Dave Eggers, �How We Are Hungry�
Well, I�m sorry. I�m sorry it�s taken so long to update, and I�m sorry the last update was so full of complaints.
Not that sorry, actually, as I have good reasons for both. As for the not updating in a while, it might have something to do with the fact that I�ve taken another job.
Yes, that makes four. Four jobs and still haven�t missed a single class, though dear lord I�ve wanted to. Particularly after my Communications instructor, the class where we watched a presentation on how we should be nice to water, showed us another film.
Oh god, the other film.
The instructor knows I�m also here to keep an eye on my unhappy father, and we have to write journals incorporating the communication theories with our personal lives. I wrote recently about the approaches my sister and I used when dealing with him. But the professor seems to think that he�s totally incapacitated � an incontinent, Alzheimer�s addled, drooling old man, which he isn�t.
The other week, after we�ve finished with our discussions and whatnot, she announces that she�s going to show us a film about caretaking for the elderly.
Performed by puppets.
This weren�t no high-quality Muppet production, neither. The puppeteers and voice actors were obviously different people, so the poorly designed giant puppet heads would flap their jaws periodically while �voice actors� (in the loosest definition of the term) would read stilted lines explaining why grandpa kept wandering off to the grocery store asking where his long-dead wife was.
�Why the hell is she showing us this?� one of my classmates whispered over to me. I sank lower in my seat, looking embarrassed.
The packaging of the puppets and voices were so-mismatched it made Japanese dubbed films look like the highest art in editing. One person remarked that perhaps they only had enough money to shoot one scene on film, and just plugged in the dialogue from whatever topic they needed. Next week, perhaps we�ll see the same three puppets talking about STD prevention or the dangers of heroin use.
The only problem with that theory was the grandfather puppet they built. As the two little girls discussed why Granddad was now crazy, the film would occasionally cut to the elder puppet as he sat in his rocking chair, gently shaking, mouth open wide, googly eyes rolling back into his head.
Actually, now that I think of it, that same puppet could be used for the other two topics. The STD one is going a nightmare in terms of puppet logistics.
Ew. I grossed myself out. That ain�t easy.
So yeah, four jobs. Whoo. That makes writing for the Honolulu Weekly, working at the club as a bartender/barback, working retail for The Company, and a copy editing gig on the campus newspaper, which actually pays me $20 an issue.
How sad is it that I�m excited about the possibility of getting $20 an issue?
Or worse, how sad is it that with these four jobs, I�m still not sure I�ll have enough to cover rent and bills next month?
How we are hungry, Dave? Let me count the packages of Top Ramen I have left.
But actually, despite all the complaining, things are working out. The plan was to go to school and eventually get an internship with one of the papers � most likely at the Honolulu Weekly. I already cut out the middleman, and the editor seems to like me. The club is going to start me on actual bartending, meaning I get to keep my own tips instead of getting a small cut of what he made. And this new gig with the campus paper only requires me to work two hours a day, making it a much better deal than The Company.
As for The Company, once again they gave me one shift this week, for a measly four hours. I think they do this because if I worked five hours, they would have to pay me for a fifteen minute break. That�s no way to maximize their profits. Actually, I don�t know how many people they hired, but I think they�re just keeping as many people on as possible so they can fill shifts as employees come to their senses and quit.
I work today. When I get there, I�m going to ask if this is the schedule I should expect. If that answer is yes, I will have come to my senses.
I�ll be working from 2 until 6 today. If I have come to my senses, I will be answering the phones with �Thank you for calling The Company, where it�s all about commodifying the music!�
You know, in case you want to call.
