brunobaby

I started laughing at this while I was still in line at the library's check-out:

...at the end of the day, the temp agency's biggest banana called to tell me that the assignment I'd expected to last at least a couple of weeks was to be terminated effective immediately. My chair! "We need to talk," she said. "Are you wearing pantyhose?"

I'd been taught to blow a whistle in the receiver, hang up, and phone the police in response to such a question, but given the circumstances, I had a hunch why she was asking. "Yes," I lied. "I mean, no. I mean, I was, but I got a big run in them on my way to work, and I didn't think they'd want me to be walking around looking like I had a big ladder on my leg."

If you've ever temped (or had a job that was preceded by the word "day") while you're getting your degree or trying for your big break in your chosen field or some form of the arts, you'll relate to a lot of the stories in Job Hopper. Although Ayun Halliday's got me beat...I've never worn a giant Bert head in JC Penney's or any other retail establishment.

Eventually, Ayun trained to be a massage therapist, moved to New York with her husband and started writing, among other things, a monthly column about raising their two kids. That column is my favorite part of the post-feminist mag, BUST. And eventually, I waxed my legs and joined the wonderful world of corporate desktop publishing. But ah, the memories.

P.S. Ayun did one of those "Guide" things for Amazon.com called "So you'd like to... Take This Job and Shove It!" (Hmmm, great idea for some free publicity for your own book.)

My favorite on her list:

'Blown Sideways Through Life : A Hilarious Tour de Resume' Now that I've finally finished writing my job book, I can read the job book that everyone asked me if I'd read when they heard I was writing a job book.

Yeah, that's the one people asked me if I'd read while I was reading Job Hopper.

She also recommends Kitchen Confidential, and I'll be blogging about that one later. Really.