Work
by Pablo Roman-Alcala

Who likes getting up at quarter to six in the morning? No one. Or at least that is the widely held belief. I would have agreed wholeheartedly with you just a few short weeks ago. Work. Who fucking needs it, right? Well, a whole lot of Berliners do, that's who. Berlin has one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany. The estimate (that is for reported and non-reported unemployed persons) is thought to be over 20 percent! It's no wonder all your friends and mine seem to complain about being broke all the time. Now, I had personally had no real job to speak of for the last few years. I have 'fun' for a 'living' and have successfully avoided getting up early, going to an office, drinking coffee, making work friends, having work crushes, getting fired, getting hired, plotting to kill my boss and/or coworkers, skipping out early, calling in sick, making copies, faxing reports, and getting a steady regular paycheck for many years now. Recently, though, I have thought long and hard about re-entering the rat race.

Over the last year it has seemed nearly every person I know in Berlin has been on the job hunt. Either dissatisfied with their work or subsisting on (a combination of) government and parental handouts, cheap street food and Netto frozen pizzas, and the occasional one-time job opportunity, the hunt seems to never end. It is none too easy as well if one doesn't speak German or has few skills to speak of (sorry but that Art History or Comparative Literature degree just isn't going to help you much). Waiting tables, making coffee, bartending and babysitting can pay the bills, but they can also kill your will to live.

Not everyone can get a job at Native Instruments, Ableton, or Soundcloud (though it often seems as though everyone has). Try to get a job teaching English (or your native language if English isn't it) and you will soon find that 7,000 new immigrants have had that idea earlier and have already spent the money on their TOEFL certification (or the equivalent). Begging your friends to work at their label that only sells about 300 units per release or their booking agency that is seeing fees for every artist but the biggest dropping is going to end with a new understanding of the changes in the nightlife industry, and why your neighborhood DJ probably has a side job these days (I'm looking at you part-time graphic designer/bartending).

Me personally? I'm part Mexican, so I've been told I should take up a career in the dishwashing arts. I'm definitely considering it. I have wanted to start a record label for nigh on 10 years. I have never really had the money, or at least not the drive when I did seem to have some spare scratch. I am pretty sure I have a very, very good idea for one right now. I’m ready. This is why, as I write, I have had about 6 hours sleep in the last 36. I am in my hometown of San Francisco, working two jobs. I didn’t plan on this, I was supposed to be relaxing and touring around North America. Since that didn’t work out, I got lucky and got a job house painting with a good friend and bartending with another friend. I am hoping to make about 4000 dollars in 2 1/2 months if I barely sleep and just keep my head down and concentrate. Believe it or not, waking up at quarter to six in the morning feels pretty good. I am sure I could make the same amount of money quicker selling crack rocks, pimping out those less fortunate than me, or starting an assassins guild, but the manual labor is doing wonders for my health. Right now my butt hurts from too much use of the muscles climbing scaffolding. Shit, it is getting late, I think I have to get to bed. Berliners, new and old, want my advice on how to get a job? Move somewhere else temporarily.

Taken from SLIM Mag November Issue

Pablo Roman-Alcala
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