Have you ever done something and afterwords said to yourself "I will never do that again!"? Of course everyone has, from things as simple as eating a jar of peanut butter to playing hours of video games until your eyes feel like they are bleeding. Everyone has been there but I have had a number of made a number of work related declarations on what I will and will not do. During college I was the frozen pizza warehouse organizer and there was nothing about this job that was "fun." Constantly at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, alone, and usually working late hours did not allow me to have a positive mentality going to work. The job did allow me to work around my schedule, pay very well, and free weekends to visit someone who has required frequent visits in the cities. After four years and graduating college, I decided I was no longer a peon to simply be working as a warehouse organizer! I am EDUCATED AND HAVE POWER! Well I found out as soon as I left, the work world was less accepting of my "education" than I thought they would be. Searching and finding jobs since has led to less pay and qualifications in the jobs I have done. First I was a 4 am store stocking fiend at Onalaska's Target for 2 weeks, and then I spent a month working at WisCorps followed by a 3 month gap of no job and a solid stint of rejection.
Well after many cover letters, and hours upon hours sitting on my computer things have paid off. I have acquired the position as a WAREHOUSE ASSISTANT! WHOO! This position is part time at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Can't believe I have gone right back in a circle. The funny thing is I think my 4 years as a Nestle Pizza Frozen Warehouse Assistant has paid off better than my 4 years spent at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Huh funny how that works. I got rejected from a political advocate position because the interrogator asked me if I could go to someones door and get them to get their checkbook and write out a check for a great cause? I hesitated and stuttered way too long to sound confident. I guess 4 years of reading isn't as great of experience as 4 years of stacking pallets.
My favorite part about the job is that I have POWER! My minion volunteers have no idea what they have gotten themselves into until they start working for me. Mwahaha! All I can do is check on them and of course ask leading questions implying my impatience with their work. For example "still working on that?" (emphasis on the stIll) It's all great except it is weird when volunteers work longer days than I do. They really are better people than I am. Worst part is I show up after they have been there for 2 hours, which means the other employees at the restore completely destroy my ability to control their actions my establishing authority before I can. The obvious next step is to undermine their established hold on their loyalty. I make my presence and title known by loudly proclaiming my position over them and all orders are to come from me. That never works, because they instinctively return to the initial authoritative figure who gave them the job. The trick is timing your arrival instantly as they are thinking 'well I wonder what now,' (enter Danny) tell them great job and show them more. This takes a lot of time and practice. I need to analyze work speed, approximate job difficulty, figure the location of accomplishment, and of course remember their name because everyone likes to be address, unfortunately that is what I struggle with most.
Though I am a tyrant and expect hard work, dedication, and perfection from my volunteers I have learned to mention maybe taking a break every now and then so they don't feel they need to dash from task to task.
Overall I am very happy thus far with the job. I believe working for Habitat for Humanity is something I can feel good about, and who knows, it may even lead to greater positions in the company down the road. I also have great bosses. I have to be thankful they are understanding, because one of the first thing the store manager Alex told me my first day was I spelled his last name incorrectly on my cover letter. I was on my A game though that day and totally countered with an explanation that it must have been spelled wrong on the job description. Unfortunately for me, he was the one who wrote it :(. I suppose my explanation would be a little more valid if I accidentally spell my name Done every now and then, but until that day I am a sad excuse for a flashy application writer. Another day that stands out in the first week was when I walk in prepared to forget about happiness and fun when I see my bosses assistant/volunteer coordinator Colleen snuggling with a white terrier named Stewie. Work couldn't be more enjoyable. And I suppose the reason I got this job is all because I suffered through unimaginable pain and agony as the peon of the Nestle Pizza Warehouse (thank you for the people who made it possible).
But life isn't all work. I have to get there and what better way than riding bikes, what a typical Portlander I am. 8 miles is my commute and my thighs have felt every one of them. Biking is hard! Here's one for my family who thinks I am a hippie. I peddle 16 miles a day, I work 5 days a week making my total 80 miles a week. Caitlin's Corolla has been getting 28 mpg in the city which means I save 2.86 gallons of gas per week. And now for the stat that matters most for me to truly define a labeling theory is I save 55.48 pounds of CO2 being released into the atmosphere according to the EPA (http://www.epa.gov/oms/climate/420f05001.htm). Boom! How's that for smug Matthew?! (Only because he has relentlessly tormented me for being a hippie and smug, and smug is a term coined my South Park for people who think they are better than others because they "want to be part of the solution, not the problem" and care about the environment.) That is not my motivation though! My main goal is not to be killed by Caitlin for driving "her." You see she doesn't like to share. For example, if she knew I have been using her computer for the last 3.5 hours while she was gone she would probably want to strangle me, and since she will find out after the fact I feel safe telling you.
Speaking of the adventures with Caitlin. Well, it's always food that gets in the way. Last night I decided to take upon myself preparing meals for later in the week. I cooked black beans for Beanurgers, and also was making cabbage dumplings for a curry dish to be made later. Cabbage dumplings turned out to be very difficult. It took me hours because like always never did I think about reading the recipe and seeing if I could make it. There sort of was a small requirement for a food processor, and when I say requirement I mean everything I had was supposed to be shredded. So hacked away for a long while and when she got home there was cabbage and green lentils all over the kitchen and I had cabbage and bean juices all over myself from spills. It was a disaster, but I was making it. Things got much easier when the continuous step by step process of my stupidity and inabilities with cooking were explained to me. In the end I lost control of my project, and she finished frying the cabbage dumplings as all I could do is sulk in my cabbage covered defeat. But deep down in the demeaning language I know love backed every word.
My hard work came to nothing, because she had fun activities to do tonight which has left me home alone, so I'm not going to make anything nice for myself. Instead I ate half a bag of Ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate chips, Ha got you good Caitlin! I can't wait to see her face when she is making cookies only to realize all the chips are gone MWAHAHA! And good, news my tummy ache is slowly receding. So victories all around tonight. And one more! I finished my blog post.
BYE, take care and love from me!
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