it's a small world

This week we have a foreign exchange student job shadowing at our company. Since she is studying for Administrative Assistant, she has been working with us in the front office. Whenever you’re showing someone your job, you realise how dreadfully boring everything is. Yes, it keeps me occupied, but no one cares to hear about it. When people ask about your day, they don’t care about the tasks you completed, they’re interested in the drama or human interactions you had. “How was your day at the office honey?” “Great! I collated paper!”

She plays along nicely though and I shouldn’t be embarrassed. She works in her office herself and can relate to boring work. The biggest different she pointed out was the amount of meetings. She said her company only had meeting when they "had something new to talk about". Clever!

We bounced her around the company and hopefully the day wasn't too long for her. If nothing else, I imagine the language barrier and culture differences kept her interested.

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Work Smart, Work S-Mart

This week I’m covering for Order Processing. I was trained all last week on who to notify if a firm release was pushed up and how to check vendor’s websites. It’s easy work. I may obsess a bit about screwing up an order, but that’s normal. My biggest problem is everyone else. The lady who trained me told everyone she would be off this week, that I would be filling in for her, and to not to worry about a thing. Two department heads called me this morning confused. “So, uh, what exactly are you doing? We weren’t trained on this.”

I’m covering the mass majority of the order processing. Other than the odd balls, they don't have to do anything. Yet they’re confused. How do you reassure them without beating them over the heads? I wonder if a third e-mail would help them.

Regardless, I’m happy to report that the hardest day is over. Monday has a metric ton of new production releases to go through and verify. The next four days combined might be equal to today’s stack, but it’s unlikely.

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Behave Or Your Pens Are Mine

One of my responsibilities is buying office supplies. As many know, this is obnoxious and often difficult. People are stupid and irrational when it comes to their crap. I’m not sure who’s worse: the paranoid user who needs 20 in stock to be safe, or the inflexible user who needs brand names. I can forget I’m dealing with grown adults. I especially love finding messy ink cartridges on my desk when a note would suffice.

These days I need permission for everything I buy. It is stressful. I need to price it out, keep it reasonable, get it approved, and keep everything in stock. I get zero love or help when I run out. Trust me, it is sad.

This week our paper ran out. Normally we buy it on sale and order enough for 6 months. Unfortunately, 6 months in this economy could mean zero to hero and back. Never mind getting $700 approved. I revised my normal order, cut it in half, and made my plea. Today, May 1, I rejoice. For today I ordered paper. It seems dramatic, but I’m honestly excited.

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Llama Sit!

The drama llama strikes again. To be fair I set myself up for this. I made a rookie mistake. A visitor came in for a scheduled appointment. I recognized him and asked for a refresher on his name (I’m terrible with names). He asked for llama and I went to get him. Problem? Llama’s name is rather common. So common we have 8 with the same first name. Three of those are involve with purchasing. Rookie mistake: I assumed I knew which employee to get.

Fine. I made a mistake. Had this been a non-drama coworker, I could have apologized and returned to my visitor for clarification. Unfortunately llama wanted to come tease him. It was all too tempting. I begged llama to stay at his desk (I honestly did) but he said he wanted to have some fun. Fun at other people’s expense is not cool. I really need to remember Mr. Generic next time. Since I remember why I can’t assume.

As a side note: The more common your name, the less likely I’ll remember it. The name that gives me the most grief...is Mike.

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You Will Not Win

We have a few guys in the office. One is nicknamed Drama Llama, for good reason. One Friday afternoon I left my receptionist post to visit (it gets lonely).

This annoyed him. We have no caller ID so each call is new and potentially important. He decided to call the office from his cell. Several times. Hanging up each time. This happens occasionally so I didn’t think much of it. When it kept happening, it was obvious it was intentional. See also freaky.

Finally he burst out laughing and fessed up. He said I was talking too much and I should get back to work. Oh. Clever llama. Prank calls stopped being cool in 6th grade. I wanted to report him for misuse of the company phone. I could have missed an important call while dealing him. Plus it was upsetting.

I didn’t report him but my revenge has been passively sweet. I don’t screen his calls anymore, nor do I page him. He gets any telemarketer, cold call, or salesmen I can justify. Don’t mess with the receptionist; I’ll win in the end.

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The Princess vs The Dinosaur

Office wars are common. Two in particular are constantly going at it. Swears, insults, and petty actions are common. This week it’s over the fax machine area. One lady (Princess) has been assigned to 5S it. The other (Dinosaur) likes it the way it is. One afternoon everything was suddenly pretty and standardized.

Princess warned me hell would break loose when she left. Dinosaur patiently waited until she left. Then approached me. I’ve been lucky, staying neutral when possible. She wants to know where the binder clips are. I mentioned Princess moved them. Wrong. Thing. To. Say. After some colourful language, slamming of office products, and a classic rant I sneak away.

Today everything was put back to 5S compliance. It’s quiet until Princess leaves. Dinosaur goes into action. A rant ensues over the defenseless stapler. Then the comment that sums it up: If she wants to take my stuff away she can but every morning it’ll be back where I want it. See if she can stop me.

Duly noted.

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