Greetings, readers!
This week we’re pretending to be Jeff Foxworthy and making up our own “You might be a ___ if…” lists. I thought about a handful of different topics to do; Crafter, Knitter, Aunt, Sister, Biracial, etc. But to be honest, I’m typing this while I’m supposed to be working a on report for work so all I can think of is work. 🙂 Therefore I give you…
You Might Be a Social Worker if…
- You say things like, “So what I hear you saying is…”
- You often wish you had a social worker of your own to do the things for you that you do for your clients.
- You think it’s fun to watch episodes of Hoarders and Intervention.
- You enjoy reading psychological evaluations.
- You regularly use words like “intervention,” “substantiation,” “central registry,” and “assessment.”
- When you enter a room, you have to sit somewhere that you can view all entrances and exits.
- Your “flexible schedule” means that you have no life and have to drop everything to deal with client needs.
- You’re considered a “moblie worker” which means you don’t get a desk and have to work wherever you can find room for your laptop.
- You often dream of quitting and going to work at Target.
- When people hear what your job is they say things like, “I couldn’t do what you do.”
- When you see a former client in public and can’t remember their name you hope they don’t see you.
- You get excited to go to training because it means you don’t have to do home visits.
- You’ve called the police on your clients.
- You can pick up the smell of weed like a hunting dog.
- You know what the “dirty house” smell is.
- You dream about your cases.
- The only time you’re up to date on paperwork is when you’re about to go on vacation.
- The sound of your phone ringing/text message/email alert fills you with dread because it could mean a work crisis.
- You have no savings, no retirement (because the agency froze it after you were hired), and live paycheck to paycheck.
- You could use assistance as much as your clients do but you “make too much money.”
- You eat meals in your car between home visits.
- You’ve been in homes that could’ve easily been on Hoarders.
- You’re basically a counselor, teacher, daycare worker, maid, driver, advocate, and personal assistant all rolled into one job that pays less than all of those titles.
- You get annoyed when other people talk about how hard their jobs are and how broke they are when they’re making double what you make and don’t have to deal with anything close to what you deal with each day.
- You get home but you’re still not done working and your family doesn’t understand why you can’t just spend time with them.
- You choose family over paperwork even though you know it’ll just put you further behind.
- You get excited for cases with babies because they can’t talk back to you and generally enjoy a good snuggle.
- When a client asks you if you have children you want to say, “If you had cancer, would you only take advice from a doctor who’d had cancer themselves?”
- You know what Compassion Fatigue is and you’ve had it for a long time.
- You regularly search for a new job.
- It totally makes your day when a client who you totally didn’t think liked you says something nice.
- You see the statement, “I didn’t go into social work for the pay” and follow it up in your head with,”But I expected to be able to pay my bills.”
- You can make just about anything strength based if you have to. She’s not a liar, she’s a creative thinker!
- You’ve been told that you’re not a “real” social worker unless you have a MSW.
- You have stories that would make people laugh, cry, and be totally grossed out.
- You often find yourself feeling like crap and then realize that you haven’t eaten all day because you’ve been so busy dealing with other peoples lives.
- Family members and other professionals look down on you for being a social worker but you’re the first person they call in a crisis.
- You know that despite how absolutely insane your job is, you’ve planted a lot of seeds and hope that you’ve made at least a little bit of a difference in your client’s lives.
And let’s see what the other ladies have come up with this week. 🙂
Coffee & Prozac 