One for the "Maybe I'm rationalizing, but..." files

I have another post partly-drafted about what I've been doing with my unemployed self, but I'll put that up another time.

This morning at breakfast I was telling one of my housemates about why I turned down that job I got, and how it sounded like an unpleasant job and an overwhelming work/social environment that demanded absolute loyalty and unquestioning dedication to the cause (even if the cause is crappy fundraising and not knowing where you're going to live), and how they couldn't even be bothered to return my calls when I expressed any concerns.

And she was like yea, that's been my experience and that of everyone I know with environmental nonprofits: super-competitive for crappy jobs, with the expectation of absolute dedication. My sister actually took a 2-year position with one in Boston, and after a year of licking envelopes and being totally miserable, she started sending out other resumes. When they found out they completely flipped out on her, like, how could you do this to us? why would you ever want to work somewhere else?. I'm actually impressed you figured this out BEFORE taking the job.

And I was all, well, thank goodness, I suppose. That said, I'll probably end up actually licking envelopes for the summer, but it'll be for reasonable hours and no one will get mad when I quit and I won't have to annoy people asking for donations. I don't mind doing boring menial work, I just mind being told that I'm terrible for not loving it and not being willing to move to anywhere at the drop of a hat to do it.