Slave Labor

Some industries are sexy and they know it.  TV, movies, fashion (think The Devil Wears Prada) and, of course, advertising.  A lot of people flock to them and put up with slave labor conditions just to stay in the game.  (An example of this is the old joke about the guy in the circus that follows the elephants with a shovel and trash can.  A friend suggests a different line of work and the guy replies 'What?  And give up show business?')  Not a great joke but you get the idea.

So Margot shows up at her new job, intern, and likes it.  Doesn't love it, just likes it.  No great shakes, no really sexy assignments except for a ride on a fire engine when a client donates Thanksgiving dinner to the Fire Department and Margot's firm does the PR.  Not any really great thinkers in the group.  Also a lot of grunt work since she is the intern. 

A note about interns and entry level jobs.  A few industries have rites of passage that  include grunt jobs to see if you can handle it.  People that want to be agents in Hollywood start out in the mail room, first year lawyers work a billion hours a week and interns intern at ad agencies. 

So what didn't Margot like?  She didn't like the lack of organization.  Margot has inherited her mother's gift for organization and disdain for screwing around.  Do it once, do it right and go on.  Many people, especially in the 'creative' world, don't work that way.  Time spent, a lot of time, is viewed as work when it is only screwing around.  Also, bosses like to boss and they know they can because all they have to do is let it be known they have an opening and more suckers will want in.  Margot overheard one of the principals in the firm telling someone that his workers were slaves.  Not good for morale.  But true. 

So Margot put in her time and saw a couple of other interns come and go.  Interns were hired for six month stretches with the promise of a job at the end of six months.  One got a job but most didn't.  As Margot's time came to an end all the interns (three, I think) were informed that there were not any jobs available.

Instead of being bummed, Margot was relieved.  She had done her time, seen the inside, and didn't like what she saw.  A friend that did have a full time job and had been there for two years admitted to Margot that she went home and cried every evening.  Yikes.  Margot is smart enough to figure, Hey, who needs that?

Finally Margot was learning the most important lesson--she was learning what she didn't want to do.