Do I have to quit?

I feel really sorry for anyone who has a broad convince them to do things they don't need to be doing. My wallet also feels sorry for those.

Just because you decided to take the dive and do what society tells you to do, doesn't mean you're any better (or worse) than those who decide to do things their own way.

Go spend a day in divorce court, then toot your own horn after that.

 

Exactly. While working in the salt mine may not be the ideal situation, intentionally taking a job you absolutely hate because you have the burden of a ball and chain, mortgage and children to support, well that just sounds like hell.

 

Which is worse, a girl you have sex with telling you what to do or an SE bugging you about some insignficant story?

 

Anybody who calls a woman "a broad" who was born after 1940 is a douchebag.

 

At least we know who the guy that can't get a date is.

 

Ah, SportsJournalists.com's favorite false dichotomy rears its head, i.e. that the only option other than writing about sports for $25K a year is a "job you absolutely hate."

 

Well, shit.

 

I can't even get an interview for a non-journalism job I might absolutely hate, dammit.

 

I'll Never Tell - You don't need to quit your job, you just need to get a few prostitutes on your speed dial and that will take care of the needs you have and the beauty is, you don't have to explain your schedule to them when you are done.

 

This is EXACTLY how I feel about it. I was engaged to a woman with two little boys. God I loved those kids. They were like my kids, and I learned real quickly that it sucked to miss their school programs, Little League games, etc. because you were covering something else or stuck laying out pages. One of the major reasons we split up was because my schedule made it impossible to have any kind of normal life.

When I met my new Mrs., I swore I'd never make the same mistake again. Found a job with a small business that pays the bills and gives me some time off. Wouldn't look back at all. At least now I know when we have kids I'll know who they are, and they'll know who I am. I respect people who love the grind and consider it a calling, but that's not for me. There's 168 hours in a week, and I'll be damned if I'm going to spend half of them working.

 

I don't mind my job being a big part of my life and identity, or even having to sacrifice family time from time to time for the job. But I better be doing something awfully important in that job. Or well-compensating. Or both. And, damn it, I don't think that covering small-town preps or cranking out the section front on deadline qualifies. Not for me and not for most people.

 

This kind of stuff is not limited to journalism.

Years ago, I took a 5 day trip to London. I chose a time that is normally quiet at work. I tied up all my loose ends and sent out an email to all my coworkers a week in advance and again the day before I left saying that I was going out of the country and that if an emergency came up to contact our CFO who would be able to reach me (our CFO knew I needed the vacation and could be trusted to weed out the non-emergencies). Our big boss was based in another office and I made sure to remind him (and his assistant) that I was going away.

Off I went on my trip. I stupidly checked my email the day after I left and there were 5 emails from one of my coworkers (senior to me and in the other office), more and more panicked - "I really need to speak to you." "I need your help." "Where are you???" I checked with the CFO, who gave me permission to ignore the emails. I didn't check again, no one called and I had a great trip.

When I landed and turned on my cell phone, I had something like 20 voicemail messages from that same coworker demanding to know why I didn't respond to his email or previous calls. When I got back to the office, I called him and he had calmed down, but was still pissed at me. He said that it was "ridiculous" that I could go away and not let anyone know how to contact me in case of emergency. When I told him that I had, he got all huffy and said that he "couldn't be expected to read all of his email."