well…starting on 02/03 anyway) for Godiva whom I truly loathe but will suffer through because I need the money.Sorry it took so long to get back to youse guys but the internet worm thingamajiggie kept me damn near computer-less for the better part of the week.
The Wrong Girl–why do I have driving problems? I’ll blame my HS driver’s ed teacher. He was a former football coach who liked to yell at students…a lot. And being new to the whole driving thing and being nervous didn’t help me one bit. The entire time I was in the student driver car I got yelled at for one thing or another.I NEVER got out of the parking lot because I didn’t turn correctly (something about hand over hand) and he liked to slap my hands when I didn’t do as I was supposed to. Every time a lesson was finished I would end up in the girl’s toilet in tears,shaking and close to puking from just being scared shitless by this twit. Even though I got my driver’s license ( we didn’t have to take the driving test…only the written), I didn’t get behind the wheel of a car that wasnt’ attached to a videogame until I was about 21 years old. And even then for the first YEAR I was terrified of driving anywhere. Even though I am slightly more confident now, I still get shaking terrors at the thought of having to drive somewhere that’s foreign territory to me. It’s all that damn Driver’s Ed teacher’s fault. I’m glad he finally retired because he was legendary in our HS for terrifying student drivers,including several friends of mine before me and my sister a nd two of her friends who came three years after me.
BiblioCat–I’m glad you think school would be good for me but I really don’t think I should ever go back to school. It wasn’t pleasant the first time around and would be even worse now.sighBesides…I don’t know what I would study. I’m not really interested in anything anyway…not anything that would make me any money anyway. I don’t really have any strengths (unless you count being able to clean my house in under 2 hrs and being able to ‘speak’ to animals).So school is definitely out of the question.
IDBB
Where on earth is this possible?
I misread this as “I tempted for a while as well…”
…and was wondering if Beelzebub gave you a good letter of reference! 
Evidently, in the armpit of North Texas.
I suppose that since automobiles can be used as deadly weapons, the right to bear arms is invoked.
