workingfortheman.com

I work at a very small (we're talking 10 people in this office!) company near DC. Our chairman also has a few other jobs, typical for the DC area - instead of just retiring, these old-school former high-level executives work for free, or practically for free, just so they have something to brag about. I'll call the chairman Pooh. I am the peon at the company, fresh out of college with a useful History degree. I do everything - the web site, edit a newsletter, produce mailings - everything except keeping the books. All for peanuts.

The day before Thanksgiving I'm wanting to cash in some comp time and take off around 1 p.m. Pooh, the chairman of very small brain, comes in with copy for the newsletter. We were scheduled to go to press two weeks ago, but we kept pushing the deadline back. So finally I reluctantly make the editorial decision that we just can't wait any longer because once the newsletter is printed, we've (meaning me) got to put it in a mailing for our rich donors and that has to go out before Christmas. So the chairman waits until 1 p.m. the day before thanksgiving to give me copy to edit and overnight to the publisher. I'm trying to furiously edit and get the hell out of dodge before traffic gets much worse when Pooh comes back with edit after edit, and I'm muttering under my breath how much I hate my job and Pooh. As Pooh is getting ready to leave at 4 p.m., he says, "Are you going to be in the office on Friday?"

Many things come to mind, but luckily, the most G-rated thing comes out in the form of: "It's the day after Thanksgiving," followed by a "Are you crazy, that's a vacation day" look. After he walked out the door I gave him enough time to get to the elevator and go to the parking garage before I left for the day too.

L. Carlsson is a recent college grad with a useful History degree. She spends her days downloading songs from Napster, emailing friends and family, and sending out resumes - all on company time.

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