The Eastern Shore of Maryland

Environmentalists working for the polluters

The Easiest Job I Ever Hated

Down to my last $5.00 in my savings account, I accepted a job in the backwater locale of St. Michael's, Maryland as a geologist for a small environmental consulting firm. The office was located in an abandoned mill. The closest bathroom was through a 20" wide, unlit alley to the adjacent building. There was a part of the mill that was unchanged since the early 1800's and it hadn't been cleaned since then either. I eventually buried all three of my prized teddy-bear hamsters, Elric, Harper and Calvin, at the mill.

It was during my second year as an environmental consultant that I learned an important lesson about business economics. It soured me to the corporate world but allowed me to bask in new found riches - and waste it all at Armadillos and Fran O'Brians in Old Town Annapolis. Caveat: Environmental consultants are NOT environmentalists, quite the opposite in fact.

OK. I'm neither a capatalist shark nor a bastard. Four and a half years of consulting was enough. Time came to move on and join the US Peace Corps. This wasn't really a sell-out. But since I pretty much didn't do anything during the 2.5 years in Poland, it just might qualify. The idea of Peace Corps volunteers in eastern Europe is basically a joke. I mostly lived like a king on the $225 per month that I made. It was good to be the king...