Off the Record

A little over a year ago I wrote an opinion piece for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about what it was like to hear “So what are you doing after you graduate?” Very tongue in cheek, the article addressed the goals I did and did not have and the way I felt about typical office, 9-5 jobs. At the ripe age of 21 I received many a hate letter, all of them saying the same thing: You pompous bitch–how could you disregard normalcy and try to attain stardom by way of freelance jobs? I took it all with a grain of salt for the most part, but some of those harsh words still stick with me as I take on more and more responsibilities. Aside from my office job, I also began some time at Local Harvest Grocery on Morgan Ford. I helped work on the place months ago when it was just an empty room, and Patrick, the owner, asked me to help out on the weekends. Between writing, Villa, Sno Cone, Cyrano’s and the grocery, I’m working a good 65 hours a week. And I’m exhausted. Now do I drop a job or do I simply manage my time better? Or try to consolidate? I’m struggling with the issue that I’m too willing to help out–too willing to accept new opportunities, even if I don’t have time for them. Raised a strong Catholic (even though I haven’t been to church in a few years), I suppose I still have some of that work ethic and inability to let anyone down. There’s also the guilt. Oh, the guilt…