A day in the life of an American worker series continues -- working to define the modern American labor force

Today, please meet Elise, Operations Manager, Defense Contractor (located in Virginia).

Elise desribes her typical day: 

I get to work at 7:30 and leave at 4.  I mainly work on any issues or problems the different functional groups are having with scheduled work that week.  Since I have been here a while I know a lot of the goings on behind the scenes than others, so I do get asked for guidance on different things.  I do reports for my boss and the VP of our group on what current actions/problems we have.  The most interesting and varied thing I do is Incident and Problem Management so anything that does not follow processes or goes wrong I get to investigate.  Occasionally, I go to our main contractor’s office, not too far away.

Elise enjoys her co-workers, has a good boss, and works in an office with a Keurig machine and three lunch rooms, but eats lunch at her desk.  When asked if she wakes up happy to go to work, she responds, “indifferent.”  The worst part of her day is commuting and meetings. 

Elise receives a salary and is not a member of a union.  She wears suits or dress pants with blouses or sweaters to work.

In my series of questions, I asked, “does your work make the world a better place?”  Elise believes that she contributes to the world through her volunteer work – teaching English as a second language, being a Pen Pal to a child in order to encourage reading, and volunteering with a local soccer league.    

Elise feels that she is a typical American worker, “even though my kids can never explain [my work] exactly.”

More about Paige, Homeless Shelter Intern

Paige eats lunch at the shelter and eats the donated food that the homeless eat.   Since the shelter relies upon donations, the food varies from day to day:

day old pastries from a local cafe, homemade casseroles dropped off by a church group, chocolate covered strawberries leftover from the mayor’s ball, canned goods way past their expiration dates, and lots of mashed potatoes, enchiladas, and sandwiches of questionable hygiene.

Interns at the shelter work 40 hours a week, starting wage $6 an hour.  The interns also receive room, board, and health insurance.  Paige is not a member of a union.

Paige describes her boss as amazing, trusting, and accommodating, a boss that gives her responsibility and autonomy.  Paige also has high praise for her clients, the homeless, stating,
“the homeless are the most inspiring, loving, hilarious, and frankly amazing people I’ve ever met.  They are like my family and I’m so in love with them.”

Paige says that the hardest part of her job at the homeless shelter is that about 20 homeless people die each year and that the average life expectancy of a homeless person is around age 48..  Recently, one of Paige’s favorite clients, who was camping in a low lying area, drowned in a flash flood. 

In response to the question, are you a typical American worker, Paige responds:

I do feel that I’m a typical American worker in that I am working my butt off to earn money and make a living for myself.  And since I earn maybe $15,000 a year I join in solidarity with other low income wage earners! 

But I don’t feel like a typical American worker in that I really, really, really enjoy what I do and I have little to complain about.  I am fulfilled by what I do, challenged mentally and physically, still have lots to learn, and I have enough money to lead a simple but quality lifestyle!

Paige is a modern American worker who has worked in a variety of jobs and clearly finds satisfaction in her work. Her resume includes backstage hospitality for the performers at Wolf Trap; professional dog poop scooper for DoodyCalls; manning the overnight shift phone lines for a suicide and crisis hotline, environmental organizer for The Wilderness Society, and work at a holistic retreat center and at an oil change shop. 

Why does Paige seem so happy about work – her words sum it up:

I generally only engage in employment that I’d be willing to do for free.  This doesn’t mean that my jobs aren’t challenging and stressful at times, but really, life is too short to spend the majority of it doing something that is unfulfilling!... But I think that working with the homeless is my calling.  It just makes me feel so alive!!! 

A Day in the Life of A Modern American Worker series starts today!

A day in the Life of a Modern AmericanWorker

Paige, Homeless Shelter Intern/Shift Supervisor

Paige works at the St. Elizabeth Shelter, a 28 bed homeless shelter for men, women and children in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Paige is the type of worker we all hope to hire  – she does the job that needs to be done and says that a written job description could never encompass everything she does. 

When asked whether she feels happy to get up and go to work in the morning, Paige answers:

Absolutely.  It is a super fun job, and at least during my shift, the shelter is filled with lots of laughter and shenanigans.  This is because I lucky enough to have the ability to enforce rules and policies while keeping it fun for the guests! 

Here’s how Paige describes her typical day at the homeless shelter:

I work eight hour shifts, usually 7am to 3pm or 3pm to 11pm.  As a benefit of my intern status, I live in a semi-secret apartment above the shelter making my commute roughly 30 seconds.  The day shift mostly involves the restocking and cleaning of the shelter, supervising community service workers and volunteers, and handling the needs of homeless folks that drop in looking for services. 

The evening shift involves checking the guests in for the night (breathalyzing them, searching their belongings, etc.), doing new intakes, making sure dinner gets served on time and chores are completed, and generally handling any issues that inevitably arise (a fight, the power going out, a drunk and rowdy person showing up at the door, someone having stinky feet, etc.).  

Homeless folks knock on our door 24/7, so a large chunk of time is spent helping them (giving out blankets, mail, toiletries, etc.).

I generally work my shifts alone, sometimes with the aid of a volunteer.  This means that I am often the only employee in the building, and the lives and safety of all of our guests rests in my hands! 

Our guests are in crisis, and usually suffer from mental illness, histories of violence, and have various health problems and substance abuse histories, so this is a very exciting group to manage and you never know what could happen. 

Every now and then I do need back up, so I keep the police and paramedics on speed dial. 

In my next post about Paige, you’ll find out what she eats for lunch at the homeless shelter (hint:  from homemade church casseroles to chocolate covered strawberries!) and why she feels in solidarity with some American workers.