Jezebel 
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New York, 1:16 AM
Sun Nov 22
25 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/13/09
I work for a small business, so every time my boss asks me to do something like this, he can justify it similarly . One time he had me abandon my work responsibilities to attend Grandparents Day at his daughters school. I was 25 years old at the time.
The other thing that comes into play -- I think, if someone can prove me otherwise, then fine -- is the age factor. Would I be asked to go to Grandparents Day if I wasn't so young when that happened? Similarly, aren't legal assistants fresh out of law school aka in their 20s? Older employers might abuse younger employees, just because they can. Yes, I know people can stick up for themselves. But it's hard to sometimes when it might be implied that your job is on the line. #legalassistantnanny
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11/13/09
Maybe if this was 1952, lady.
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11/13/09
People like that should be arrested. #legalassistantnanny
11/13/09
The thing that kills me is that there are actually tons of amazing jobs posted too. Many are fairly flexible and pay $12-25 an hour with reasonable requests and expectations. I understand some people don't have those resources, but sometimes it is as simple as realizing that if you can only pay someone $6 an hour, you're looking for a 14-year old, not someone who is bilingual with a master's degree in early childhood education. Because as far as I can tell, while the legal market might be shitty, at least in LA there is plenty of demand for nannies and babysitters. #legalassistantnanny
11/13/09
Seeing how easy it was for the lines to blur even when she was making an effort to keep things separate (paid cash rather than in my paystub, no babysitting during working hours, etc.), I decided that very clear boundaries at work were the way to go for me in the future. I am not the one who volunteers to pick things up for the boss. As a young woman it's bad enough that people can assign you that role in their head; I'm not assuming it for myself. #legalassistantnanny
11/13/09
I already have all the partners coming to ask me how to use the scanner, etc., I'm not taking on any more assistant type jobs. I know most of them view anything with tits as their servant. #legalassistantnanny
11/13/09
Yes I mind. I absolutely mind. Especially when we bill out at the same rate. Our time is EQUALLY valuable, and I am not your secretary. Gah. #legalassistantnanny
11/13/09
And my personal favorite, when "my" partner (who hasn't given me work since I got back from maternity leave, BTW) called me from his desk across the hall to ask me "how do you google something." #legalassistantnanny
11/13/09
At the time my thoughts were- "Right, but you wouldn't hire a male legal assistant, it would be awkward for you, because then you'd have to ask a guy to wash your mug and clean your office."
A year later when I visited the other female legal assistant I worked with -- who was now a law student clerking for the summer -- she was the one who cleaned the mugs and answered the phone after the 9-5 administrative assistants left. This was despite the fact that the other summer clerk was a male student, and my friend had seniority. So, no, they wouldn't in fact ask a male assistant to clean the mugs. #legalassistantnanny
11/13/09
None of the male partners even followed the fucking link. #legalassistantnanny
11/13/09
Yeesh, get over it! Feminists are so uptight about the stupidest little things. Why don't you spend your time on fighting important issues, like rape, and pay disparity, and FGM?! #legalassistantnanny
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I hate my firm so much. #legalassistantnanny
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I even remember a boss apologizing to a male employee who brought him coffee because his female counterpart was not at her desk at the moment of the request. FML #secretaries
11/03/09
11/03/09
I have a bachelor's degree from UC Santa Cruz. One of the faculty members in the room also matriculated at UCSC. He turned to the contact and said, in the iciest tone possible, "I don't recall attending secretarial school." I could have kissed him.
It took the contact a few seconds to figure it out. #secretaries
11/03/09
I used to get that a lot in tech support. "Listen young lady, this is very important, I have a COLLEGE DEGREE and you will fix my computer right now!" "Oh, really? I have a master's. Let's talk." #secretaries
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My mother works for a U.S. law firm and is now in their UK office, and she has definitely talked about how much more complicated it is to fire someone there, and the long process needed to make someone "redundant", etc. #secretaries
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I wish that was a fake story. #secretaries
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11/03/09
Worst thing he ever asked me to do? Lie to his wife about the woman he had been having an affair with for 9 years. Worst experience: having to take a cab to the airport to give the "other woman" her passport when she'd left it in his bag from their last trip together. AWKWARD and humiliating. #secretaries
11/03/09
11/03/09
Former Bosses: Don't put people in the middle of your crap. You're having an affair. If you can't keep them all straight, you're obviously not meant to have multiple partners at the same time. Survival of the fittest. #secretaries
11/03/09
So you know who ends up picking up all the slack, don't you? If you guessed the Terribly Important Consultants, well, you'd be wrong. #secretaries