Why I'm grateful for my job.

Plagiarism and all, I still think I have one of the best jobs in the world, and I was reminded of that today while getting my dry cleaning.

I'm standing to the right of the clerk, next in line, when this dude walks in, steps up to the counter (technically in front of me), lays both hands on the counter, and doesn't move.  The air about him, the air of "I'm not moving until I am waited on, and I fully expect to be waited on" made me want to say something wholly inappropriate.  So the guy's standing there, immobile and oblivious, and I have to hand my debit card to the poor clerk through the narrow passage between his left side and the clothes hanger device.

And this is meant to convey only the fact that I'm glad I got a master's degree, because the idea of working with "the public" turns my stomach.  I certainly have done it before, many moons ago, but not well.  Three weeks at Subway, three months selling shoes, six months selling software, et al.  But never for very long.

None other than William Faulkner says it best.  He worked in the post office for a short time, and this is from his resignation letter: "As long as I live under the capitalistic system, I expect to have my life influenced by the demands of moneyed people.  But I will be damned if I propose to be at the beck and call of every itinerant scoundrel who has two cents to invest in a postage stamp.  This, sir, is my resignation."

And the "demands" he speaks of are everywhere, even (especially?) where I teach.  Expectations, demands, rights.  Our college now has an office of customer service.  We've been told it exists to better students' experience with the financial aid office, with advising and registration.  But will it extend to the classroom?  Has it already happened and I don't know it?

Last summer, our college faced a greatly reduced budget if we didn't increase our enrollment; we are losing a campus after this semester, and the governing body told our president he had to have 20,000 students enrolled.  We are one of the biggest colleges in the state, but that seemed impossible.  But he made it happen, and mostly (purely?) for the budget's sake.  So as a result, we have plenty of warm bodies in the seats, but have we enrolled all these new folks cynically?  How many of these folks are ready to succeed in college?

Several years ago at another campus, none other than my department chair said the unsayable in a department meeting: "The only thing that matters at this place is head count; quality of instruction does not matter."  He has since moved on, and understandably so.  

There I go again.  Still and all, one can't beat this job, really.  We faculty lead a charmed life.  I sure hope we aren't headed for an 8-to-5 workplace atmosphere.  There are those who would have it so.

I better lie down until this feeling goes away.