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the world, jobs and the big suck

Started by slowpid Jul 22, 2006 at 3:34 AM 17 replies 2.7k views

Original Post

Jul 22, 2006 at 3:34 AM

Forgive me father, it has been 2 months since my last post. Im drunk, tired and grumpy; but beyond that im really just a tired citizen of the world looking for a little comradery. [rant/] I've always wanted to be an artist. For those on these boards that know me (very few), I work, rather dilligently, at acheiving this end. In my whole life I never thought to myself I could actually do it, and I've always planned to this end, I went to college resisting the urge to spend my little money on art classes, and avoiding practice at the cost of homework. Last year, I left for africa, where I stayed a year. While there (doing a semester abroad), I found the time to develop my art. Upon arriving home I take a wild chance and make my goal, out of a million....how the fuck? But I made it, there was someone out there who thought even through a lack of education (in art), and fully developecd skill, that I could do the job. Now, I have 3000 business cards of my own, all boasting 'graphic designer' on the front (yeah, in bold). Guess what? I hate it. Who would have thought. Now I commute a minuimum of 2.5 hours (max 5 hours), a day to do a job with clients I hate. At this point, who else is stuck in something they wanted to do, but later found out was the wrong thing for them (I realize im not stuck, but rather just anchored in). I cant stand it, it doesn't feel right, and I want to know....are you are drunk as me to admit you hate what you do, even though you worked to be there. does it make sense to quit, to make minimum again and to participate in the things you like (like say for instance, taking up art again instead of drawing shit over and over for 'advertisers' who think their ahead of the game with their clever slogans and shitty ideas, who shoot mcgavins and call you tiger or the man). I signed on as a writer to gamedev, which I haven't had the time to do, Ive let go of projects, I gave up sailing time in archipelegos and climbing trips. I sacrifice to do what I thought I wanted. Heres another question, is this what being an adult is about. Making money over doing what you want? I can see maturity at the end of this tunnel, I mean, the job does lead places...but at what point do we begin to seek a future over a present? Am I being a whiney, immature bitch, or am I on base with the assumption that if it doesn't feel right, it isnt? [/rant] sorry

ApochPiQ

Jul 22, 2006 at 3:55 AM

Life is too short. To hell with your job - do something you can enjoy.

LessBread

Jul 22, 2006 at 4:50 AM

Do what you can to bring an end to the 2.5 hour commute time.

RE: Making money over doing what you want?

If you have dependents, pretty much, yes. That doesn't mean you have to be a slave to it, after all, you don't want to become resentful of your spouse/children or other family members. If you have debts to pay, eg. college loans, you'll be stuck in indentured servitude for a time while paying them off, but it can be done. Alternatively, you could nurse them for a long time instead. Same with house and/or car payments.

Part of being an adult is knowing what you want and then figuring out how to achieve it. For example, is it the work that you don't like, or the clients? If it's the clients, chalk it up to experience and seek to avoid those kinds of clients in the future. If it's the work, well, you'll have to use your creativity to figure out a new path for yourself. It's also important to remember to take care of yourself. If you like to sail and climb, make the time for yourself to do that. You probably won't have as much time to devote to those activities as you once did, but you can still manage it if that's what you want to do. Don't forget to take your vacations. It's too easy to burn out these days and unfortunately very few other people are looking out for you so you have to look out for yourself in that regard. Cutting down on the commute time will likely go a long way towards resolving that.

Will F

Jul 22, 2006 at 5:04 AM

This post reminds me of why I often recommend getting a comp sci degree rather than going to a school that specialises in game development. While going to a school like Full Sail or Digipen isn't always a bad thing, if you later find out you don't like the gamedev industry, having a CS degree gives you alot more latitude in starting a career that isn't game oriented.

Eelco

Jul 22, 2006 at 5:13 AM

i agree on the commute time part: 5 hours is just crazy, and personally i wouldnt put up with 2.5 either. sounds like that would be a very definite drain on motivation.

also, now that you have some work experience, finding another, maybe more fullfilling job should be easier, no?

kSquared

Jul 22, 2006 at 6:31 AM

It sounds like the worst part of the job is the commute. Have you considered asking your clients to come to you? Or what about them meeting you halfway? Or what about videoconferencing? Spending 5 hours a day on the road is not a pleasant experience.

ChurchSkiz

Jul 22, 2006 at 6:44 AM

Some people live in the now, and some people delay gratification for the future. I look at my parents as a good example. They always worked hard, never spent money just to keep up with the Joneses, and saved saved saved. They took a lot of shit from their yuppy friends who were always buying new tvs and cars and taking lavish trips to exotic countries. Now they're almost 60 and still paying off credit card debts. My parents on the other hand, have the money to take the trips, buy nice cars, live where they want, and have enough retirement to live wherever they want (because there house is paid off).

I think too many young people today just buy and do whatever they want whenever they want to and don't think about the consequences. I'm not saying be a workaholic miser, but maxing out all your credit cards now so you can have fun is going to be a big regret when you're 50 and still paying for it.

As less said, find out what you want in life, and decide what it will take to achieve it. Maybe you thought you wanted this job because of something it would give you, and you might seek that instead of the job itself.

Fable Fox

Jul 22, 2006 at 6:59 AM

Do what you like and enjoy life. Life is too short for regret. On the other hand, do whatever you can just to get by, but use the money to really live life.

Oh, the next thing that sux other than 5 hour journey, is that transportation gonna cost you a large chunck of your salary. i'm looking for a local job.

Thygrrr

Jul 22, 2006 at 7:05 AM

Get the commute to down to max 1 hour per day (30 minutes each way).

It does wonders, and you'll have between 5 and 15 hours of extra free time each day to contempl^W, err, improve your situation ^^

the_dannobot

Jul 22, 2006 at 12:14 PM

Dude, it sounds like you are in the same boat I was in a few years ago. I didn't study very hard and lived in a bad area for my field, so the best job I could get was doing tech support. It totatally sucked, so I dropped everything, went back to school, studied my ass off, and afterwards moved to a better area.

I know that not everyone can just drop everything, you might have a wife or kids or debt or something. But if you really want to do art and have fun at it, maybe you might consider a different field than advertising art. You could probably get a job doing game art. You're staff at a game development website, that has to look pretty good on a resume :)

Ravuya

Jul 22, 2006 at 12:38 PM

I think I need to move before I get too attached to this place. I can already see the post-degree ceiling from where I am, and I'm in a summer student job.

ManaStone

Jul 22, 2006 at 2:00 PM

I don't really have a job yet, but I'm really regretting majoring in computer science. Even though I’ve got a B.S. in computer science, I’m not really qualified to get any programming job. If I did have a job though, I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t like it. I can’t even prevent myself from procrastinating on my own projects. When I got to the saving part on my height map editor, it took me five days just to start looking at the code. I don’t think I really want to be a programmer.

Zorak

Jul 22, 2006 at 4:02 PM

All my life i wanted to become a programmer. Well, atleast from the time where I started learning basic on a Commodore 64. Became one, worked with it for a while and absolutely despise doing it for a living. And worst part is that it also killed the lust for keeping it as a hobby. Tried teaching it for a while aswell after I got tired of massproducing code. Sucked as much. Now I am taking a years break and trying to figure out what to have as a life goal from now on.

I urge everyone that feel they have a calling to keep doing it for fun and get another job. Atleast you will still have a hobby you love when you get home from the second choice job. And maybe the hobby might even give some extra cash, but when you turn your hobby into your main source of income it _might_ ruin the fun and then you will not have the energy to keep the hobby nor have a job you like. Better to have 1 out of the 2.

SageofAges

Jul 22, 2006 at 5:50 PM

Quote:
and I want to know....are you are drunk as me to admit you hate what you do, even though you worked to be there.

Yes, and yes, yes yes. I've always had a fascination with two things; computers and cell biology (specifically how proteins work ie proteomics). I got my BS degree in cell biology, but never worked in the field. I did a semester of graduate work but it just seemed like alot of mumbo jumo at the time; 'proteomics' indeed, bioinformatics didn't really exist back then.

Then I got a job as a computer programmer and went back to school for a bs in comp sci almost simultaneously. Which was cool because I liked programming and I study it on my own as well. So now I've been living in the cubicle world for almost 4 years enduring the mind numbingly dull world of financial systems.

What I really want to do is study protein folding and primary structure determination. Toward that end I've continued to take classes, but it's tough to get the high level math, physics, biochem, and computer science classes due to my day job. I'm thinking about seeing if my employer will let me go to part time so I can concentrate on school.

Anon Mike

Jul 22, 2006 at 6:47 PM

Your passion is art but what you're doing is Graphic Design. These are different things (as I understand it anway, being an outsider to both). Graphic Design, at least as the term is commonly used in the software industry, is the use of art as a part of advertising. What you're doing in not art, it's advertising that happens to involve art. And since advertising is as close to fundamentally evil as you can get without breaking the letter of the law it's little wonder you don't like it.

See if there is an easy fix to your commute situation, it's insane, and see if things improve. If not try to find something else to do. Maybe you'll find something lets you do what you love full-time and also pays the bills, maybe not, but staying in a miserable situation is definitely not going to help.

alnite

Jul 22, 2006 at 7:25 PM

This is the time where you should hire artists and managers to do the work for you.

Witchcraven

Jul 22, 2006 at 9:52 PM

Maybe you want to be an artist of a different sort than graphics designer.

haro

Jul 22, 2006 at 10:37 PM

I also had a similar experience. Working for years towards what you think you want to accomplish.. only to finally discover it sucks. Follow your callings. Life is short. I ended up finding a niche in... playing poker. I've never been happier and earn more money than I ever would have in development positions. And it's a whole lotta fun telling people you're a pro gambler as they complain about their mundane jobs. Who knows if I'll still be playing five years from now. All I know is I'll never stay with something that doesn't make me happy. It's not worth it.

Okay.. I'm a little tispy too right now. [grin]

slowpid

Jul 23, 2006 at 1:24 AM

Im drunk again, and now that i've read through the replies, allow me to comment.

Yes, graphic design is not art...but: it involves art, and is therefore the closest job I am getting to my passion (well, one of. I am a writer as well), as I may ever be. And yes, I work with advertisers all day. I want to scream at them over the phone for being the doucheist, most annoying vaginal coca-cola wash scum of the fucking earth pieces of shit in the world. Yes, I hate it and yes, the commute sucks.

Then again, everyone who works at the office is an artists in one form or another. The job is a 'stepping stone' to me I guess (this is what I have decided). I cant not have a job to pursue art or writing, because, in the best of scenarios, im not getting a job for years (I get paid the occasional amount for writing, but nothing to live on).

So, thanks. I've decided that a stepping stone job, as long as im going to hate it, shouldn't involve a 2.5 hour commute, and shouldn't take up my entire day (get up at 4, get home at 5), so that I can continue doing what it is that makes me happy (haven't seen my girlfriend of 5 years in days because im so tired and busy, and I no longer am writing). I'll find something im sure. In the meantime, ill finish school (in writing and psych), and not worry about hating anyjob I get, even if its not part of what im aiming for in the long run.

How come people at gamedev are so ("if you dont like your job, quit and live free man."'ish then they are "you must have a stable job", kind of responsible. Are people here just young an naive, or are they older and wise.

also, why is leo laportes voice so sexy?

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