no, it is not about some kind of conventional drug I am talking about, it is about a huge entity in our mutual world. Money. I will try to tell you why I am having such awkward thoughts again.
As you probably already know, I want to go to New Zealand in February, and additionally I will go to a 22 day trip to Sweden and Norway in September. Which means, I need some bloody money for that. So, a job was needed. Voilà, the work I was offered to do - unfortunately the only positive summer job application - was at a waste disposal firm in Vienna. I thought, hell I will do it it's getting me some money after all. So I declared I would work for 9 weeks for them. About 70 EUR a day, so not so bad. Hopefully worth the stupid, dirty, non-intellectual work. I've done it last year, it was more or less ok. But in the last four weeks of this work now, I encountered some difficulties: As I am a volunteer, my boss is sending me every day to a place where I am needed; where someone is on holiday or whatever. So, everyday I am somewhere else. I will not describe you the kinds of work I have to do, but some of them -most of them- are reeeeally ok. But one other kind of work, a special place, is, to be short, hell. It is not worthy to be working there, not for a money less than 5000 EUR per month, or even more - noise, dust, dirt, extremely stupid and frustrating work. Because this whole work is not requesting any mental/intellectual abilities, all people are welcome to work there at full-time. What means, there are mostly foreigner who are happy to have a job. And in this very specific horrible place, those poor people are even happy to have this job, they say it's not "that bad", they have seen worse. I don't really know about this topic about immigrants and stuff, but that's not my issue here. What I thought, doing their work for six days in the last four weeks (aaahh): What the hell! People want to live, they should live their lives and enjoy it! It seems for me very frustrating that people abandon their lives for ten hours a day just to live. They are living for their work, and their work ist just crap. I am aware that this point may be clear for you and me, and that it may well be necessary for them to, yes, survive. But … No, it doesn't seem right after all! It's so freaking unfair! And here I come to the main part, where I can assume what's so important about it for me.
I do this (partly gross) work for nine weeks. Well, that's a good time, enough of life lost, but it's just nine weeks. I get a bunch of money out of it which will bring me other wonderful things; I don't need the money for surviving. And here's the thing: I am so damn contented, that I am given the chance to study. I have a social background which allows me to do so, and if I work that's for additional extra for my life like holiday or semester abroad. I can study what is really interesting for me, and probably I will some day have a job that will be interesting as well, so I do what's fun and will get money for it. That's how it's not a crappy thing. I don't know which entity (luck/god/...) I should say thank you to, but really, due to that work I see how lucky I am, how lucky students are.
2011.07.05 : a day's outline
Today (...). MLIA. - that is the syntax of a very nice website. i would sincerely begin with this nice word "today" and end with "MLIA", but i am quite sure i would forget about MLIA in the end. but it would be true - my life, at least today, was quite strange and awkward. and because it is this kind of awkwardness that is more or less representing my normal flow of events those days; i will just write down what happened. (and, it is a good way to find out if that email-to-post feature by google works.)
_0530 slept very well (a very good night actually - at 10pm the former day, I turned round and looked on the alarm clock to find out I just slept veeery deeply for 8 hours), short breakfast, way to work
_0635 way to early. 07am i should be there, on hour later than usual - normally i'm starting at 06am. br, early.
_0740 ok finally, work's about to begin. i am working at Saubermacher, that is a company in the 23th district of vienna, dealing with waste. collecting waste. me: today:
_0740 going to specific place in vienna (let's call it a random place), there the waste bins need to be emptied; our job. all the biogen waste goes into the nice approx. 40 billion ton truck and voilà ton and ton of waste are accumulating inside the truck.
_1140 lunch break. phone calls concerning another job offer which is probably not going to be offered anymore?! slightly confused me. other phone calls; family, friends, feeling so far away from home.
_1235 0.75 hour brake is over, more waste to collect. it's my turn on the waste-bin-lifting-machine-thing. normal job, the grass and other stuff is slipping out of the bin into the truck. shock. a big snake is slipping in as well. i try to stop and reverse movement towards the ground. due to the machinery, the spider gets fracking hurt. apparently i've killed a (probably?) harmless snake today. dammit!! .:. our waste-collecting tour takes a lot of time. we are still not finished. meh. normally we are done with everything at around 4, maybe 5.
_1836 finally. done. shower completed, made a new entry of my departure from work into the pretty SAP-database (of course after the shower) and heading home. smalltalk with a english/italian student in the bus, nice to talk to a student again. feels more like .. normal life - kinda. by the way; people in the subway are so different, it's really amazing. some of those people just look like "bloody hell, i am going to kill you", others look like "omg, haven't seen you for ages, so nice to see you". the thrilling part: i think the important thing is to talk with them. to find out what they are. because people with a gaze saying "going to kill you" may just look like it, but may act like "may i cuddle you?". kind of.
just for your information: i am doing this job not because it is so much fun (it is definitely NOT), but because it is getting me quite some money. there are just 9 weeks left. 9 weeks minus 2 days. i will spend the money for a good reason. firstly on the device i am using right now, a fancy iPad2. secondly my interrail-trip to sweden and norway in september, three glourious weeks. thirdly for my semester abroad. you know about it already. so, farewell dear audience, i have to get up in 5 hours or so (ooooh crab).
_0530 slept very well (a very good night actually - at 10pm the former day, I turned round and looked on the alarm clock to find out I just slept veeery deeply for 8 hours), short breakfast, way to work
_0635 way to early. 07am i should be there, on hour later than usual - normally i'm starting at 06am. br, early.
_0740 ok finally, work's about to begin. i am working at Saubermacher, that is a company in the 23th district of vienna, dealing with waste. collecting waste. me: today:
_0740 going to specific place in vienna (let's call it a random place), there the waste bins need to be emptied; our job. all the biogen waste goes into the nice approx. 40 billion ton truck and voilà ton and ton of waste are accumulating inside the truck.
_1140 lunch break. phone calls concerning another job offer which is probably not going to be offered anymore?! slightly confused me. other phone calls; family, friends, feeling so far away from home.
_1235 0.75 hour brake is over, more waste to collect. it's my turn on the waste-bin-lifting-machine-thing. normal job, the grass and other stuff is slipping out of the bin into the truck. shock. a big snake is slipping in as well. i try to stop and reverse movement towards the ground. due to the machinery, the spider gets fracking hurt. apparently i've killed a (probably?) harmless snake today. dammit!! .:. our waste-collecting tour takes a lot of time. we are still not finished. meh. normally we are done with everything at around 4, maybe 5.
_1836 finally. done. shower completed, made a new entry of my departure from work into the pretty SAP-database (of course after the shower) and heading home. smalltalk with a english/italian student in the bus, nice to talk to a student again. feels more like .. normal life - kinda. by the way; people in the subway are so different, it's really amazing. some of those people just look like "bloody hell, i am going to kill you", others look like "omg, haven't seen you for ages, so nice to see you". the thrilling part: i think the important thing is to talk with them. to find out what they are. because people with a gaze saying "going to kill you" may just look like it, but may act like "may i cuddle you?". kind of.
just for your information: i am doing this job not because it is so much fun (it is definitely NOT), but because it is getting me quite some money. there are just 9 weeks left. 9 weeks minus 2 days. i will spend the money for a good reason. firstly on the device i am using right now, a fancy iPad2. secondly my interrail-trip to sweden and norway in september, three glourious weeks. thirdly for my semester abroad. you know about it already. so, farewell dear audience, i have to get up in 5 hours or so (ooooh crab).
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