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Is leafleting an ok job?

My early 20s daughter is just starting out as a s/e ceramicist after her degree but needs work to pay her way in life (lives with bf and his mum). She has a p/t job in a Hungry Horse pub but doesn't get many shifts (management seem a bit rubbish) and hates it. She's just moved into her little studio space and is going for an interview in a few days for a job delivering leaflets. Apparently it pays more than minimum wage but I have reservations about it. She's got a brilliant work ethic and attitude but she's not that tall and very slight - plus autistic. I'm worried bad things may happen. Genuine thoughts/advice anyone? I've told her my concerns and she says if it feels wrong she won't do it.
HootyTheNightOwl Best Comment
She needs to do something... anything... to avoid gaps on her CV.

Employers even ask girls about those now.

As long as the company is above board, the only thing to worry about are stiff letterboxes (they can hurt) and getting her fingers bit by a dog.

Also make sure she knows to be wary of yards with loose dogs who may bite or attack her as she approaches the door.

Have her get a seperate wooden spoon (yes, the sort you use in the kitchen) and use that as a tool to shove the leaflets in with rather than using her fingers.

Similarly, band aids and the ability to wash/dress wounds on the go is beneficial because there's always something to get unwary fingers. A flask of her preferred hot/cold beverage and knowledge of places to go relieve herself is also good, too.

A lot of it is common sense stuff, really.

Most people don't seek to harm.
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@HootyTheNightOwl thanks for that very considered response! Agreed, most people are fine. It's the exception that bothers me.
Wooden spoon is a great idea. I carve them as a hobby 🙂
@Cheesecake You can't have her living her life based on a minority, though.

You wouldn't lock her away because a minority of people are serial killers.

Since you carve wooden spoons, maybe you could make her a special one for work??? If she's posting leaflets through letterboxes, it might be more ideal to have a egg shaped tapered block just above the neck so that it will push the flap of the box open as she inserts it and prevents her from holding the spoon so close to the scoop zone. It should prevent any dogs from getting her hand that way. You might even be able to carve her a dedicated "hold zone" further down the shaft, too, since you want to keep your hands as far down the shaft as possible.
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@HootyTheNightOwl good points - and a great suggestion! Thanks 😊

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M
Awful lot of legwork if it's going door to door but typical of the type of 'job' around at the moment.

If memory serves they used to 'pay' by the numbers delivered so it was a flat rate per 100 or similar.
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@ArishMell I've pointed out the "slog" aspect of it. She has previously worked cleaning toilets at festivals, so her work ethic is all there! 🤮
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@Cheesecake I wish her all the best success for her intended, future career!
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@ArishMell thank you. That's very kind 😊
eastcoastcycler · 56-60, M
I would be afraid to walk around parking lots as a young woman by herself. She should look into something safer and more fulfilling as well. There are many minimum wage plus jobs where personal security isn’t an issue
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@eastcoastcycler she tells me decent jobs here in Wales are quite hard to come by atm. I would much rather she got one of those though.
eastcoastcycler · 56-60, M
@Cheesecake hopefully she will!
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
Delivering leaflets...is this handing them out on corners or putting them in mail boxes/under doors?
@Cheesecake Sometimes, handbills are handed out to ppl directly (on a corner, or on the sidewalk in front of a place). It's VERY hard to get these distributed, because you have to convince 'n' ppl to take the thing...

Dropping it into a mailbox or sliding it under a door is more indirect.
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@SomeMichGuy ah, gotcha, thanks. No, it's into people's doors 👍
@Cheesecake Good! 😊😊😊
Blondily · F
Let her do her own thing and be independent. She said she'll stop if it doesn't work out. Be supportive.
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@Blondily we're always supportive of everything she does - and I've reiterated that in this instance. However, my main concern is for her safety.
I’ve delivered leaflets for my own business. It did work some. I got about 6-7 customers from leaflet dropping in the early days. Paper adverts like paper flyers might annoy people and especially if she’s doing it for someone else and a business she’s only working for. I did door to door and post through letter box or post box and I never knocked on the door. I also only posted until 7pm because otherwise posted rubbish through peoples letterboxes too late might upset people.
Strictmichael75 · 61-69, M
A job sometimes leads to another
Work experience is important
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@Strictmichael75 agreed. She already has a part-time job but hates it. It's the personal safety aspect concerns me most.
RedBaron · M
If you don’t mind littering. Most people consider it trash.
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@RedBaron hardly littering if it's going in their letterbox. Junk mail maybe ....
RedBaron · M
@Cheesecake Where I live, leaflets and shopping circulars are thrown on stoops and in front yards. Littering.
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@RedBaron fair enough. Not so much here. Mistly delivered by the postie!
smileylovesgaming · 31-35, F
My only concern is u paid for her to go to school for ceramicist. Sounds more like a hobby than a future career.
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@smileylovesgaming not here in Wales (UK). Her course fees and grant came from the Welsh Government - although I suppose I contributed a bit through my taxes 😏
Also, you seem to think an artistic pursuit can't be a career. Why not? It's just as valid as clerical work or service industries.
smileylovesgaming · 31-35, F
@Cheesecake well if I planned to go to college I am going to get in my car and drive around to see what is in my area. I'm going to base my college off of that. Why the world would I go to college for something I can't use because there is no jobs for it. I'm pretty sure your daughter isn't going to move to where there is jobs for such a degree. At that point that degree will be in a picture frame to never be used. So what was the point of wasting all that money going to school for it
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@smileylovesgaming she's a self-employed (s/e) ceramicist. Using her First Class degree to build a career for herself, doing something she loves. She's already had her work displayed in several galleries locally - and one piece in a student exhibition in the V&A in London while she was studying. She's very practical and is trying to keep her head above water as an independent person by working a non-artistic job part-time alongside her ceramics. She's a realist who is working towards her dreams. I will support her unto my dying breath.
No offence intended, but you seem very cynical.
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Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@jshm2 I wouldn't say struggling. Just trying to get herself established in life. She's doing part-time work alongside getting her ceramics career going.
ArtieKat · M
I've done it on a few separate occasions when I was young. It's not bad - especially if you've got headphones and a good selection of music!
MonaReeves86 · 36-40, F
It’s not an easy job but good experience for a 20 year old
Is she going door to door putting them on door knobs?
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@NativePortlander1970 I'm sure that happens unless therare checks made. My daughter would never do that though. Too principled - and autistic with it. Wouldn't enter her head. Properly dragged up too 😉
@Cheesecake Let's just hope nobody gives her the notion to do it.
Cheesecake · 61-69, M
@NativePortlander1970 she's very strong-willed 🙂

 
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