I have a burning desire to ask people questions, I always have. Whether they’re people I know, people I just met, or a stranger on the street, I almost always want to know more. And I will usually ask. (A totally serious daydream job I’ve had for years, but haven’t yet mentioned on here, is Stop People On The Street To Ask Them Questions About Where They’re Going And Why…And Get Paid For It.)

Now that I’m on a quest to find my dream job, my curiosity has naturally extended to wanting to know every detail of people’s work lives. So I’m going to start formally asking people my questions and telling you all about it! It can only make the journey richer for me and make this, the chronicle of the journey, more interesting for its readers. Plus I think we’ll learn plenty along the way.

So, without further ado, I’d like to present a new segment on follow my bliss, called payday.

(photo by Keith Huang - click the photo to be taken to Keith's awesome blog)

This is my old friend Phil Wells.  Phil and I met years ago in our Level 1 improv class at The PIT . I’m not sure if I’ve ever told him this, but I instantly liked Phil the night I met him. I remember it well. A bunch of the other people in that class were weirdos and I remembering thinking Phil was a semi-normal, very talented guy. Also, I’m pretty sure that he saw me get a pie-in-the-face (yes, really) a few weeks later, courtesy of my two idiot friends. That means Phil and I are FFL. Friends for life.

He brilliantly answered these questions today:

1. How do you earn a paycheck?
Right now I’m an administrative assistant for 2 companies in the same office.  I am, however, running down my two weeks’ notice at this gig in preparation for becoming a software tester at another company. 
 
2. Do you enjoy what you do to earn a paycheck?
It’s strikes and gutters.  This job was an improvement from my previous job in a call center, which was like the office equivalent of fast food.  A lot of office workers take for granted things like deciding on your own when to take lunch, or internet access all day, or not having to punch out to use the bathroom.  There are places where these conditions are but a dream, and I’ve worked at those places.

HOWEVER.  This particular job started relatively cozy, then more and more work started coming across my desk.  I’d usually be fine with that, but this was work that just used to belong people who’d been promoted and they couldn’t find anyone else to do it all.  And then I asked for a raise and didn’t get it.  That’s when I started looking for work elsewhere.

3. How did you get the job?
A friend from improv got me this job and I’m very grateful to her for doing it.  After a while we both sort of realized how toxic this place could be and she felt a little bad about bringing me into it, but really she did me a big favor. 
 
4. Did you go to college and if so, what did you study?
I went to NJIT for computer science for 3.5 years before I conceded that my brain is just not suited for calculus or physics.  I tried to transfer out to any sort of liberal arts major, but all my earned credits are in esoteric computer science electives so none of them would transfer.  So rather than start over as a freshman after 4 years, I just walked away and started working.

5. If you could have any job in the whole entire world, assuming you’d instantly, miraculously possess the the training, opportunities, and expertise to excel at it, what would you do?
I’d design games.  Board games and nerdy computer games.  I just love the idea of designing an experience for a game player.  If you design a chair, you’re creating its look, its usefulness, its material makeup, all that.  When you design a game you’re working with a different set of aesthetics.  Will the players cooperate or compete?  Does it get more difficult as the game progresses?  Are monkeys involved?  I’d have a great time doing that.  I subscribe to about 5 blogs devoted to game design, and I’m reading through a textbook about it.
 
6. If you didn’t have to earn a living – money was no object, but you had to be productive for 8 hours a day, what would you do?
I’d write poems and novels.  I’m working on a big book-length poem right now, but i only get to it a few hours a week, which is frustrating. 
 
7. What are your hobbies and interests?
I’m a comic actor and writer.  I do improv comedy and sketch at the PIT, and I really am thankful for the community of like-minded maniacs I’ve hooked up with there.  I also write essays and little things for a whole slew of blogs.  Sadly, my blogging is as infrequent as my schedule is manic, so I usually lose heart and stop posting to anything I create online.  There have been so many false starts.  But that’s what hobbies are made of, right? 
 
8. How do you spend your free time?
I don’t consider the time I’m doing comedy to be free time, so all my free time happens on weekends.  I generally stay home, watch movies, and clean my bathroom.  I also take naps on the weekends, because why the hell shouldn’t I? 
 
9. What do/did your parents or guardians do to earn livings?
My dad was a staff sergeant in the US Army.  He’s now retired and has a new job where he “does computers” as he explains it.  My mom, in the course of raising two boys, went to college, got a job in the insurance industry as an accountant, and has worked her way up to being sort of a big wheel in reinsurance (those are the guys that insure the insurance companies).  Before my mom got into all of that, we was po’. 
 
10. What was the conversation or climate surrounding work and work ethic in your home when you were growing up?
I can’t remember any outright conversations about work ethic, but everyone in the household understood that work’s a necessary evil and the better you apply yourself the further you’ll get ahead.  Somehow I was one of those “gifted and talented” nerds through most of school, so homework really just bored me.  I never did homework; my grades sucked.  But then once I started working jobs I excelled at whatever I put my mind to.  When I waited tables they called me “the warrior” because of my work ethic.  When I worked at Starbucks in Newark they called me Tall White Mocha, but that’s another story.

11. How does your family feel about how you earn a living today?
My mom’s proud I turned out to be a white-collar sort of guy who’s pursuing interests outside of work.  The jobs I pick up are never anything groundbreaking, so it’s generally a heartfelt “good for you” from the extended family.  Aside from leaving college, there haven’t really been any steps backward so far, so they’re happy to know that I’m making it on my own.   
 
12. Do you have siblings and if so, what do they do for a living? Do you have a personal reaction to what they do, like maybe you’re envious or inspired?
I have one older brother.  He works at that same call center that I left a year and a half ago.  He’s got it better than I did because he’s sort of in charge of scheduling and not manning the phones.  The phone calls are the worst part of call center work.  It’s just a job, though.  A survival job.  He’s good at what he does and he’s well-liked there.  You can find the upside of pretty much any job.  I’m just happy he’s at a desk and his role is pretty secure there.

13. Generally, what time do you go to sleep? What time do you wake up?
On week nights I get home anywhere between 8 PM and 1 AM, so I get to bed between 12 AM and 2 AM.  I set the alarm for 7, then hit the snooze until 7:30. 
 
14. Do you want to leave your current job for something different? If so, can you imagine yourself doing this? If so, will you do it?
Yes.  Oh yes.  It’s not that these people are monsters or anything, but without the raise and with all the extra crap piling up, this looks more and more like a dead end for me.  I don’t want to get into real estate.  I’m moving on to the new gig in a week and a half and it’s still hard for me to imagine what my day will be like.  I’m sure I’ll get along.  I’m a good worker. 
 
15. What is more important to you in a job? a big paycheck or personal fulfillment.
Big paycheck, definitely.  If I needed a job to fulfill me personally I’d blow my brains out.  When I leave the office, I leave the job behind me until the next day.  If I could get a paycheck without coming into work, I’d live exactly like I do now, minus these daily visits to the office, and not miss it a bit.  I have my writing, my comedy, my little woman, my friends.  I’m more than personally fulfilled.
 
16. Do you think your idea of personal success has changed since you were 10 years old? 18 years old?
 Well when I was 10 I was an idiot.  Personal success back then was so immediate.  Jumping off a swing and landing on my feet was pretty much as lofty as it got.  I didn’t start seriously thinking about careers until I was maybe 14 or 15.  When I was 18 it was all about knowledge.  I wanted to be an expert at something or a thousand things.  Yeah, there was the subtext that being the world’s greatest whatever would make me rich, but that was a side effect.  I wanted to be a famous scholar or guru. 

Now?  That’d still be nice, but I don’t see it as being attached to any career in particular.  Now I wouldn’t mind working these survival jobs until I retire but still coming out as a leading expert on anything that catches my fancy.  Just not real estate.

17. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Probably a mountain or a goat or something.  I was a spaz.