I had a strategy, right?Right. I was going to do my own thing. You know, go get 'em tiger. I am great and I deserve great and I can do so much better!
Well, I didn't stick to my gut, yet again. I took yet another lame gig as a receptionist. I should have said no. But, nooo!!! I still hate myself for it.
First and foremost, who doesn't ask what the compensation is? Well, I forgot. -Really?? And one thing I learned in this industry is that you ask about MONEY!! (Cause you could end up driving 40 miles one way and spend all that money at the pump! And who wants to do free work when you can drive that far to go to the beach and spend a calm day?)
The job (answering phones) wasn't as bad as the people I was surrounded by though!
The idiot receptionist:
Please apologize the language. But woman, do you know what being a receptionist tells me about you, at a firm like this?? That you're only good at answering phones and other receptionist tasks; that you probably don't have two degrees and that you have probably read less in your life than I did in a year!
But she'd beg to differ. She had so much to teach me. Man, all those faxes that might come in, and the emails... And sometimes, you get calls, and people ask you questions and you have to look the answer up from the computer. WOW. Tough shit!
As I listened, my mind raced: "OMG, why the fuck would I accept such a lame job, I'd rather live on beans & rice than get an education on the importance of transfering a line from the receptionist! "
Well, off she went to her appointment, and I thought I was at peace....But unique characters didn't stop there....
Let me clarify something for everyone: When I take the "receptionist" title, that doesn't automatically mean I am an idiot. Some people don't understand that. I suppose other temps have been idiots... Or this was their first time hiring a temp, may be? I don't know. But what happened was, I met this one woman - the boss- within the first 2 hours of starting my shift. She introduced herself ( let's call her Anna). 4 hrs into my shift, she came up to me and told me to let her know when her friend Matt got there. I said "okay". She said to call her, I said okay. She said, "Anna, Anna, my name is Anna"... And I was like "yes, yes, I know!!!"
Woman, get off my back. I have the list of everyone in the office right in front of me. All I have to do, when your Matt arrives is to dial your number and tell you he is here!!
Did I just spend half a million dollar worth of education so I can be answering phones at the reception?? SHOOT ME!
Oh and the mail boy... You see, I am innately a very friendly person. People who know me would agree. So when I am the first person to see everyone at the reception, I wear a smile on my face and say a hello to whomever comes in. This mail guy came in multiple times, so I was like "hello" once then, hello twice. But when you repetitively come in and out of the office, I am not gonna say hello all the time. So, I kept my smile for when he came in.
One thing you don't realize in Hollywood, is the hitting-on-you factor. Apparently, many people hit on each other. Or else, there's no reason a guy like that would get cocky. He must've thought I was hitting on him because after my second smile he started throwing me a dirty look. Dude, if you don't want me to greet you with a smile on my face, USE THE BACK DOOR!
I cannot believe, even the lame ass, right-out-of-college guy who sucks up to everyone in the office, gets to have that much pride in himself.
I am sorry, but I feel sorry for you.
But then, he has got the permanent gig and I don't!
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After these people, I am yet again reminded of that initial feeling, that I should be selective about the jobs I take. It's not like spending a day as a receptionist will get me a permanent gig. It's not like I am going to meet some great people who will help me make my career move. SO WHY DO I KEEP AGREEING TO THESE JOBS?
I don't have a true answer for you. Sometimes, I cannot say no because I want the money. Sometimes I cannot say no because I just want to work. Sometimes, it is because my innate positivity hopes that this will be the route to that permanent job I've been looking for. Sometimes I am just afraid, if I said no, the temp agency would stop calling me and I'd be unemployed forever.
So how low will I go? Well, I am determined to not go too low. But I have not defined "too low" yet...
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