What exactly is a real job?

[Tora]

I hate the "get a real job" statement with a passion I normally reserve for Nazis. My own father was and still is a big believer in telling me and my siblings in some way or another to "get a real job". and the reason he does this is because of the work he did and now does. He used to me a rig mechanic and now he inspects them. Therefore, any of the low-paying, part-time, had-to-get-because-we-need-the-paycheck jobs I or any of my siblings had were not "real jobs" and proved that we were lazy and couldn't be bothered to find something more suiting. I'm still getting this even as I've been out of the house for two years, trying to find a way to become self-employed, because God knows nobody in Calgary is hiring young adults.

[Frantic Freddie]

After my parents divorced my father,a snooty communications tech (granted,he worked for NASA during the Apollo Project) told my grandmother that he thought the guy Mom married was a low-life because he was a former nightclub owner & then manager for a large restaurant chain.

Grandmother told him "He makes 2x the money you do!"

[Jester]

I'm going to quote my friend, when I was saying how my commissioned writing wasn't a real writing job: "A real job is whatever pays the bills. If the money is real, so's the job."

This is vaguely similar to a line I've used when discussing being a magician. To wit, you know what the difference between a professional magician and an amateur magician is? Right....the professional GETS PAID.

And that truly IS the only difference, as I have seen phenomenal amateur magicians as well as professional magicians that sucked the big one.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

Heh, I'm actually at a crossroads with this very situation. Currently have a "real job" that I'm making decent money at (I can pay my bills and save about half of my paycheck). But I want to move to New York and try to become a professional comic artist.

New York has a better community of artist, I wouldn't have to drive, and it's friggin' NEW YORK!

*sigh* My Practical self and my Dreamer self are arguing about this constantly. Worst case, I guess, I just wait here until my company goes under (not likely), I get fired (less likely), or Vegas becomes a ghost town and I have to move anyway.

[Jester]

Wise words I heard 20 years ago and have never forgotten: It is better to regret something you HAVE done than to regret something you HAVEN'T done.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

Wise words I heard 20 years ago and have never forgotten: It is better to regret something you HAVE done than to regret something you HAVEN'T done.

Ooh, that's a good argument.

Fortunately, I still have a year to decide. Even if I DO do something crazy like move across country, I intend to have a few months' expenses saved up. Just in case.

[Tama]

That will buy you half a broom closet in New York, I think.

All jokes aside, go for it! But always make sure you have bus fare home lined up in case everything goes south.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

That will buy you half a broom closet in New York, I think.

All jokes aside, go for it! But always make sure you have bus fare home lined up in case everything goes south.

I know some people in New York, and got advise from another (actually published) comic artist. It's not so expensive if you're smart about it. Like living with people, NOT in Manhattan, etc. In fact, if I find a place cheap enough for what I budgeted, my cost of living would only be about 200 more per month, not factoring in what I save in insurance by not having a car.

Doubt I'd go back to Vegas, anyway. I hate this town.

[Solumina]

My mother always said "the secret to being happy is to find out what you love and find a way to get paid to do it" and my mom is both wise and happy so I would take her advice. You spend so much of your time working it only makes sense that you really can't be happy if you don't at least like your job.

[Tama]

Yeah, I heard how public transport is there.

I remember seeing a woman on Jeopardy saying that she was 38 years old and had only recently gotten her driver's license (after moving away from NY) because she had never HAD to drive before.

[Sapphire Silk]

Nursing not a "Real Job"? Pshaw... i spent 3 weeks in the hospital after an accident, and the Nurses were lifesavers...

I am also not inserting my own needed for my MRI on friday.

It's not the nursing that is not the real job to the jokers I've encountered . . . it's the teaching. Somehow by walking away from the bedside to walk into the classroom I've "demeaned" myself. "Those who can't do, teach" and all that. Of course this comes from people who haven't the foggiest idea just how hard teaching is.

Ooh, that's a good argument.

Fortunately, I still have a year to decide. Even if I DO do something crazy like move across country, I intend to have a few months' expenses saved up. Just in case.

I've lived all over the country, and have never regretted a single move or place I've lived. It's been an adventure, and Jester is quite right about regretting what you do and not what you didn't do.

My mother always said "the secret to being happy is to find out what you love and find a way to get paid to do it" and my mom is both wise and happy so I would take her advice. You spend so much of your time working it only makes sense that you really can't be happy if you don't at least like your job.

Agree 100%. The best jobs I've ever had might not have paid the best, though a couple have paid quite well, but were jobs I'd have done for free because I loved them so much.

When I get to the point where I don't want to get up in the morning to go to work, that's when I start looking for another job.

[Jester]

Re New York: one way to be there without paying through the nose for NYC rents is to live in New Jersey near NYC, and take public transit into the City. Trains and buses are plentiful and frequent, not to mention a ferry or two.

[SuperRTL]

I got told the "get a real job" line more often than I'd like to consider, though nobody in my family would dare say it to me. My last job (that I'm currently on leave from) gave me an ulcer and my doctor was offering to put me on anxiety meds. I couldn't sleep at the thought of going back to work when I got a call from HR saying my leave was up on the 7th because my doctor said I was physically fine to work. I went back, got the flu my second day and was so sick I ended up missing half of my second week back.

I asked for a leave of absence but I don't think I'm going back.

I'd much rather stay at home and listen to my daughter making baby noises trying to talk, sew and write then go back to the job.

Did it pay well? Yeah, it did, for a dead end job. I could pay all of our bills for the month, including groceries with some left over for fun. But I never got to see my family and that was taking its toll.

Besides, the sewing and the writing are paying off! With all the local orders, I have to work extra to list stuff on Etsy. :-) So, I think I've got a real job now, too. I just enjoy it a whole lot more and I don't need drugs to get out of the house and down the road to work.

[tropicsgoddess]

I work in a call center but as an agent so to SC's and EW's that would constitute as not having a "real job". If that's the case, then I guess that can be classified as a fake job.