to not be grateful for my job?

[NicknameTaken]

I'm grateful not to be unemployed. My work is easy and fairly pleasant, and it is relatively well paid for what it is. The people I work with are nice. The hours are convenient for school. I should be on my knees with gratitude, right?

BUT

I have two Masters degrees and 12 years of experience at a responsible level. Today I spent the day photocopying, and though it's not what I do every day, a monkey could do most of it.

It's not attractive to admit, but I feel superior to the two people I work for, who are very sweet but climbed the ranks pretty much by default, because they've been around forever and don't rock the boat.

I used to earn more, but I'm not hugely motivated by money. Most of all, I am very motivated by idealism and used to feel like I was doing something worthwhile. My current office exists so that the organisation can say it's fulfilling its legal duty, but they'd be horrified if we did anything that actually challenged it in any real way. We're a tick-box exercise and nobody cares if we're efficient or not.

There are no real opportunities in my professional field in this area, but I feel stuck here because I need to be fairly close to my ex so he has access to DD (court order in place). Also, I do like this town.

I should be grateful. But I'm 38, I feel I could do so much more. I feel like I'm wasting the person I could and should be.

YANBU at all. :(

It does sound as though you need to get over yourself and your superiority complex a bit.

If you want more from life, you need to get it.

No-one's going to drop it in your lap I'm afraid.

I know what you mean, although to a much lesser extent!

I work as a chef and have just left a job where I spent most of my day heating things up in a microwave and mixing cooked meat with pre-bought sauces anyone could buy in a supermarket. All the food was labelled on the menu as 'homemade' when it wasn't and it made me rage because I was perfected capable of cooking all that stuff so much better but wasn't allowed to!

I was more qualified than all the other staff in that kitchen, including the head chef, but I wasn't allowed to actually use my skills that I spent the last 3 years working hard to achieve!

I feel superior to the two people I work for

I think it's one thing to say that you feel more qualified than the people you work for (what with your two masters degrees and all), but to feel superior? Why?

How long have you been in this job and what have you done so far to change your situation, both within your current organisation and externally?

Fair enough WL

It's not so much that I'm expecting a trumpet to sound and a great job to be handed to me. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for something more interesting locally. I just have to grit myself and get on with it till I get something and/or till DD is older and I'm not so tied down geographically.

As extremepie says, it's the frustration of not being able to use skills that I spent a long time acquiring.

Number, I'm totally willing to accept that I'm just a bitch with a superiority complex. I've been in the role five months. During that time I've had three interviews with an organisation I'd love to work for, but they're only offering a few hours and I can't make it work around this current job. So I'm frustrated. I keep telling myself it's not forever. Part of my attitude is a kind of defence - because I'm terrified of getting too comfortable and ending up stuck.

I do try hard not to show my feelings to the people I work with because (a) it's obnoxious and (b) I genuinely think they're nice people and would not want to hurt anyone's feelings.

"grit myself" = grit my teeth.

If your skills are obsolete then you need to aquire new ones that are relevant otherwise you'll be manning a photocopier for the rest of your life. And you should be bloody grateful for a job that many people would kill for. As for your superiority complex - why exactly do you feel so superior to your colleagues? It's just that from your posts I can't see why you should feel you're better than them.

Has the 'dream' organisation given any indication of them being able to increase the hours they can offer you at some stage?

Have you approached your manager and explained that you are keen to take on additional responsibilities in any area of the company?

it's the frustration of not being able to use skills that I spent a long time acquiring

That's life! Lots of people don't end up directly using their academic achievements. People can take a history degree without ever wishing to become a historian but it doesn't mean the knowledge and studying was a waste.

I am very motivated by idealism

That's all well and good but is it compatible with the real world? (I must admit I'm not even sure what your sentence means!)