Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Made my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream"
The Beatles-"A Day In The Life"
What is a typical day?
Lately, it has been a struggle for survival and a struggle to keep your head above the water while fighting the tide.
I challenge anyone who deals with this environment day after day to keep a positive attitude. You can't. Unless you are injecting yourself with serotonin infused heroin I doubt anyone would be able to keep smiling after the day is done here.
So, what I have decided to do is to take you through a typical "day in the life" of a "normal" weekday. Maybe then, you will understand why it is such a challenge to keep a sunny disposition. You will get the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
 |
| La la la la la. |
4:45 AM. I wake up. Why do I wake up so early? Well, my Dad was always an early riser due to his roofing job and I guess it rubbed of on me. I get up early on work days so I am not rushing around and have some time to relax in front of the television. I cannot rush around in the morning. It is too
stressful. I have to have that "buffer time".
6:15 AM. After showering and dressing, I go upstairs to say goodbye to my wife and daughter, and our dog. Both are still asleep usually. I leave at this time so I do not have to fight traffic going into Harrisburg. While I love where we live now, the biggest thing I miss about living on the East Shore
was the quick commute, and no bridges to cross. At times of high traffic volume, bridges become bottlenecks and waiting 'til 7:00 AM to leave for work usually means arriving late, despite having an hour to drive only 7 or 8 miles.
6:30-35 AM. I arrive in the parking lot at my building. I sit inside the car for a little while listening to the radio. I used to listen to my favorite albums, but after I had a few days of bad luck at work and arguments at home when I would let myself relax and enjoy music, I do not do that anymore, so
it is usually a local talk station. Due to superstitions and bad things happening, hell, I rarely listen to rock, metal, or prog music anymore at all other than when I am playing it in my band or practicing. I so want to let myself go and enjoy music again, but I keep thinking what if this will be a bad day, or something bad ends up happening? Lord, please help me find a way to enjoy what I love again.
6:40 AM: I walk into the building. It is also difficult to keep a smile on your face when you see the group of people who come to work here every day. It also doesn't help that we have armed security guards at our building. These same people see our faces every damn day and recognize us, but still ask to see our badges. It makes me feel like a criminal. Honestly, I know they have to do it and it is their job, but still, as someone who is a strong believer in common sense and logic, it still annoys me. So, thank you Al-Quaeda and ISIS.
6:45-8:00 AM. I nap at my desk while listening to a podcast, usually a talk show I am a fan of or a wrestling podcast.
8:00 AM. I pick up secure materials from a secure area. The fact that I am the guy chosen to do this gives me a sense of pride. It means they trust me. It is also the beginning of the day, officially. (NOTE: Forgive me for being vague in certain things. I am doing that to protect my duties and what we do here)
8:00 AM-9:45 AM. This is the time of day I am the most productive. It usually flows pretty well until...
9:39 AM. Surprise meeting with no warning. Usually it is to discuss something pointless, like a fundraising campaign. Yesterday it was some "employee recognition" malarkey. We were all given stainless steel travel coffee mugs to show appreciation for the "good job" we are doing. To me, it's just another version of the cheap gold watch. Want to show us appreciation? Hire more people. Streamline the process. Give us a raise. If you are going to have a meeting: schedule it, so we can plan our day around it and not have our work pattern interrupted. As the 1980's R & B hit by The System goes, don't disturb this groove.
10:30 AM. I am handed something from the executive offices that needs done ASAP. I'm working on something important for a customer that really needs me to come through on. I have to shelve my important task to work on something "more important" because it is a "priority". I don't think it is right that another area can hold so much power over another to the point that we have to take their words as gospel and do their bidding immediately no matter what. Bye bye groove, hello stress.
Noon. Lunch. I usually take a nap or write during that time.
1:00 PM. Someone from another area comes up with a task that needs to be done right away because a customer is waiting for it. Once again, it seems like someone is getting special treatment. The other person waits and hovers over me until I am done, even though hovering over me makes me nervous to no end and reminds me of my school days when someone would sneak behind me and hit me or start to beat me up. To this day, I still jump a foot when someone comes up behind me. Now, I am really on a short thread.
Throughout the day: Customer phone calls. Many of them come from people who do not know how to clearly read instructions. Some are from people who are waiting for something and it hasn't came yet. Some yell. Some scream. Some threaten your life. Precious few are understanding. Even precious fewer are thankful for your help. All of them are stressful, and some of them are outright scary and nightmare inducing. I have had nightmares where an irate customer tracks me down and murders me, no joke.
2:30 PM. Our supervisor comes up to us and tells us to stop what we are doing, because management has a task for us that needs to be completed by the end of the day at all costs. It almost seems like the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Usually it is a mistake another area made that we need to fix. Did anyone in the other department have to fix it? It is their mistake, after all! Once again, we shelve everything we do just to concentrate on one thing.
4:00 PM. Frazzled and stressed to the point of madness, I finish the aforementioned task. No thank you, no job well done, no raise for going above and beyond, no recommendations for promotions. I'm drained and hating everyone by this point. Thank God 4:30 is the end of the day.
4:30 PM. I get in my car to fight the army of other commuters on the way home. Once again, I don't play any music like I used to because I don't want to give myself bad luck and have something bad happen on the way home or at home. God, I wish I could just relax and enjoy music again.
By the end of the day at home, I am totally drained of all motivation and don't want to see anyone but my family. I usually have a screaming headache and my neck is usually in great pain. This job has made me very introverted and not wanting to deal with people, even though I love meeting new and cool people.
After dinner, a few hours of enjoyment with my family is all I get, including an hour of "me" time where I practice, play games, or spin a record, until it is time for bed and the whole routine starts all over again. It seems like we spend more time at our jobs than we do with our families. That is wrong.
Some may understand and sympathize, some may not. But now that you know what a typical day is like, maybe you will at least understand. I hope that you do. This job has pushed me to the point of almost contemplating suicide, but it beats sitting in an unemployment line. If you want to know what makes me a happy employee, here it is: give me a task to do and leave me to it. Don't bug me or bother me. Don't micromanage me. Our old supervisor made us work hard, but never micromanaged us. We were so well oiled as a machine we could run ourselves. Now, we are micromanaged to the hilt. I'm to the point I think I need a stronger anti-depressant. I also think I need music back in my daily life, but then stressors and bad luck need to stop whenever I try to enjoy myself for me to spin lots of music again. Music truly makes me happy, so I can't associate it with bad moments in my life.
I also pray once again for patience. I do not like being this person that I become when I walk through these doors. Outside of them, I try my best to be friendly, caring, compassionate, quietly strong, and charismatic. Inside them, I am moody, temperamental, snippy, quiet, and guarded. I know God wants me to be the best I can in all parts of my life. That is why I hope I can keep trying to make a change for the better.
I am tired of drowning here in this sea of overloaded work.
No comments:
Post a Comment