City Life

True Life: Working For MTV
By Jennifer Rozansky

“Oh my God you must love working here!” Six out of ten teenagers yell this at me throughout the day when I work. Honestly, by now working for MTV is just a job and becomes boring after about the second week.

Last July after living in the city for almost two months, I finally got my job working for the MTV Store. At first I was ecstatic and thought I would never get bored. By the second week, I came to realize one could only take so many tourists at one time. It is great that people come here to visit but, when it is 11:30 at night and I’m trying to get home to go to sleep after a long night and there are people in my way it gets real frustrating!

I have been at the store for almost a year now, a lot has come to my attention. Since we are only the store as far as the upstairs “higher ups” are concerned we are pit bottom and we should get no say in anything. My store manager likes us to have ideas as to what should be in the store, but our ideas usually are turned down.

During the winter months we would be freezing. The heat in the store doesn’t work well, and on the weekends when not many people work upstairs, the heat is turned down, which affects us.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some perks, the best one being the MTV holiday party for employees only when the food and drinks keep coming all night. Another perk would be that we can go to any MTV taping with VIP access, except for awards shows, such as the Video Music Awards.

I do enjoy the people I work with, even though management can be strict at times. Everyone is great and we have a fun time together. The days can sometimes be long and we are like a “family” keeping each other company to make the days go by faster.

I decided to do a video project for the Communication Arts Department at Marymount and focus on major things in the store. I was fortunate to be able to get the chance to interview my idol on MTV, Damien Fahey, the host of the show “TRL.” This was easy to get, because he knows me by name now.

We do get some nice things, and it can be a pain, but at the end of the day, it is just another job to pay the bills and school like anything else. There are both pros and cons but every job has those, so people should take a step back and realize it before putting us on a Pedi Stool.