Exploitation and Frustration: Working as a Studio Technician during the Pandemic

Frances Cordelia Beaver (https://www.francescordeliabeaver.com/) experiments with storytelling through drawings, film, animation, songwriting, and theater. Recently, she published a graphic novel: On a Cute One.  She has had jobs in many industries, such as the trades, service, retail, higher education, art, and performance. “Being in service is kinda fun. I like being looked at, I like talking to strangers, I go in and I get hyper-caffeinated and I just sail for the day … I go home, and it’s over… There are all the other things I can do, it’s so freeing! You know what, I did the thing where I try to have an institutionalized career, it sucked… I would not afford that, it was unsustainable. So this time, I leaned in to not treat the work at the cafe as a thing that’s temporary… I have shoes that are comfortable to wear, I dress nice and look good, I get as much sleep as I could, and I like my coworkers…”