Kathleen Valenti

It’s a tough job, but–well, you know.

As a writer, writing is job one—unless you’re writing about jobs. Then it’s job one, plus one.

We’ve had a slew of recruitment-related clients at the ad agency where I work, and the projects have called to mind my own jobs and job searches.

I began my career in writing as anyone would: by selling pantyhose.

Back when hosiery was part of the dress code and L’eggs decided to stuff its wares into plastic eggs, I shucked control top and sandal-foot hose on the daily. It was good, honest work, during which I amassed knowledge about tensile strength and denier. (Trust me, I’m just waiting to break out this vat o’ information at a dinner party or Trivial Pursuit game night.) I also learned a lot about human psychology (people feel the need to reveal their innermost thoughts when pawing through tables of underthings), sales techniques, and how to quick-draw a price scanner with the panache of a Wild West gunslinger.

My Nylon Years (not to be confused with Paper Anniversaries) were followed by a stint assisting in a program for at-risk youth at a local high school. It was incredibly rewarding and difficult work, but I soon I felt the siren’s call to write.

I took a circuitous path to copywriting, first penning articles, then freelancing ad copy, and landed my first agency job writing about everything from state lotteries to famous athletic apparel brands to fruit stickers. (TLDR: the client’s stickers were sticky, but not too sticky.) After more than two decades in the business, COVID shuttered my clients’ doors and I found myself looking for work.

The career landscape had changed since I emerged fresh-faced and English-majored from college, and the pickings were slim. I employed digital recruitment marketplaces in my search for gainful employment. After being served up positions in law and accounting, I fixed my profile. Then I was offered such enticing roles as showing up for gatherings dressed as Mr. Peanut, driving the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile (which frankly sounds amazing), and ghostwriting dating profiles for Tinder.

The last was the most tempting. I imagined myself as a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac, helping the romantically inclined and verbally forlorn make a love connection over pithy descriptions about long walks on the beach and pina coladas.

I guess once a writer, always a writer.

I’m a big believer that everyone who writes is a writer. Writing for your supper is just (pardon the writerly pun) gravy. As enticing as tooling around town in the Weinermobile was, I knew I was made for writing. It’s not just what I do. It’s who I am.

I think a lot of us feel that way about what we do. It’s interesting that we tend to say, “I’m a doctor,” or “I’m a plumber,” or “I’m a salesperson” rather than the verb-oriented counterpart: “I doctor,” “I install and fix plumbing,” “I sell.”

Does it mean that our identity is sometimes up in our work? Is it simply handy verbal shorthand? I’m not sure. But I do know that those L’eggs containers make dandy faux Fabergé eggs.

Do you feel a special connection to your job? What has been your favorite line of work? (And favorite because of the good stories it generated definitely counts.)

45 thoughts on “It’s a tough job, but–well, you know.”

  1. I kinda wish you’d taken that Weinermobile gig, Kathy, so I could have gotten a glimpse inside.

    As for jobs, I always felt lucky to have landed a job as a legal writer, as it involved…writing. But the job I actually liked best on a day-to-day basis was waiting tables. I loved chatting with the customers and working (and talking about) food, and was good the organizational aspect of the job. But working nights, weekends, and holidays? Not so much.

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        1. One of us must have a connection! I did get a close-up with one near Times Square once, quite by accident (well, until the very last second). If I can figure out how to attach a photo…That thing is way bigger than it appears on a highway.

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    3. I’d love to have the Weinermobile in the family, too, Leslie! I love seeing it drive around town. We also have a Scooby Doo Mystery Machine near us. I think coveting is still a sin, however.

      I graduated college with a dual degree—Criminal Justice and English—so my first real job investigating liability claims was a perfect fit. And really fun … except for all the attorneys who constantly yelled at me.

      Oh! And I saw some L’eggs eggs in a store recently! Who knew they were still a thing??

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      2. How old ARE those things? (I’m thinking no one would allow their manufacture anymore (or pantyhose, for that matter). Eggatha disclaims all responsibility and liability.

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  2. My favorite job even though I was only there for 2 years was as an Executive Secretary for the Housing Authority for a town in MA. I would have some of the residents come in all grumpy and I would like say “Is there something I can help you with?” Most of the time they just needed someone to talk to. I would stop what I was doing , invite them to sit down and I would just listen and I would ask questions so they knew I was really listening. One day this elderly man came in all upset and I worked my magic on him and listened to his days when he was stationed in Italy in WWII. He left with a smile on his face. The next day I answered the phone and it was his son wanting someone to check up on him as he wasn’t answering his phone. He passed away in his sleep. I think he knew and he wanted to talk to someone before he left us. It was about 20 years ago and it still brings a tear to my eyes.

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  3. I have probably posted about this before. I was a student librarian in junior high, high school and university map room library. I could not believe school libraries would pay me way above minimal wages to work with books! I did everything from shelving returns (books and maps), sitting at the checkout desk/reference desk, perused the NYTimes Book Review for upcoming releases, ordered new books, repaired damaged books.
    (Grace, adding my name since WP often posts without letting me login)

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      1. KATHY: Ha ha, yes there were some shifts when no one was in the library. But I usually stayed manning the circulation desk without reading. Sometimes while shelving I would look at the title of the book, and think “ewww, who would read that?”. Should not be so judgmental, but hey, I was a teenager!

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  4. I, too, lost my job due to COVID, Kathy. It was working for an agency that served at-risk youth and their families. Working with kind-hearted social workers trying to make the world a little better was super rewarding. I do miss working with those folks.

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  5. I started out wanting to be a lawyer. Then a teacher. When I couldn’t get a teaching job, and the loans needed to be paid, I asked myself, what else can I do? Well, I can write. Got a job as a software technical writer and 25 years later, I’m still at it.

    I don’t know as I feel a particular passion for writing software instructions, but it’s easy work and I’m good at it. And my co-workers all think it’s cool I do fiction on the side.

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  6. Hestia here,
    I have always loved writing. Even in school, I would ask for extra credit assignments to write research papers. Not because I needed to up the grades (A-average student) but because I thought it was fun. I once did a 10 page paper on the history of the American 🇺🇸.
    In college I took reading and creative writing, and I kind of sucked at it. I always was thinking outside of the box, and the teachers and English majors thought I was nuts.
    My favorite job is the one I do now. I am a government auditor for the 3 letter agency everyone hates. I do numbers for a living, and have to write my findings. Which explains why I sometimes struggle with creative writing, because I stick to the facts in my job. The writing part isn’t what I love, but it’s the results of some of my cases that grab my heart. Because my goal is to put people behind bars that cheat on taxes, whether it is for their own benefit, or they are doing things on behalf of the unsuspecting clients that then get screwed by their preparer’s actions.

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  7. I’ve published a pile of short stories and a novel to boot, but inevitably, whenever someone asks what I do, my answer is always, “I’m a high school teacher.”

    My next novel is about a woman who has the opposite problem. She’s trying to hold down a steady job, but everyone remembers her as a former detective. Just when she thinks she’s out, they pull her back in.

    Enjoying the site!
    Greg Rhyno

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  8. Can I say how much I love reading everyone’s former jobs? What great responses – as always! I’ve been earning my living as a writer since I was 27 years old, with some side gigs teaching writing. I won’t tell you how long that is because it would give away my age and we NEVER do that in Hollywood. When it comes to stating your career, I don’t write, I AM a writer. It’s in my DNA. My father was and both my brothers are.

    I once heard author Earlene Fowler say she was retired and I was like, how do you do that? I have friends who are retired and fill their days in ways that make me feel both jealous and guility because all I really want to do is write. I do miss daily dance classes since Covid killed off my gym. Now I only get to dance – another love – once a week. But aside from that, I swear that if I suddenly announced, “I’m retiring from writing,” the first thought that would pop into my head would be, “I need to write about retiring from writing!”

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  9. Such fun reading about other people’s jobs! For me, I’ve been a waitress (+ everything else) in our family restaurant. I also worked at a career office in college. Mostly, I stuck to the helping sector with my jobs: organization that helped low-income women, community-based nonprofits, adult day health care center, and older adult health services.

    I’ve always written throughout everything, and I’m delighted to have published work out there!

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  10. One summer in high school I had 2 very different jobs: I worked at a rehabilitation center where I helped disabled patients get in and out of the water (and their suits) for aqua therapy. The rest of the week I was a “salesgirl” (sure, Jan) in an upscale clothing boutique. On my first day (I showed up in Dr. Scholl’s and a carpenter’s skirt) my nightmare boss told me I didn’t look fashionable and I had to buy my work clothes from her store. I got fired because I answered honestly when a customer solicited my opinion as to which dress looked better on her. (Correct answer? Oh, both! I couldn’t possibly choose!) Oops.

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    1. Dr. Scholl’s makes an appearance again! I’m seeing a reunion tour in the Weinermobile during which we wear our L’eggs and Dr. Scholl’s.

      I applaud your honest-is-the-best-policy response. I once had a waitress slowly shake her head when I ordered the special, then wink and nod when I made a different selection. I appreciated the heads-up!

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  11. Vickie: Kathy, your weinermobile prospects reminded me of my brief chicken aspirations. A new restaurant called Granny’s Chicken was about to open in my neighborhood when I was a teen. They advertised for someone to stand on the sidewalk in front of the eatery and wave to passersby — while wearing a chicken costume. I didn’t get the job, which was probably just as well. It was summer in the South, and I imagine I would have turned into a stewed chick inside that chicken suit!

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  12. I worked at a dress shop called Phillis Jo Tots to Teen in our hometown for a semester after a year in college. I got $6.00 a day for 6 days a week and 8 or more hours a day. I sold clothes, did inventory, wrote the bills, wrapped gifts, sent out statements for charges, unpacked and checked in a priced the new merchandise, did the windows and man if we did not suggest accessories to go with the outfit, we got a talking to. I went back to college and loved it. University of Texas in Austin. Hook ’em Horns! But then I taught English, Art, Art History and AP Art History, Computer literacy, and Texas history in my career of 38 1/2 years. I wanted to be a librarian, but they would get the job and stay until they retired, so there were never any vacancies there. I did volunteer at a library and loved it. I loved the story on the WWII gent. Thank you for his therapy session. Now I love retirement as I get to read all of your books, used to travel, work on genealogy, and work jigsaws. Thank you all for being authors to send us on travel experiences and different lives. I worked hard but am glad for my retirement with good annuities to help me live a good one, my health, my husband, my dog, and my friends.

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