--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had no administrative function at the…" description: "\"I had no administrative function at the New Yorker. I am what we used to call in construction back in Kansas City where I grew up \"a dog-ass subcontrac..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/kevin-sessums-9486_administrative_i-had-no-administrative-function-at-the_2280798.jpg" --- # I had no administrative function at the New Yorker. I am… ![“I had no administrative function at the New Yorker. I am what we used to call in construction back in Kansas City where I grew up "a dog-ass subcontractor."” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/kevin-sessums-9486_administrative_i-had-no-administrative-function-at-the_2280798.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/kevin-sessums-9486_administrative_i-had-no-administrative-function-at-the_2280798.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/kevin-sessums-9486_administrative_i-had-no-administrative-function-at-the_2280798.jpg) > “I had no administrative function at the New Yorker. I am what we used to call in construction back in Kansas City where I grew up "a dog-ass subcontractor."” [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes his early career as a low‑status construction worker before becoming a writer. **In simple terms:** He was once a construction worker before writing. Key Takeaway Recognize humble beginnings. Themes career identity humility Mood introspective hopeful Type biographical inspirational When to use this quote - construction sites - journalism - publishing industry Key Concepts social mobility self‑definition writing Questions to Reflect On - How did your past work shape your writing voice? - What obstacles did you face changing fields? A Different Perspective Transitioning careers can be challenging and uncertain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Administrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/administrative/) [Ass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ass/) [Ass Subcontractor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ass-subcontractor-5322538/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Construction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construction/) [Dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dog/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Grew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grew/) [Grew up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grew-up/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Kansas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kansas/) [Kansas city](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kansas-city/) [New yorker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-yorker/) [New yorkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-yorkers/) [Subcontractor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subcontractor-5322539/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Yorker Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yorker-used-2224045/) ## Related quotes > [The Internet and blogging made writing somewhat more solitary and more splintered. It removes the whole sense of the magazine as an organism. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/the-internet-and-blogging-made-writing-somewhat-more-solitary-and/) [James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/) > [I came out of a building and this woman stopped me, like, 'You're Miss Universe!' And she was a New Yorker! I'm not used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-leigh-nel-peters/i-came-out-of-a-building-and-this-woman-stopped-me-like-you-re-miss/) [Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-leigh-nel-peters/) > [I really like Twitter. It's a conversation and it reminds me of having stranger conversations on the train. I'm a New Yorker. I'm used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosario-dawson/i-really-like-twitter-it-s-a-conversation-and-it-reminds-me-of-having/) [Rosario Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosario-dawson/) > [Back in Kansas City, I associated Harvard with sort of gnarly guys who wore capes for effect in a kind of Oscar Wilde scene.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/back-in-kansas-city-i-associated-harvard-with-sort-of-gnarly-guys-who/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ I'm sorry to keep focusing on the New Yorker, but everybody who was growing up when Calvin \[Trillin\] and I were growing up wanted… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-m-sorry-to-keep-focusing-on-the-new-yorker-but-everybody-who-was/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I don't write poetry for the New Yorker. My poems appear in the Nation, mostly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-don-t-write-poetry-for-the-new-yorker-my-poems-appear-in-the-nation/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I'm persona non grata at the New Yorker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-m-persona-non-grata-at-the-new-yorker/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ David Remnick \[the New Yorker's editor in chief\]is about as interested in anything gay as I am interested in anything to do with baseball.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/david-remnick-the-new-yorker-s-editor-in-chief-is-about-as-interested/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I just so desperately wanted to be published in New Yorker, and I'd so desperately try to get something in it. But I'd always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-just-so-desperately-wanted-to-be-published-in-new-yorker-and-i-d-so/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [The three major administrative problems on a campus are sex for the students, athletics for the alumni, and parking for the faculty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hutchins/the-three-major-administrative-problems-on-a-campus-are-sex-for-the/) [Robert M. Hutchins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hutchins/) > [Medical physicists work in cooperation with doctors. A few medical physicists devote their time to research and teaching. A few get involved with administrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cameron/medical-physicists-work-in-cooperation-with-doctors-a-few-medical/) [John Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cameron/) > [One of the concepts I was having trouble illustrating was the concept that administrative systems create narrow categories of gender and force people into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-spade/one-of-the-concepts-i-was-having-trouble-illustrating-was-the-concept/) [Dean Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-spade/) > [It took a bit of talking through administrative people, but only once did an attorney try and get in the way of the process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-shear/it-took-a-bit-of-talking-through-administrative-people-but-only-once/) [Jules Shear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-shear/) > [The impresario function is about intervening with the company's more administrative management structure. It is about trying to establish a sense of boundaries and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kao/the-impresario-function-is-about-intervening-with-the-company-s-more/) [John Kao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kao/) > [“Klara Sztucinski, and Elliott Kellman. The administrative”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-allen/klara-sztucinski-and-elliott-kellman-the-administrative/) [David Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-allen/) ## More by Kevin Sessums > [ \[Calvin Trilllin\] is not writing about things that I can criticize. I can call these other people out for what I think they are… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/calvin-trilllin-is-not-writing-about-things-that-i-can-criticize-i/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I get rejections from the New Yorker. When I had to give a little talk to the people graduating from the MBA program at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-get-rejections-from-the-new-yorker-when-i-had-to-give-a-little-talk/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ \[Larry Kramer\] thinks Charles de Gaulle was gay. He thinks Max Schmeling was gay. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/larry-kramer-thinks-charles-de-gaulle-was-gay-he-thinks-max-schmeling/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I was raped. That was a hard thing to write about. I never owned that part of it. Guys don't look at themselves as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-was-raped-that-was-a-hard-thing-to-write-about-i-never-owned-that/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ Sometimes if I am walking down the street and thinking about my panoply of God, Ganesha, Parvati \[Ganesha's mother\], I say "Lucifer," because he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/sometimes-if-i-am-walking-down-the-street-and-thinking-about-my/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [To some people, knowledge and science are everything. To me, God is everything I don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/to-some-people-knowledge-and-science-are-everything-to-me-god-is/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I was not "shoe." That's a misuse of the term "shoe," which is derived from "white shoe."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-was-not-shoe-that-s-a-misuse-of-the-term-shoe-which-is-derived-from/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [My father always wanted me to be president of the United States, and his fallback position was that I not become a ward of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/my-father-always-wanted-me-to-be-president-of-the-united-states-and/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I just so desperately wanted to be published in New Yorker, and I'd so desperately try to get something in it. But I'd always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-just-so-desperately-wanted-to-be-published-in-new-yorker-and-i-d-so/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ We didn't know each other \[with Larry Kramer at Yale\], but we had a lot of mutual friends. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/we-didn-t-know-each-other-with-larry-kramer-at-yale-but-we-had-a-lot/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ David Remnick \[the New Yorker's editor in chief\]is about as interested in anything gay as I am interested in anything to do with baseball.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/david-remnick-the-new-yorker-s-editor-in-chief-is-about-as-interested/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ I believe we really became friends \[with Larry Kramer\] when we bonded at our fifteenth class reunion in 1972. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-believe-we-really-became-friends-with-larry-kramer-when-we-bonded/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ One of the few nice things about \[time in Yale\] was you got to know people before there were labels on them, so you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/one-of-the-few-nice-things-about-time-in-yale-was-you-got-to-know/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I wrote an essay too, and mine started something like, "When I was asked to contribute to this book, I said, 'I could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-wrote-an-essay-too-and-mine-started-something-like-when-i-was-asked/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [When one person mentors, two lives are changed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/when-one-person-mentors-two-lives-are-changed/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) [Explore all 72 Kevin Sessums quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) ## More Administrative quotes > [“Klara Sztucinski, and Elliott Kellman. The administrative”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-allen/klara-sztucinski-and-elliott-kellman-the-administrative/) [David Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-allen/) > [The impresario function is about intervening with the company's more administrative management structure. It is about trying to establish a sense of boundaries and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kao/the-impresario-function-is-about-intervening-with-the-company-s-more/) [John Kao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kao/) > [It took a bit of talking through administrative people, but only once did an attorney try and get in the way of the process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-shear/it-took-a-bit-of-talking-through-administrative-people-but-only-once/) [Jules Shear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-shear/) > [One of the concepts I was having trouble illustrating was the concept that administrative systems create narrow categories of gender and force people into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-spade/one-of-the-concepts-i-was-having-trouble-illustrating-was-the-concept/) [Dean Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-spade/) > [Medical physicists work in cooperation with doctors. A few medical physicists devote their time to research and teaching. A few get involved with administrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cameron/medical-physicists-work-in-cooperation-with-doctors-a-few-medical/) [John Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cameron/) > [The three major administrative problems on a campus are sex for the students, athletics for the alumni, and parking for the faculty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hutchins/the-three-major-administrative-problems-on-a-campus-are-sex-for-the/) [Robert M. Hutchins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hutchins/) > [There is nothing in the world that could make me turn from the law. With a clear conscience, I am prepared to answer for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djemal-pasha/there-is-nothing-in-the-world-that-could-make-me-turn-from-the-law/) [Djemal Pasha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djemal-pasha/) > [It is for ordinary minds, not for psychoanalysts, that our rules of evidence are framed. They have their source very often in considerations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-cardozo/it-is-for-ordinary-minds-not-for-psychoanalysts-that-our-rules-of/) [Benjamin Cardozo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-cardozo/) > [There has been a constant struggle on the part of the military element to keep the end- fighting, or readiness to fight-superior to mere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-thayer-mahan/there-has-been-a-constant-struggle-on-the-part-of-the-military/) [Alfred Thayer Mahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-thayer-mahan/) > [I enjoyed the administrative work because it involved working with Congress, city council, and the mayor. I had never been a politician so it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-h-greene/i-enjoyed-the-administrative-work-because-it-involved-working-with/) [Harold H. Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-h-greene/) > [Our Government is investing in stronger communities by supporting the important work of charities by reducing their administrative burden, encouraging charitable giving and allowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sorenson/our-government-is-investing-in-stronger-communities-by-supporting-the/) [Kevin Sorenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sorenson/) > [In recent years, more and more of my time has become absorbed by administrative work for the research council of ETH-Z of which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ernst/in-recent-years-more-and-more-of-my-time-has-become-absorbed-by/) [Richard Ernst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ernst/) > [There is no excuse for a billion dollar industry to have somebody who's pushing papers on an administrative level - which is still very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immortal-technique/there-is-no-excuse-for-a-billion-dollar-industry-to-have-somebody-who/) [Immortal Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immortal-technique/) > [The federal government spends about $2.51 per child per day to feed them lunch. Out of that, you have to pay for labor, facilities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-federal-government-spends-about-2-51-per-child-per-day-to-feed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Selectors can't please everyone, but I am OK if they are working for the benefit of Indian cricket. It's an administrative decision to appoint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kapil-dev/selectors-can-t-please-everyone-but-i-am-ok-if-they-are-working-for/) [Kapil Dev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kapil-dev/) [Browse all 137 Administrative quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/administrative/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had no administrative function at the New Yorker. 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