Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Thursday, Mar. 24, 2005 - 10:27 p.m.

So, I am slowly climbing out of the rabbit hole, inching hand over hand up a vine clinging to the sides.

Today I found out that while I have a price, it is somewhat higher than $1500/week.

I get to work yesterday and call Mike Moloy and say I'd like to talk today if I can. Sure, he says, come by at 4:00. I go see my friend and he says just tell Mike everything that's happened; he just wants to hear it from you. So me, I think there's actually a realistic chance to sort this out, because other people have had problems with Christiane and talked to Mike and straightened it out, so since so many people have complained about her, he must be aware that she's got a bit of a power-mad control problem. Not to mention a serious bitch complex. So I go into the meeting thinking it's going to be a fair deal.

Yeah, no.

What it was was Mike's attempt to pacify my friend so he won't quit, as he went to both the lead exec and the supervising one, and told both of them if they fired me, he was gone in a week. That would throw a serious wrench into the works, as he's the lead editor. But me, I think it's actually an opportunity to clear the air and start fresh. Instead, I am treated to what an absolutely stellar person Christiane is, how utterly indispensible she is, etc. etc. etc. and that I seem to be the weak link in a chain that, until my arrival, ran perfectly well. He also told me at least one verifiable lie and informed me that I do not get along with the other assistant story editor (Chip) and have managed to alienate and annoy most of the editors. All of which was news to me as Chip and I just went to lunch a few days ago and IM each other support throughout the day every day, and I don't actually have much contact with any of the editors, but the ones I do have seem to find me pleasant enough to say hello to every day and ask for bites from, and in fact, they have been nice enough to express appreciation for the help I have provided and said I give them good bites. I always say yes to their requests, with a smile, and pull the bites they ask me to search quickly. So frankly, aside from last week's snafu, they have nothing to begrudge me over, and THAT was not my fault, and I said so. (I can not perform work not given to me to do. If you want the fucking transcripts bitten faster, make your fucking selects faster. Period.) So I tell him this, and he says well, he'll have to "verify [my] story," and if it checked out, think about it and let me know by Friday. He also said "I was led to believe you understood the flow of language and the way words fit together...what was it you did at your last job, exactly?" (emphasis his) Which anyone with half a brain can understand is a dis. I was not to be intimidated by it, however, and told him I chose bites myself (I did not cut and paste someone else's all damn day long) and verified they were good bites by pulling the footage and making the judgement call *myself*. Fucking impugn *my* grasp of the English language, I don't fucking think so. (which I realize is an ironic statement, given the degree of cussing just employed. I don't care. I'm pissed, damn it.) If there is one thing in this world I know I'm good at, it's writing. Maybe not the off-the-cuff, stream-of-consciousness stuff you guys see here, but I can craft a damned story, and I know how words fit together to paint a picture, so don't fucking take me down that path, pal. And to top it all off, when I told him I do not spend my time lollygagging around, that I do not take lunch, I do not take breaks, and I have not left before 7:30 (I get there most days around 9:30) more than a few times, he suddenly leaped in with how he's the first person to get there in the morning and the last person to leave at night - he works harder than anyone there, and I can't even touch him on that, so I shouldn't even try.

Where the fuck did that come from??? Since when does he have to compete with me? Why would I even try to sound as if I work harder as a frigging assistant story editor than the SUPERVISING PRODUCER of a television series does??? That would be laughably insane. My point was that I'm not a fucking clock-watching lollygagger and that I am always willing to put in however much time I have to to finish my work each day. WTF is up with "you're never going to touch me on that, so don't even try"???

Can you say defensive? I know you can.

As I said, it boiled down to him attempting to save face with other pissed off people, not in trying to give me a fair shake. So I went home at 9pm, after sitting at my desk for 5 hours thinking anything I did would not meet muster, and since I got more than enough of that shit from my parents growing up and do not care for the shitty feeling of helplessness, I said fuck it and left 11.5 hours after getting there, rather than staying the next 2 hours to finish biting the damn act. I came home and told TB what had been said, and he said Katie, just quit. You do not deserve to be treated that way. Keep your pride, go in there tomorrow, and tell that asshole 'I thought about it and decided next Friday is my last day'.

So I got there today at 9:25, went straight into Mike's office, and said thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me yesterday. I appreciate it, but in light of the conversation, I think it best if next Friday is my last day." To which he nodded and said okay, and I said thank you, have a nice day, and went up to finish Act 2, and I left at 6:15.

But I got some job leads today, and I also found out that a whole slew of people have been to see the exec producer to complain about the situation, as they are tired of seeing good people treated so shoddily time and time again, and in particular seem to also like me and think I am being shafted. That made me feel really good, frankly, as I have only been there a month, but there are enough people who think enough of me to actually risk their jobs by going to see the exec in charge of the entire production company to protest my being treated and let go in this manner. That really does mean a lot. As do the recommendations people are making to other employers on my behalf. :)

And that, my friends, is hopefully the end of the bizarro stories from workplace. And hopefully I will land somewhere soon in a nice place, so I can still save money in time to go to France this summer and see Lance race the Tour his final time. (please cross your fingers and knock wood for it; I really want to go and will be so crushed not to)

And on a somewhat cheery note, I wrote the word "UNION" down on a post-it and stuck it at the bottom of my computer monitor, right next to the Sharpie sketches of Bruce & Frankie, and someone saw it today and started laughing. He was all "I know, right?" and high-5'd me over it. So that was kinda fun. :)

Peace out,
Katie

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Yesterday's News - Next Stop

In which Katie shares sad news - Wednesday, Apr. 01, 2015
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