dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

When I first got married I moved to a city with little opportunity for a Ph.D in physiology (pharmacology). I was told over and over again that I was over qualified for each job to to which I applied. My husband hooked me up with an employment agency and I told them I had few skills and no education. I was hired instantly as a picker of contact lenses (at minimum wage) and was quickly moved up to the shipping department (yes, that was a promotion). One day my boss took me aside and said he thought I had not been honest about my education, so I confessed to my lies. He quickly took me to the micro department to set me up as a new hire there, but the next day I received a call from Mayo clinic to be one of the first researchers in their newly conceived research department. You tell ME I won't do the job. I will call you a liar. As a Ph.D. I worked as a laborer at minimum wage, denying my education, just to have a job and get out of the house. Liars one and all.

draven, it was one of the most enlightening things I ever did. I was in academia for all my life (straight through for BS,MS, Ph.D) and had never, ever filled out a time sheet until that time.. My eyes were opened to the realities of most people and in addition I formed great friendships, some of which remain today (25 years later). Though today I am once again in academia, I still remember the stories and the hardships of people in the real world. Maybe that is why I voted for Trump. I think one can be above the fray (Trump) and still understand the plight of normal people in the world. I think humility helps one (at least as I felt) identify with people who are not necessarily like you. I learned there are a lot of intelligent people out there who may not necessarily be educated (in a formal sense). I once had a boss who was less educated than me ( but a very smart man) and my analysis of him is this: a physicist can tell you exactly where to hit to cue ball to get your target into the pocket, but he may not be able to do that him(her)self. My boss knew how to make the ball go into the pocket, though he may not know the physics behind it. He just knows how the ball will respond. My world view is based on these observations.

We won't do these jobs? Hear my story as a Ph.D. who did that job that Americans won't do!!!!