Time To Get My Hustle On

I came to California state civil service seeking financial stability (even at the risk of a huge pay cut), a less stressful and more congenial way to practice law, and the freedom of not having to do any rainmaking or deal with clients other than an agency.

Did I say I came seeking financial stability?

Well, it seems our Governor wants to cut my pay, and the pay of most state workers within his ham-fisted grasp, by 10% by giving me a Friday off prior to every first and third weekend of the month, starting next month. Mind you, the folks at the Legislature, who he has no control over (and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to control them anyway), recently received a raise. The state workers who work for agencies controlled by other constitutional officers, well, they’re not taking a hit. The University of California, the California State University system, they’re sitting pretty. But the rest of us, we’re pretty much screwed unless the courts rule otherwise.

Well, thanks but no thanks, Ahnult.

Normally, my outrage would lead me to start organizing fellow state workers who, in my view, have been far too sedate about all this, for example: 1) A “rigid digit” parade around the state capitol, where state workers flip off the Governor and the Legislature; 2) Having state workers show up at all of Ahnult’s public events and the fundraising events of legislators and throw shoes at them – hey, it worked for the folks in Iraq; 3) A “You’re All Full of Shit” protest whereby state workers leave dog poop and used kitty litter on the west steps of the capitol; and finally, 4) An “I got your mf’n furlough right here” protest whereby state workers show up to work, turn on all the lights, computers, etc., and don’t do a damn thing. Now, I know we get accused of that already, but under my protest, it would really be on like Donkey Kong – no phones would get answered, no public information requests would be answered within the requisite time frame. You get it.

But I’m not even going to go there. What this experience has taught me is this: It’s time to get my hustle on.

By that, I mean it’s time to get a side gig, preferably my own business. I’ve always known in my heart that no one should have all their income derived from one source. And I’ve toyed with the idea of getting off into other things and have done so from time to time – I’ve done diversity recruiting, had a law school prep business, etc. – but nothing serious and sustained. I need to nurture my entrepreneurial side and get a side hustle.

My best friend’s father, who was born in the Bahamas, never had fewer than three jobs. Oftentimes he had four. He put his three children through college – Harvard, Stanford, and Hampton, I think. Not shabby at all for someone who didn’t have a high school education himself. He knew, like I now know, that he couldn’t rely on one source of income to do all that he aspired to do. His wife, my best friend’s mom, also had a catering business and did hair.

“Ain’t but a po’ rat got but one hole,” a judge said to my husband upon her retirement. She was referring to housing, but I think her observation could be equally applied to income streams. And I do not intend to be a po’ rat.

Yep, it’s time to get my hustle on. I refuse to have my financial well-being subjected to the whims of stupid leaders and a stupid bureaucracy.

But that doesn’t mean I won’t lob some shoes at Ahnult or some legislators, or leave a “gift” from my dog on the west steps of the state capitol . . . .