The Dues and Don't's

So back when I got it in my head when I was 17 that I wanted to be in radio, I realized it might take a while to ever make it to where the DJ's that I heard were. I was prepared. The first words I heard out of the night DJ who couldn't wait to exploit me but at the same time give me my big break was, "You gotta pay your dues."

Today's WHAT THE HECK?...people who exploit other people in the name of "Paying Their Dues."

In today's world, the whole concept of paying dues should be thrown out the window. We don't have time for that anymore. No one should be allowed to do anything for free. We live in a world where Keynesian economics are at work, and that requires money getting in to your hands so you can pay me for a service that in turn I will pay someone else for their service and so on and so on thus spreading money through out our society.

Not only that, but telling someone to "go make my coffee" or nowadays "go buy me a Starbucks" is just ridiculous superiority "holier than thou" attitude. WHAT THE HECK!?! Radio (and other areas of the entertainment industry) overuses interns more than any other industry. Radio is filled with egomaniacs who love people being subservient to them and doing their work for them. If an investigation was ever made about this, the results would be pretty staggering. In my early days I remember going out on a chore that included stopping at a supermarket to buy a magazine that the DJ said a listener said she was on the cover of. (I guess that wasn't so bad because he gave me money for the magazine and I was trustworthy enough to give him back the correct change.)

Yes, success takes hard work and dedication. But what lacks in this world (and particularly in my last place of employment) is recognition for hard work and dedication. My last year in radio had me working for free and for long hours EXACTLY THE SAME as when I started radio 22 years ago. Two things change in 22 years, your waste size and your patience...and hopefully your income.

Bottom line (and I hate blogs that end with "bottom line" some where in the final paragraph) is where ever you work, do NOT give in to that "paying your dues" crap. Work hard the hours you do work (no Twitter, no Facebook), but Saturdays and holidays (unless you get another day in the week off for compensation) are YOUR DAYS and YOUR REWARDS for giving it your all during normal business hours. Yes, go above and beyond, but remember that you will NOT be rewarded and NO ONE WILL RECOGNIZE IT. That's just the cold, hard facts of today's world and that's my minute.