I'm 18 and aching and I don't know why.

[raybear]

All this week I've been the legal secretary for these 2 real estate partners in the firm who do all contract and negotiating stuff (versus the litigation guys I worked with the week before). One of them gives me enough work to keep me busy for almost half a day. Usually closer to one-third but I can stretch it out. The other attorney usually gives me one task in the morning, that is often scanning a file to PDF and e-mailing it. But on Wednesday he gave me a new task to do – here's $10, will you go down to Corner Bakery and get me a chopped salad because I need to be on this conference call? Ok, sure, whatever. I don't mind getting paid to take a walk outside. I can laugh about my place on the ladder as errand boy and temp. But then I came back and delivered the food and change (and wondered if he would tell me to keep it, though doubting it severely), and he gave me another dollar bill and said, do you know where the breakroom is? Can you get me a diet coke with lime? And a glass? And ice?

I had to walk down the hall and fetch his beverage. Now, I feel demeaned. You could at least just say "get me a soda, bitch" and I'd maybe respect you more.

Then of course today, he comes out of the office with some other guy from a meeting and is all "just the person I'm looking for!" and then asks me to fetch the guy a mug of black coffee.

On Wednesday I made a new office friend, this woman who lives in Logan Square and also works in a piano bar in Wicker Park and I came out about doing drag which is sort of like also coming out as queer. On the way back from the breakroom, I leaned into her cubicle and said, "I'm so glad I got my master's degree so I know the proper was to fetch coffee."

But hey, I'm only ranting, cause fetching coffee sends me to writer's conferences and into the woods, so there are advantages. I just wonder at one point will I once again say, at what cost?

Comments

Errand running: cool or demeaning?

[flitterkitten.livejournal.com]

I have totally had this experience while temping. I worked as the receptionst/admin/data entry/client relations/event planner/personal assistant to the director (for $10/hour) at a non-profit health organization and the director was so difficult and a stressball. The first time he asked me to get him lunch I was like, that's cool, I'll go for a walk. But each time he asked me something it got more and more elaborate. During the last few months he had me take his visiting neice to MLK library to do some research for school- on company time! What he really needed was a full time personal assistant to take care of all of his oddball requests- but someone who signed up for the position and so didn't feel put upon or less than when he demanded that YOU put up his new mail slots:-)