why my old job was evil: part 1

so tomorrow would've been my one-year anniversary as the "copy editor" at my old job, or as i like to refer to it, "hell in print." so to commemorate (cq?) this non-anniversary, i'll be listing the reasons why that newspaper is the WORST place to work.

1. My boss was a fucking idiot/hypocritical liar!!!: Jamie, the piece-of-shit managing editor, is a total piece of shit, hypocritical liar. When I interviewed for the "copy editor" position, Jamie made it seem too good to be true. And it was. I was told I would just be copy editing and designing inside news and feature pages. And writing and taking photos would be optional.

A week later, that was all shot to hell. See, what I didn't know, and what nobody ever mentioned to me, was that my position before had been the ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR position. So, besides copy editing and designing pages, on my first day I was told I had to compile and update the several community calendars. My second day, I was told that I had to typeset and price obits. My third day, I was told I had to typeset and price wedding, engagement and anniversary announcements. A week later, I was told that I had to come in at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays because I had to do Jamie's job on her day off, which included talking to the public and other bullshit that COPY EDITORS DO NOT FUCKING DO! My second week, I was being assigned photos and stories to do.

When I complained about such to Jamie, telling her I needed either to be given less to do or given more money and a title change (to, say, something more appropriate such as community editor, features editor, or AME), she said that what I could do was rewrite my job description so it matches what I do.

I think with just Jamie alone, we can all understand why I fucking walked out on that job.

2. My pay fucking sucked: I started off getting paid $21K/year, with no overtime or anything of that sort, even though I was working about 60 hours/week. I got a pay raise mid-August to $23,800, but only because it was federally mandated.

3. The rampant homophobic jokes: When Jamie, one of the reporters and the online editor weren't making fun of her fiance because he watched The O.C. and comparing him to homosexuals that did watch the show, they were constantly making other rather homophobic jokes or comments. And I couldn't complain to anyone either because the publisher also made rather homophobic and chauvanistic comments. So needless to say, I wasn't out at work, I never talked about my personal life to anyone besides Veronica, and I always felt like an outsider and never welcomed. So is it any wonder why I never had a smile on my face at work. Which leads into the next reason.

4. I was going to get fired because I didn't smile enough. It's true. Jamie admitted it to people while I was working there and after I quit (but never to me) that I just didn't fit in because I didn't smile enough. Even though I did my work well and fast and never openly complained, I didn't smile. So apparently that's enough to get someone fired.

5. I had to update the website: And we had an online editor. Of whose job, you would think, would include updating the website (and yes, I am using website and not Web site, so fuck you Associated Press). But, apparently, it didn't. It fell on me. So, yeah. Fuck.

6. I had to do sports stuff: OK, so apparently when the sports editor (who I had no beef against because we'd worked together for years at a school paper) was off, I had to do all the sports stuff. Which was OK when it was just stuff that he did and sent in to me or left for me. But then it got to the point where I was having to call up his fucking freelancers and hound them for their stories and deal with the freelance sports photogs. So yeah, that kinda pissed me off a lot.

7. I had to change the film out of the negative printer: So the printer that we sent our pages to when they were all done, well, when it ran out of film, I had to change it. It was a duty specifically assigned to me. Even though it really should've been the job of one of the production people. But no. That's what I was there for.

8. Did I mention that my boss was a fucking immature bitch?: It's true. She is/was. She claimed to be all mature and shit and all-fucking-knowing. At the ripe old age of 25. Yeah. Did I mention that she backstabbed her way into the managing editor position? Because she did. And she always would tell me, "I know this is your first job out of college ...". Yeah, technically it was my first job out of college. But I also had worked at two of the three main papers in the Rio Grande Valley (and was a manager at one), worked as staff (and not a student worker) for a university media relations office, did some freelance work for AP and other small newspapers, not to mention my jobs at the school papers when I was in college. I had and still have more experience in the real world than she does. Seguin was her first job out of college. And she was always talking about how she belonged to this cult-ish house church. And how even though she was making a lot of money (enough to buy a house and support her fiance) how she wanted her parents to buy her a new car and a new computer. Grrr.

OK, more to come tomorrow on my non-anniversary ...