rant whine 'splain espouse: Things I don't miss one damn bit about working in the nonprofit sector

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Things I don't miss one damn bit about working in the nonprofit sector

Okay, at the risk of sounding like I still have sour grapes (well, maybe I do, whattya gonna do about it?), I was thinking last night about my job today in relation to my job a year ago, and this list started coming to me.

So, in no paricular order, things I don't miss one damn bit about working in the nonprofit sector:

Coworkers who have no idea how to use their computers.
So-called environmentalists who don't even know the basics of office recycling.
Aged receptionists who fall asleep at the front desk.
People making requests for design services by using such laughably antiquated terminology that it's obvious they have absolutely no clue what they're talking about.
Having to be the in-house tech when it certainly wasn't my job, I wasn't being paid for it, and I had other important work to do.
Having to use computers that make 386 machines look fast.
Having to buy my own software and hardware just to get my job done. To the tune of hundreds of dollars a year, usually.
Having people say thank you but never actually showing you that they meant it. You value what I do? Prove it. Pay me enough to live on.
Board meetings.
Constant moaning from certain individuals who dragged everyone around them into a downward spiral of inertia.
Coworkers who don't listen or remember what you say, no matter how many times you say it.
Tex's singing.
Working with an overwhelming majority of people who have absolutely no concept of what you do and its value to the organization.
Always having 190% more to do than is possible to do in the time and salary alloted for your job. In other words, working at a place that has no idea what it takes to do your job, why it's important, how complicated it is, what sort of resources it takes, etc. ad nauseum.
Staff meetings.
Never having a budget for your project. Ever.
Having to raise your own salary.
Having to do 17 different jobs.
Having to update the EcoCalendar every week.
Having to fix other people's mistakes, even though you've shown them how to do it right about a million times, written an extensive manual, and constantly remind them how to do it the right way.
Working in a place where it seems any sense of fashion or aesthetic fell into a black hole sometime around 1996.
Having to try to keep a straight face when someone uses phrases like "You're putting out a real negative energy."
Equally, trying not to roll my eyes when we sponsored events like sunrise ceremonies.
The PCC building. Which is an ugly concrete hunk of shit.