Zug Zug!

Market economies are great for some people, but these past few weeks have really reminded me of why I'm a communist (and no, it's not “'cause I'm a long-haired vegetarian in University”. Besides, that would point more to Greenpeace than Marx and Engels, n'est-ce pas?). I work in a small computer store down the street from my house, and I have it pretty good. I get breaks when I need them, most days I work only 6 hours, and it is very rare that I end up working on a weekend. In short, I can have a job and a life at the same time. The downside is that my hobby is my job...but most of the time it still feels too much like work. I have pretty minimal creative control, and I could probably be making more money elsewhere, which I hate to say is actually an issue for me because I'm paying Halifax rent this summer, due to the one-year length of a lease. I'd like to have some money left for discretionary spending, but I burn through what I have altogether too quickly for comfort. The nail in the coffin, so to speak, is that I spend a significant portion of the day being scolded by an angry old man with high blood pressure.

Now, here is where I am in a pickle. I like this job, but I expect that with the kind of skillset I have that I could make more money. Unfortunately there are people willing to work for my boss for free, in order to gain experience with computers, and I am barely clinging to my $8 an hour salary, for which I already serve as both a store clerk/cashier AND a techie. I can't really bargain my wages any higher due to the competition, but no other job or employer would be as forgiving of my not-inconsiderable flaws. So I'm stuck. I can't really go out into the job market and make more, because I would get my ass fired within a week or less, and I can't get better pay because I'd probably just get ditched for someone who wouldn't cost a penny to have on staff.

This leads me to a conclusion that I've come to before, and that's that I can't see any real future for myself that isn't based around some form of self-employment. I'm chronically late, I have poor tolerance for even the most legitimate of authority, and I'm not the easiest person to get along with at that. I just don't know if I have the skillset required to go into business for myself as soon as I will need to if I want to keep making money. I don't want to be leeching off my parents' educational savings my whole way through university, but while I am in school I don't think it is a good idea to be working anyone's hours but mine.

Wondering how he'll survive in the real world,

-LOUD!