It's All Greek to Me
I’m in a new temp job in the same company, in the same devision, but it’s so surprisingly different, I feel like I am at a whole different company. I am DUMB again. Such is the life of a temp. Geez louise, apparently five months at the same job can make you FORGET what its like out there—in another job—where your skills can get you only so far. What you really need is ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE. That’s the key to office work. No offense to all the office people out there (and you know who you are and I am one of you), but it really doesn’t take a genius to know how to copy and fax and answer e-mail, it does however take time and a sort of SAVVY to pick up the little nuances that assemble an office job. You can train all you like, but in truth it just takes TIME to know the procedures, the relationships, the flags, and the LIITLE MILLION THINGS that make up a job.
I actually got anxious about it last night. I lay there in the dark and didn’t want to go to sleep because it meant coming into a new position with new bosses and new expectations and I felt as prepared and sharp as piece of bellybutton lint. Graham said, “I assure you, you can do the job. You’re not dumb.” Oh, but I feel dumb. I sit in the throne of the person, who normally sits here, and stare into the gears of the machine she usually operates, and it’s all GREEK to me. There’s NEW responsibilities and a back story that I’m not privy to--yet. My new bosses greet me like a foreign exchange student, who only knows a few words of English. We do a lot of smiling a nodding as a way to communicate. They say things and then lilt their voices in the end, as if it were a question. As in, “These things need to be copied and stapled…?” And I smile and say, “Okay…?” And then we realized that we have officially COMMUNICATED something successfully. Relief pours over our faces and it is back to our corners.
Like lots of creatures, I like routine. Part of the discomfort I am feeling is the daunting task of change. I know it’s another example that I need to get out of this temporary employee business. It’s a racket. The grown up in me knows it, and so does the little kid in me. The little kid hates being new in any environment. The kid in me hates looking for a place to eat lunch. She wants usual seats, friends, people who greet her, having the answers to her own questions. The grown up in me wants health insurance, respect, a place to go where everyone knows her name. Actually, the grown up in me doesn’t want to file or copy or sit in front of excel spreadsheets at all. The grown up in me wants to play like the kid inside me and make a good living from it—-but that’s a whole different ballgame. Today, I’ll just settle for some itsy bitsy knowledge—something to go on, that says ALL IS NOT IN VAIN. You are capable and you know what you’re doing…?
I actually got anxious about it last night. I lay there in the dark and didn’t want to go to sleep because it meant coming into a new position with new bosses and new expectations and I felt as prepared and sharp as piece of bellybutton lint. Graham said, “I assure you, you can do the job. You’re not dumb.” Oh, but I feel dumb. I sit in the throne of the person, who normally sits here, and stare into the gears of the machine she usually operates, and it’s all GREEK to me. There’s NEW responsibilities and a back story that I’m not privy to--yet. My new bosses greet me like a foreign exchange student, who only knows a few words of English. We do a lot of smiling a nodding as a way to communicate. They say things and then lilt their voices in the end, as if it were a question. As in, “These things need to be copied and stapled…?” And I smile and say, “Okay…?” And then we realized that we have officially COMMUNICATED something successfully. Relief pours over our faces and it is back to our corners.
Like lots of creatures, I like routine. Part of the discomfort I am feeling is the daunting task of change. I know it’s another example that I need to get out of this temporary employee business. It’s a racket. The grown up in me knows it, and so does the little kid in me. The little kid hates being new in any environment. The kid in me hates looking for a place to eat lunch. She wants usual seats, friends, people who greet her, having the answers to her own questions. The grown up in me wants health insurance, respect, a place to go where everyone knows her name. Actually, the grown up in me doesn’t want to file or copy or sit in front of excel spreadsheets at all. The grown up in me wants to play like the kid inside me and make a good living from it—-but that’s a whole different ballgame. Today, I’ll just settle for some itsy bitsy knowledge—something to go on, that says ALL IS NOT IN VAIN. You are capable and you know what you’re doing…?
posted by Summer Pierre at
2:20 PM
2 Comments:
You are more than capable and definitely know what you're doing. If you walk thru the magic glass doors in the early AM I will gladly greet you with a wide happy smile! LOL LOL cheer up my darlin' chickybabe....it could be worse. LOL
Your new bosses are probably SO HAPPY to have someone cheerful and not surly to work with. I won't bore you with tales of secretaries that wouldn't xerox, wouldn't take a decent phone message....That said, it's difficult learning the ropes in a new place. It's hard to even figure out where the supplies are, let alone everyone's preferences. You're smart, you'll figure it out quickly.
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