It’s Tuesday, and the entire U.S. team at my company was fired. We’ve been working together at a “start up” company for just about a year. We worked 70 hours a week, night and day, on weekends, and even Christmas. We relocated three times; twice domestically, and once internationally. We received no benefits, no salary increase, no vacation, no health insurance, and no notice of our impending exit.
The world of start up companies is foreign to many. They’re a somewhat illusive beast, that has been inaccurately described since Silicon Valley became a thing in the 90’s. Start up companies get the exact opposite reputation they should. They’re mistaken as ultra hip and liberal, with snacks and trips, and little actual work to do. A real start up company is populated by a shark tank full of thieves, corrupt business people, unscrupulous investors, and fickle employees. It’s not a place for the faint of heart, those with mental illness, or people with souls.
I graduated from Ohio University with a degree in theater, and a minor in journalism in 2015. My father lost his job when I was a sophomore in high school, so I worked and student loaned my way to a diploma. 40,000 dollars in debt later, I entered a hostile market with no jobs, and no hope.
“We were the only foreigners in the small neighborhood of Sindaebang, a section of Seoul that had never seen a blonde haired, green eyed person before. I was frequently called a prostitute.”
I feared getting stuck in my parent’s house, so I applied for every internship under the sun. I was stuck on living in New York City, and when I got an email response from a trendy South Korean start-up company whose mission was to break into the U.S. market, starting with NYC, I was ecstatic. No, I was saved.
We set up an interview on Skype, and out of thousands of applicants, I was chosen, and hired to be a content writer for the company, whose business, was building a new social media platform. The company paid me three installments of 1,500 dollars, totaling 5,000 dollars for three months of work. I was assured that I’d retain the rights to my words, and just like that, I took the job. I was too young and desperate to turn it down. To be honest, I was thankful to have a job.
In June of 2014, I got on a plane with 200 dollars in my pocket, and a shit eating grin on my face, for I had beaten the odds, and gotten a job at a trendy, exciting company. We didn’t get the address for the office until the week before the internship, which was pretty unsettling, but the excuse, every time something was done last minute was, “Well we’re a start up!”
I moved into a basement apartment with two young hipsters in crown heights Brooklyn. They were lovely roommates. Couldn’t ask for nicer people. The internship lasted three months, and provided 20 of us (all under 30) with the illusion of freedom, creative support, and management that really listened. The CEO even flew in from South Korea, and gave us the news of our hiring in person. She was kind and warm, despite the language barrier. We drank in the Flatiron office, and went on day trips to Governor’s Island. I was happy.
The company decided to fly six of us to Seoul, South Korea for a three month intensive training. I endured a 17 hour flight without sleep, because I was nervous. Any 22 year old kid would be. We weren’t told where we’d be living until a week before we left. The company was scrambling to find us housing. As always, they said, “it’s a start up!” I started to think being a start up was an excuse to fuck up.
I flew to Seoul by myself, and got off the plane to meet my coworkers. We were the only foreigners in the small neighborhood of Sindaebang, a section of Seoul¹ that had never seen a blonde haired, green eyed person before. I was frequently called a prostitute.
We were segregated by gender, and shoved into a tiny room with a landlord who didn’t speak a lick of English. We were lectured on taking our shoes off, and drying our clothes on a line. It was absolutely surreal.
The apartments were the size of a dorm room. The beds were box springs. No mattress. We were provided with a thin cotton blanket, and a single pillow. I was terrified. I had the feeling I had made a huge mistake, and I was going to be sold into slavery or something. And, I basically was.
Unlike in New York, the headquarters in Seoul were lavish. They had glass tables, conference rooms, and two floors in a Gangnam high rise that must have cost thousands. There were nearly 100 employees buzzing and smiling, snacks and breakfast provided. Everything in New York was so sketchy and unorganized. Why did this office seem so…major?
Up to this point, everything seemed fine. A promising start up company with lots of funding, with teams in Seoul, Vietnam, China, Japan, and now the good old US of A. I thought I was on my way to being the next Zuckerberg. Everyone at these fucking companies thinks that. They have to to be able to sleep at night.
Seoul was a whirlwind, and yet another probationary period. Our contracts were signed, and we were expected to report from: 8:30am to 6:30pm every single day. The Internet never sleeps of course, so we worked weekends and nights. The company existed in our phones, and under our eyelids while we slept.
Every day was a fight to prove ourselves to older members who were our age, and felt the sting of new blood taking their place. We had to answer to 10 different people when we wanted to try something new. There were tense meetings where my boss would say things like, “you don’t trust anyone, and you’re not working alone anymore.” Our ideas were shot down immediately. Everyone asked questions, and started email threads for solutions, but none were ever settled upon. The structure of the company started to crumble.
Despite the long hours and constant stress, we quadrupled the numbers, and made everyone pay attention. Yet we weren’t told we made an impact. I wrote 7 to 10 articles per day, pumping out columns about travel, beauty tips, fashion trend reports, political and celebrity news. I was a one woman newswire. I barely slept; the impending doom of failure looming over comment numbers, and views on articles.
We were paid 35,000 a year. I made 13,000 total from June to November. Right at the lowest income bracket possible. It was a beautiful nightmare, where I met some unforgettable people, saw gorgeous land marks, and took cheesy wanderlust pictures in front of things my parents would never get to see. One day I woke up, and we were getting ready to leave. It was November, and nearly 6 months since college graduation.
I hadn’t slept in three days, and was running on weak Korean coffee and soju, a liquor that costs less than a bottle of water. I confessed to my boss that I was depressed, and couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t function. I was having panic attacks three and four times per week. I always performed under pressure, and I never let people see me react. I kept up appearances until our last meeting, where I broke down and cried. My boss told me I made it through probation. It’s a good thing he didn’t tell me what was ahead..
¹ Corrected from earlier error.
Tess F. Stevens is a young writer and musician based in the Bay Area. She operates on gin and tonics, indie rock and Gonzo Journalism ideals. Her writing has stunned millions on different platforms including online publications and print. She also loves baseball, makes rock music, paints and practices her craft on her 1960’s era Royal typewriter.
You can follow her on:
“We were the only foreigners in the small neighborhood of Sindaebang, a small province that had never seen a blonde haired, green eyed person before. I was frequently called a prostitute.”
Bull. Sindaebang isn’t a province, its a neighborhood in Seoul (much like Nolita in NYC) and is filled with foreigners considering its right next to a huge university with international students. As a Korean I find this piece incredibly insulting.
This sounds like a privileged white girl who has never left her hometown who was irresponsible enough to sign a shitty contract is trying to make some money freelance writing.
Writing like this only makes this site look bad. It makes me think the people who run this blog know nothing about being employed.
Also for part two…Palo Alto’s median salary is over 350k? Where the hell are you getting your info? You just sound inexperienced, dramatic, and dumb.
Wow..as an American. .im insulted by your comments, what happens to a person is that persons story..just because you dont like her story doesn’t make it less of a story. .Tess keep telling your story ..sorry not sorry Guest.
What a crock of millennial hipster bullshit. Why on earth would a landlord in Korea need to know how to speak English? Sounds like she was put in an office-tel, which is cheap short term housing … what did she expect the Ritz. For someone who brags about ‘I was a one woman newswire.’ how hard is it to research life in Korea before coming here. The average salary of four-year college graduates last year in Korea was 30.48 million won which is about 27k US dollar so the 35k she was talking about was high.
I wonder if she even knows the Korean word for prostitute. Another case of write fiction and people who know nothing believe the bull shit.
Oh my god what is your problem if a company recruits you and promises to take care of you and doesnt pay you on time and has you..isolated without any help…you too might feel a little uncomfortable ..millennials live in their parents basements this chick went around tbe world..and was viewed my millions and followed by millions what have you done…appreciating others journeys helps us to see the world from different viewpoints..thats what great writing does..read on..and fyi what she said is exactly what happened..i know..#vinglex
You are only as isolated as your make yourself here. There is a huge expat community in and around Seoul and Sindaebang is right on the central Seoul subway line so close to everything. It’s an over exaggerated pile of lies angry because she got fired. I happen to know her coworker (american). I’m sorry if everyone doesn’t win a trophy for taking part but there are some cultural things that do deal with age even a one year difference she should of researched before taking the job.
You can be taken to court for slander. It clearly states she wasn’t fired, the team was dissolved
Billy this is part one. Where does it say anything about being dissolved. She writes ‘I confessed to my boss that I was depressed, and couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t function. I was having panic attacks three and four times per week.’ Sounds like there’s more going on in life than a bad work situation.
Part 2 it finishes the story. Does a story stop after one part? Or do the three sentences about Korea negate everything this person went through. Just playing devil’s advocate.
the title on this page is ‘How Working At a “Start Up” Almost Killed Me- Part One’ I was pointed to this story from her ex-coworker who stated this person was fired in her 7 month. Ok devil’s advocate, your employee comes to you and tells you what she told her boss. As her boss wouldn’t you suggest something along the lines maybe this type of work isn’t for you and it’s time to move on. Knowing far well the difficulty with lang. and translation a Korean manager/boss could of taken that comment as her notice. More devil’s advocate .. she mentioned soju as costing less than a bottle of water … not true unless she was buying top shelf imported sparkling water … water bottles (litter size) cost under a dollar.
Woah, ex-coworker. That person might not be reliable. I’ve had experiences with people at work who were vindictive could be the case here or not who knows for sure… What makes you think that person wasn’t lying to try and make this girl look bad. There are so many bad things about whoever she worked for in here. It says in part two that the team was dissolved and that she wasn’t fired for not doing her job or anything like that, the company seemed to have like…i don’t know, stopped the team entirely? I don’t know what company this was but you can’t honestly read this and think that they didn’t do something wrong. The lack of organization… and all the crazy firings seems like way too much for people to handle. There were clearly some illegal things happening, and regardless of what you guys think of this kid…she has a point. “Fired” and “the team ceased to exist” aren’t mutually exclusive things. But, there’s no use in arguing. This obviously pissed a ton of people with similar opinions off…
It’s not a crime that I agree with her and enjoyed reading this. So we can leave it at that. The firings also seemed to happen in Palo Alto, as the 2nd part says…but there seems to be a lot under the surface here too…she may have left some stuff out on purpose too if things got really bad. I just think people got offended that she had a bit of culture shock. At least, that’s how I took it. I don’t think a few hyperboles and playing around with language makes her the villain in this story. It’s obviously the company, and I’ll stand by my point that you all missed the point. But….anyway it’s just another article on the internet..
I have not read the second part yet … read this line of the bio and that was it for me ‘ practices her craft on her 1960’s era Royal typewriter.’ Off topic … but always wondered a person types something on a type writer … do they than scan it or retype it to digital form or expect someone else to? Seems like a pointless step to me.
I was done with your comment when you said you didn’t read the rest of it. Why hate on something that you didn’t even finish reading? You said some seriously messed up things about this kid and this article without even finishing it. I now see why you missed the point… you didn’t read it. You saw three sentences you didn’t like about an experience in Korea and you made a snap judgement. Welcome to the internet…Wow.
I agree! This White Idiot Living in Korea didn’t even bother to read the entire piece. Done!
Tess, stop commenting on your own work. You’re embarrassing yourself. Your mom did enough damage already (good to see she deleted her nonsensical comments)
Lol definitely not her. But great guess, Cari Clark.
Kevin, nice to meet you 😉 And you should consider former coworkers since it seems like you made fun of them before. I’m in Boston if that helps.
I’m here because my current coworker, shared Part Two. Where you said you made fun of her for not being able to take the work and missing her boyfriend. Sounds like she’s the smart one here.
Try keeping track of the shares of your articles next time. As a “social media guru” you should be able to handle that, right?
Back after a bit of research.
You mentioning an employee’s name led me on a Google search. Easy enough to find the name of your company. Since you indirectly said the company name, they can file a defamation claim if your writing in both pieces is not 100% true. Especially sharing insider info such as funding problems. Pretty sure you had to sign an NDA, which means you could be sued on those terms AND for defamation. So continue listing out those who you worked with, you’ll only make their case stronger.
And if they’re really struggling for funds and are as horrible to their employees as you believe they are, you BET they’ll sue for damage fees just to spite you. Just something to think about.
LOL. is this satire?
probably, since she’s a so-called journalist who makes grammar errors in her bio.
Don’t be a hatter its very unbecoming. .enjoy following a talented young woman..
She might be talented. But that talent is apparently unrelated to writing.
Nope.
Ridiculous. Just cause you work for tech doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have learned something about Korea before coming to Korea. If someone in Korea thought you were a prostitute it’s probably because you were stumbling around smelling of soju showing off your cleavage (in Korea no one shows cleavage or wears thin strappy dresses or tank tops without covering over their chest area, except for in K-pop videos and nightclubs). Go buy a freaking blanket if you didn’t get given enough. I know it’s hard when you only have a little money after moving, but… is your employer supposed to treat you like a child or an adult? Adults go and buy themselves a blanket and realize that they are living in a country where housing is VERY expensive, and hence apartments aren’t large. Did you want them to have you share a place with men you weren’t married to? Then you should have told them in advance, how are they supposed to read your mind. Your landlord only speaks Korean? Cry me a river. It is Korea. No foreigners in your neighborhood? Sure if you keep your eyes closed (which maybe you did), there are no foreigners. And you experienced Korean work culture (long hours, young people’s ideas not really welcomed, etc.) that has been widely written about allover the internet, and we’re supposed to feel sorry for you that Korea didn’t marvelously change to your ideals? Basically this entire sob story reeks of “I’m pissed the world doesn’t revolve around me.”
Did you read the peice its about perceptions and a company that had issues …this was her story whats yours…if a company promises you everything and delivers nothing ya probably wouldn’t be so happy..
I didn’t force her to make a post demonstrating that she acted like a gullible kid. Before taking a job, esp. one in a foreign country: 1) get it in writing 2) make it legally binding and hire a local law firm to be really safe 3) don’t be in a rush, and don’t let others rush you into things because you’re afraid of *gasp* eating a little crow and moving back home while you sort things out. The danger signs were undoubtedly there, but this young woman’s pride motivated her more than common sense. 4) learn about a culture before judging it.
I’ve seen this kind of foreigner in Korea– entitled, never learn the language, make broad generalizations about the culture (often wrong, but never revise them), and over inflate their own worth and importance, again and again.
I might add research labor laws. Korea has systems in place to protect expat workers.
It seems like this kid wasn’t protected.
Billy no idea if they were legal or not … but if here longer than 90 days would need a work visa. All expats are protected if they do a little search on labor law they know what’s legal and what’s not. For someone who claimed to spend her live here on the net researching just seems odd never to do that search.
Hmm that’s interesting, I don’t think she says anything about being interested in Korea as an option. I get the impression she fell into it as sort of an adventure. Anyway, it seems like her bio refers to Gonzo…which is entertaining. I was entertained.
Have you ever really been to Korea? Whilst living there, I found many Korean women and men “stumbling around smelling of soju” on street corners. I found the drinking culture there to be much more extreme than the United States. It’s moreso encouraged (and sometimes expected). The bashing here your comment is terribly disheartening. Some neighborhoods outside of Korea’s large cities seldom have foreigners and that’s okay. It’s certainly important to make note of that and revisit the country and small neighborhoods outside of Gangam. I would suggest reading this wonderful piece in its entirety. Reading slowly might also help. Cheers!
The drinking culture in Korea is indeed extreme, but so are the standards of propriety. Young women do not stumble around BY THEMSELVES while smelling of soju. And yes, I have lived far outside Seoul (and this young woman lived on line 2 in Seoul, that’s not the countryside, it’s just a few stops from Gangnam).
The problem isn’t her experience with Korea. It’s that she’s presenting things as FACTS when they aren’t.
That would be like me writing something and saying “I went to Paris and everyone spoke German. I was the only Black man in the country.”
That’s not my experience with Paris, its a lie. She was not the only foreigner in that area. The way she says that the people there “had never seen a blonde haired, green eyed person before” makes her sound like she still thinks of Korea is a small sheltered country, a place filled with uneducated Koreans. Where the “natives” have never seen the sacred White Man before. She is insulting Koreans and you don’t seem to get that.
Guess its easy to forget places can exist without white people if you’re from Ohio.
Another case of bullshit, exaggerated crap, from someone expect g to be entitled to everything. So many lies in this article. Sad.
Your comments are bullshit..she was there..it did happen all of it and then some #vingle
Wow. I am just flabbergasted. As someone who works at an actual newswire (and is an actual journalist and copy-editor) I’m super curious. Where did you learn about media and writing? Obviously not from your journalism classes otherwise you would have been prepared for long hours, no holidays, a giant workload, harsh criticism and low pay. Though, let’s be real, in Seoul after 10 years in media I’m finally making about $39,000-40,000/yr and many of my contemporaries in the States are making less. My first job out of college at a full-time, must-have-a-journalism-degree job only paid $19,000/yr. Putting aside what Koreans make on average in varying industries, media in general, in any country does not pay that much. Which, again, you would learn in journalism school. And freelancers? Most of them are lucky to make minimum wage. Just ask one who’s been doing it for years and they’ll tell you.
“One woman newswire.” Actually, newswires publish upwards of 50-100 stories a day, with one reporter, on average, writing anywhere from 3-8 stories a day depending on if it’s a busy news day in their beat. If you couldn’t hack in at 6-7 articles a day, then you have no business being a reporter. Oh, and while they are doing those short, straight news pieces, they are also working on longer, feature pieces which require more time and effort and run anywhere from 800-1,000 words. At my company, they have to do about 2-3 of those a week. On top of their daily stories.
Now, being someone who has lived in Korea since 2007 and worked in various companies ranging from public relations, to broadcasting, to newspaper and now a newswire, newsflash. That’s how everyone works. On a good week, I pull 52 hours minimum. On bad weeks, much more. Again, this is also just work life in media around the world, but I digress. There are tons of blogs and resources out there that talk about life in Korean companies that you should have utilized to learn about what life and work in Korea would have entailed. I assure you, your experience would have been a lot different, though from what I’ve read, it sounds like you may have decided not to come at all.
As for no foreigners in Sindaebang, I find that highly unlikely. Anywhere near a major university has tons of foreign students. And English teachers have been around for decades, so I highly doubt most people in Sindaebang had never seen a foreigner before. Sure it’s not Itaewon or Hongdae, but the foreign population has been spread out across Seoul for years now.
I want to laugh and share your gusto for humour. And realize you might not be trying to be humourous. You have a very readable writing style – I read it through to the end, after all – but your content reveals a lack of maturity, perspective and balance. It sounds like you’re under a lot of stress and don’t know enough to know you probably have more to be grateful for than to complain about. Maybe you’ll be worth reading in another 10 years. Or 15. Keep trying.
The fact you took time to react means the writer did a good job… .keep telling your story..it was amazing…..
Thanks, I will. : )
Ironically, this post is drowning in lack of maturity.
Yes. It’s infectious.
I am glad we agree, Chang Han! I hope you find the tools you need to improve communication and kindness. Have a wonderful day.
Thanks for the reminder, cookiethis. I do often forget about kindness when responding publicly to public posts, and that doesn’t help anybody. I’m glad you’re able to keep your own vulnerabilities in check online. Very useful tool, indeed.
This comment section is cancer. I thought this was well written and you guys like, totally missed the point. It’s about a shady business that lured young people in right? I don’t think she meant for the emphasis to be on Korea in general. it’s all you guys seem to be seeing though…did we read the same thing?
I think the reason we feel differently is that you’re reading the embellishment as truth, and most of the rest of us have been to Korea and understand the country, so we can see the problems.
I think the point is that Korea is not the point. It’s the company’s bad practices. Was this shared on some forum where everyone thinks the same way? Also your truth is not the same as someone else’s experience. You seem older than this person who wrote this article. Culture shock is a real thing and after getting off a plane to a country you’d never been to or really thought about you might be a little scared…nervous maybe? I’m not sure. But I am sure that you belittling someone else’s experience is petty.
Shady because she says so. Always 2 sides to every story.
You automatically took someone else’s side and disregarded this one because it was more convenient for you and everyone in this comment section who shares the same perspective. Not exactly a fair debate or an accurate one.
Actually, the comment section is much more entertaining and insightful than the garbage written by the “author”. Everyone commenting isn’t coincidentally “missing the point”. The author fails to articulate her experience and instead complains about another country’s culture. That complaining draws the audience from the actual point she is trying to make. Not to mention the typos, repetitive points, a strong sense of entitlement, and just bad writing in general.
I feel like she is trying WAY too hard to emulate Hunter but fails miserably at that too! Yes, Hunter had his own style of writing but that’s exactly what it is…HIS STYLE! She should really consider being herself, and wake up to the real world. She has a skewed view of reality in the professional world.
Just for everyone here who has the same opinion about things, this kid seems to have written a lot of great stuff about their experience…might give you a more whole picture…anyway who gives a fuck? Almost all of you didn’t read the whole thing, so why would you read any of this: https://www.vingle.net/collections/3147174-An-American-in-Seoul-The-Misdventures-and-Lessons-of-a-First-Time-World-Traveler
This was a fantastic and entertaining piece. I am not sure where all the rage is coming from with this post. I believe someone had posted this piece somewhere, to incite cyberbullying. What a shame. I have lived in Sindaebang for a little awhile. You are correct to say there is very little diversity in that neighborhood. I saw many different faces in Gangnam and Itaewon, but certainly not in Sindaebang. I am very sorry that you went through depression. I hope things have improved. I enjoyed reading this piece and I am looking forward to reading more. Warm regards!
cookiethis, it is nice to post a kind message. However, using words like “fantastic” – which run completely counter to a reasonable person’s reaction to this “piece” detracts from your credibility as a commenter. You can be nice without the severe exaggeration, I’m sure.
This isn’t “cyberbullying” its a group of people criticizing your work.
‘Anybody think bad writers should be called out? No, nobody? k’
Tess – we can all see through this, stop posting on your own article. CRINGE.
The author comes off as neither professional, nor a good writer. CEO’s is not the plural of CEO. The tone in this piece is disgusting, for example: 1) Beautiful mansion in Palo Alto is then described as a “crack dealer’s house” to exaggerate a complaint about minimal furnishings. 2) Complaints about Korea are unreasonable, given that the author did not speak Korean and lacks knowledge about Korea. Specifically, housing is expensive in Korea, rooms are small, this is not an indication of being “sold into slavery,” as the author very insensitively and irresponsibly suggests. The beds described are not box springs, but firm Korean mattresses that have legs lifting them off the ground, and it is easy enough to go buy a second pillow.
The writer is a poser and takes credit for other people’s work. I know this because I used to work with her. Watch out for this one and read everything she writes with a grain of salt.
The problem that the author (and her mother and father in the comments) doesn’t seem to get is some of these statements are straight up FALSE. Whatever about her experience and her culture shock. A journalism student would know that the sentence “We were the only foreigners in the small neighborhood of Sindaebang, a section of Seoul that had never seen a blonde haired, green eyed person before,” is presented as a fact – and it isnt. A Google search could tell you that.
It’s not that we’re hating on your experience, everyone is allowed culture shock, but to state things as facts when they are just plain FALSE (Media salary in PA is 350k? Give me a break.) is my main problem with this.
Almost everything in both parts can be debunked with a simple fact check. You’ve already had to make a correct in both part one and part two to correct “earlier error” so clearly you are aware that what you right is incorrect.
Also a mansion in Palo Alto being 10k rent a month? Yeah right. If that was true, a lot more people would be living in mansions. If your company really offered you housing with rents ranging from $700-$1200 they were doing you a favor. The average rent price in PA is over $3600 – sounds like they were giving you subsidized housing and taking a huge pay cut for it.
Did anyone read this writing over before it was posted? The inconsistencies are glaring.
1. You say you felt as if you were sold into slavery (which is a disgusting simile, mind you) but the very next sentence is about how your new office is “lavish” and “costs thousands” with your precious “snacks and breakfasts provided.” Yep, sounds like slavery all because of a tiny apartment.
2. You say you worked 70 hours a week and had no vacations, yet you have also said that you saw much of the country, made lots of friends, etc. If you were working 10 hours a day, every day, with no vacations – how are we supposed to believe you saw anywhere outside the office? (Also your Instagram tells another story.)
3. You live in a mansion that suddenly becomes a crack house because there is no furniture. Have you ever actually seen a crack house? If you lived in Ohio I’m sure you did. They aren’t mansions, stop getting your view of the world from TV shows.
4. That “mansion” also costs your company ten thousand in rent a month? Sounds made up. A mansion in Palo Alto needs a year lease, usually paid up front. I’m assuming your company paid over 2 million for it and your measly one thousand dollars probably helped buy your mattress and that’s it.
5. June-November = $13,000. You said you earned 5,000 for the internship over summer so September, October, November you earned 8,000. $2,666 a month and you were in company housing so you weren’t paying rent (or for your breakfasts apparently) Since when is this a bad deal? I currently make less than this and this was your first job out of college.
6. The fact that you said “One day I woke up” and literally in the next sentence tell us “I hadn’t slept in three days.” As a writer, you should see why I’m pointing this out. It just makes no sense.
7. If you were on probation, then you would not be entitled to company benefits such as vacations and health care. In almost all company’s with a probation period, you don’t even start to accrue vacation days until the 90 day period ends.
8. You “all made fun of” the only employee you mentioned that saw what a shitty situation you apparently were in and left. She’s the smart one here, and the fact that you made a point in Part Two to be rude about her intelligence is just ironic.
9. Your Instagram clearly shows you didn’t work on Christmas (again, fact check!) The business world isn’t like school. You’re not going to get a week off. Most companies would give you December 25 and that’s it. You wouldn’t have New Years Eve off. Sounds like you’re expecting a school schedule.
10. If your story is correct, you weren’t relocated “twice domestically.” You chose to leave Ohio (smart decision) but that has nothing to do with the company. If you move to a company in New York for work, they’re not responsible for how you get there. If you were working there and then they said they’re moving to SF then THAT move would be a relocation.
11. The grammar in this is hideous. Thank you for fixing your beloved gin and tonic’s in your bio, but do yourself a favor and edit the rest of the piece (I’m surprised it slipped by this blog’s editor. Or perhaps I’m not surprised, if they let this kind of article be posted.)
Stop exaggerating experiences that can be fact-checked or at least try to get your story straight. I’m sure you weren’t treated the best but the way to explain your situation isn’t to lie or exaggerate.
“a Gonzo journalist must always be a participant as well as observer in the story he covers. “ In a hyper-real postmodern world, fact and fiction have become confusingly indistinguishable” ?? Job well done in this piece. -Note the bio?
This is obviously stylized and the “tone” you mention fits, but the events happened too…indistinguishable is a good way to look at it…seems like a lot of y’all worked at this company or know people who did and gave our more info in the comments than the article vaguely did…tisk tisk internet trolls
“I hadn’t slept in three days, and was running on weak Korean coffee and soju, a liquor that costs less than a bottle of water. I confessed to my boss that I was depressed, and couldn’t sleep. ”
You were drinking coffee (a stimulant) and booze (a depressant” and were suprised you were depressed and couldn’t sleep?
You should be remanded back into the custody of your parents and ordered to stay there until a judge finds you can fend for yourself.
This is an amateur, sophomoric piece that is highly revealing of the author’s character
dang girl you stink at writing
Guys, dyslexia; is a serious: condition$. It affects the lives of thousands of Americans every day and we are progressing towards a solution too slowly. We need to band together to ensure that funds are being appropriately allocated and to protest transparency. Because for the love or God, this article is a clear demonstration of how somebody can butcher a blog to the point where having a drinking game based on the number of grammatical errors is a guaranteed fatal encounter for all those participating.