Job Discussion Forums

[Miles Smiles]

It's a two-edged sword.

I worked with a guy who milked the FAO for as much as he could by professing that he was homeless back home, yada yada yada. The FAO introduced him to people who gave him extra work.(She was a senior party member, so she could do anything she wanted).

After a few months, this FT's name disappeared from the form that all of the FTs had to sign when we picked up our pay. He also began avoiding going to the FAO with me on paydays.

He told the FAO that he was interested in meeting a Chinese woman who wanted a husband (I swear!). Bingo. She found him one. She was his live-in housekeeper (in the school apartment) for a year before they married.

He also did a lot of talking on payday when he went to pick up his cash every month. He'd eat the bucket of KFC that awaited him and he'd talk about the other FTs until the chicken was gone. (The other woman in the FAO's office warned me of this. We were pretty good friends).

Then, three years later, he bought TWO apartments in town with CASH out of his 401k --- with a lot left to spare.

On the other hand, I kept my distance from the FAO, asked for nothing, and I got nothing extra from the FAO except for surprise visits to my apartment, the reason for which was never quite clear.

At another school, an FT seemed to be playing a similar game, but it backfired. He got cr@p piled upon him regularly because he acted like he was desperate.

My attitude toward my employer is always the same no matter where I work: I work to live. I don't live to work. Pay me on-time and pay me what we agreed upon. I DON'T want to be beholden to anyone.

It's just my ethic. My indifference to the power that my bosses attempt to hold over me is sometimes interpreted as an indication of my (presumed) affluence. I do my job, and I try to do it well. If someone has a problem with me, I make it clear that he can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Otherwise, I assume that everything is okay and there should be no unfair criticism or unexpressed dissatisfaction.

Those who have worked in the States have probably encountered the single mother who plays the sympathy game with the employer, puts herself in some sort of position of power which she will not share, does as little as possible, and milks the boss for every opportunity to take time off. These people have incredible staying power despite poor work and poor relationships with everyone except the boss. Then, one day she ups and leaves, leaving the boss and everyone else in a lurch for a new "secretary receptionist" or a new teacher. (There are actually non-tenured American university teachers who get away with canceling morning classes on a regular basis, yet they are never reprimanded, and their contracts are renewed every three years).

I can spot the manipulative types in a minute.

[Brian Hugh]

I have no answers either. I just feel here that there is a growing tendency to make the poor pay or wage slavery. It is something I became aware of in Hong Kong two months ago in an Occupy Central Movement. But by presenting an image of wealth people thnk they will be accepted by the wealthy. One night one of the workers from the HSBC bank came and talked with us. He said the same blah blah about how the big multinational companies were good and how hard the people at the top worked and how much taxes they paid. Then later on when he got into his cups he said that everyday he thinks about jumping but there is this plexiglass window that kept him in. He was making a big salary lived in a very expensive apartment and was working his butt off so he could retire.
I believe in showing repect to people no matter how much money they have or don't have. I am grateful for being able to work at a job that I can do as a volunteer of be paid for.

[The Edge]

I genuinely do not need to teach from a financial standpoint but have genuine empathy for those who do.

[Miles Smiles]

Everyone needs a job. The way in which one conducts himself, however, may influence the way in which he is perceived and treated by his employer--- either good or bad.

[Opiate]