This has made me laugh because, of course, any job where you deal with the public is not peaceful - at all! But nowadays, working in Libraryland is kind of miserable what with cuts, layoffs and libraries closing.
I have been an LA for nearly 10 years but although I'm a "permanent employee" in a large county library, I am a 20 hour part-timer. Technically I'm 20/40 which means I can work 20 extra hours at one of the 25 libraries in the system. This in addition to my regular schedule at my home library.
The good points: I have a home library, can do some interesting work from time to time, get excellent health benefits, get paid sick leave and vacation and very soon will be eligible for retirement. My 10 years is 5 in county time, if you know what I mean.
Meanwhile, nobody can live in the Bay Area on 20 hours so the extra hours makes it possible to pay rent, buy food, put gas in the car and in the past even go on vacations, buy Christmas presents, and shop consignment stores.
The downside? Can't pay for big dental or automobile bills. And I'm always worried about money. In fact, it seems to me that I spend a good deal of time raising money. I sell stuff on ebay, take things down to pawn, borrow from a payday loan place.
For a long time, it was worth scrounging because this is the first job I've ever had that I really, really liked. In fact, I would say at times I loved it.
Or they did but for the past year, in order to save staff being laid off, my system has been cutting those extra hours. I was relieved when I saw my tax return that I wasn't imagining that I had less cash; I did. But now, in the middle of 2010, things are getting brutal.
In fact, this evening our automated substitute program phoned me to cancel two jobs in July. This leaves me with one 5 hour job and, guess what, that won't do it.
It's scary at my age facing this situation. Part of the situation is that I can't quit because I need the health care, but the paycheck won't support me.
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