After three months of candidacy, I’ve gotten a final answer from my two favorite job prospects. And that answer is no.
The other position that’s called me back recently is through Americorps/VISTA, which is basically like the Peace Corps but domestically and for one year instead of two. I’d spend the year working for a local charity coordinating its volunteer efforts: duties would be mainly phoning, scheduling, and conducting orientation sessions, plus some heavy lifting and light praying.
It pays $900/month.
Sure, it’s volunteer work with a stipend, not a salary. But I nearly laughed out loud when they told me. Then I nearly laughed again when they told me that some of the students who typically do Americorps/VISTA actually qualify for food stamps.
When I was a child, $900 would have seemed like all the money in the world. Even when I was fresh out of college, it would have seemed perfectly reasonable compensation for a month’s work: $300 for rent, $300 for food, $300 for fun, clothes, savings, and emergencies. When did I get so greedy that $5.67 an hour seems like not enough?
Perhaps when I moved to a state where the minimum wage is $6.75.
I feel very conflicted about this. If I really cared about social justice, wouldn’t I leap at this opportunity?
Secretly Ironic 