Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we've reached the flustered-and-idealistic-grad-student-comes-face-to-face-with-impending-graduation-
and-the-real-world phase of the year. I found this entry, A Corporate Whole in Philadelphia, a few weeks ago on Daily Kos. It reminded me of two things.
The first was a Halloween party my senior year of college where a recent graduate came dressed entirely in white and red (including striped socks), and whenever someone approached her, pulled a Target job application out of her pocket and announced cheerily, "Hi! I'm a Corporate Whore! Would you like to work for Target?" It turns out that this formerly radical lesbian, though still a lesbian, was not so radical anymore, and was actually loving her job as a computer tech at Target headquarters. She'd come to terms with it, and could laugh at it. Still the best Halloween costume I've seen in awhile.
The second was in a planning meeting for the annual May Day Parade in Minneapolis. The room was full of the usual South Minneapolis hippie types, trying to come up with a theme for the 2002 parade. The topic of corporate greed came up, and someone brought up the idea of a businessman in a coffin, surrounded by money. Various supportive leftist sentiments were brought up, until one guy in a Grateful Dead (or Peace Corps, or Sierra Club) t-shirt spoke up and reminded the group that he worked in an office, for a company, and that 'businessman' does not equal 'evil.' Very apt, considering this was, after all, a parade run by the In the Heart of the Beast Theatre Company. Running away to a commune is not going to change the world, as much as I'd like to.
Until I got here, every single friend I knew worked for a nonprofit or government. It never occurred to me that I would ever work for a for-profit company. Where am I going with this... I had an interview yesterday with a defense industry technology company that is way to excited about hiring me. The job doesn't fit what I want to do, so I'm not really debating whether or not to take it, but it's a really, really interesting opportunity that could lead to some high-power jobs. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to balance by values and finding a job, whether for- or non-profit. My point is that yesterday was one of those fork-in-the-road moments, where I saw how large the disconnect there is between an organizing meeting at In the Heart of the Beast, and a lobbying meeting on Capitol Hill. I could end up in either.
and-the-real-world phase of the year. I found this entry, A Corporate Whole in Philadelphia, a few weeks ago on Daily Kos. It reminded me of two things.
The first was a Halloween party my senior year of college where a recent graduate came dressed entirely in white and red (including striped socks), and whenever someone approached her, pulled a Target job application out of her pocket and announced cheerily, "Hi! I'm a Corporate Whore! Would you like to work for Target?" It turns out that this formerly radical lesbian, though still a lesbian, was not so radical anymore, and was actually loving her job as a computer tech at Target headquarters. She'd come to terms with it, and could laugh at it. Still the best Halloween costume I've seen in awhile.
The second was in a planning meeting for the annual May Day Parade in Minneapolis. The room was full of the usual South Minneapolis hippie types, trying to come up with a theme for the 2002 parade. The topic of corporate greed came up, and someone brought up the idea of a businessman in a coffin, surrounded by money. Various supportive leftist sentiments were brought up, until one guy in a Grateful Dead (or Peace Corps, or Sierra Club) t-shirt spoke up and reminded the group that he worked in an office, for a company, and that 'businessman' does not equal 'evil.' Very apt, considering this was, after all, a parade run by the In the Heart of the Beast Theatre Company. Running away to a commune is not going to change the world, as much as I'd like to.
Until I got here, every single friend I knew worked for a nonprofit or government. It never occurred to me that I would ever work for a for-profit company. Where am I going with this... I had an interview yesterday with a defense industry technology company that is way to excited about hiring me. The job doesn't fit what I want to do, so I'm not really debating whether or not to take it, but it's a really, really interesting opportunity that could lead to some high-power jobs. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to balance by values and finding a job, whether for- or non-profit. My point is that yesterday was one of those fork-in-the-road moments, where I saw how large the disconnect there is between an organizing meeting at In the Heart of the Beast, and a lobbying meeting on Capitol Hill. I could end up in either.
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