Saturday, 14 December 2013

When you start to be like your job

No, I didn't mean, "When you start to LIKE your job", I meant when you as a person begin to reflect some aspects of your job. I'm talking about my waitressing job. Let me give examples:
  • Small customer base. Mostly supported by a handful of regulars (translation: I have a small group of close friends)
  • Swap life stories with said customers (translation: Usually say too much and like to develop connections with people)
  • Cooking is good but business skills are terrible (translation: Good at doing stuff but terrible organisation. Always leave things to the last minute)
  • Too many menu items, with a few specialties (translation: Good at a certain few things, but try to juggle it all)
  • Cooking style hasn't changed in 30 years (translation: Like to have regular habits).
  • Is close to home (translation: Comfortable with convenience of proximity, even though I don't learn anything new in the job, except for how the client is doing that day). 
It's hard to break away from what is familiar and comfortable. I've been at this restaurant for about three years now.
Digression: I always leave for work at the last possible minute. When I first started working there, I allowed fifteen minutes to walk. Now I usually allow eight minutes (I have to run part of the way. And take full advantage of the fact that their clock is two minutes slower than my watch. Two minutes have never meant so much to me as just before work!) I think my reluctance is trying to tell me something.

I don't learn much from work. Mainly it's my laid back job where I write in my notebook half the time because it's not busy and I can get away with it.

Maybe I should mix it up and start wearing roller skates to work, like at Phatburgers 


This year I did expand to getting uni jobs. I was on QUT Career Hub about a year ago searching when I found a help desk job. I applied, went for my interview, felt thoroughly intimidated by the other applicants' immaculate and sophisticated business attire, and ended up getting the job. 

The other one I'd heard about through a friend, so was vaguely aware of it, but didn't apply till I saw it advertised in the student diary you get free at O-Week. That gave a bit of pocket money, and motivated me to consistently write up notes (Student note taker).

I only got these jobs because I was A), actively seeking a job and B), willing to follow through and get my resume up to scratch, practice for an interview, and ask questions. Being proactive is the only way I've gotten through the gruelling process of the Study Exchange applications/ research. It's the only way I've done well at uni and found good jobs.

I think I side-tracked. Yes. So my waitress job is comfortable, and that's where the danger comes. Comfort zones are great for feeling safe and for taking a break, but if you don't push them often enough, you'll end up doing the same thing most of the time. Safe means that you're not really learning; if you're not learning, you're not living.
 
You know something's gone wrong when you're bored enough to make a matching outfit for your pet.

The water fountain at the restaurant hasn't worked for years. Without the regular flow of the water, the fish have become so dusty that I can barely see their eyes. Most people ignore the statue now, except occasionally a kid, held up by his parent, might say, "Why haven't the fish got water? Fish need water. That's strange." 
I agree. The parent rolls their eyes and smiles. I wipe down the fish with a damp cloth. This makes their scales reflect the light. Their eyes look wet with tears (of joy or sadness, I don't know).


This study exchange has forced me to quit my job (for six months at least). Otherwise it'd be so tempting to stay there, rather than find some other job that's same-ish and maybe not as close, and have to relearn things, just to get sucked into the same boring pattern.

My boss says he wants me back after the six months. I dunno. I reckon in a few months, he'll be so happy not having to pay my increasing wages, only seventeen-year-old wages, that he'll forget all about me. Even if he doesn't, I'm not sure if I want to be offered the job back...

"...because then I'd spend my best dancing years waving a rose back and forth, and I'm better than that."

Not that I'm saying I'm a great dancer, but Jody explains it best in Center Stage, if you remember that scene at the end (it's a metaphor, guys, keep up).

I should look for an industry job when I'm back. A semester at Bath Spa University has to add some weight to my credentials. Hopefully I won't stuff up as badly as I did with one of my uni jobs (I'll tell you about that in the next post).

Quote: "Life will keep presenting a challenge to you until you learn from it"

What was this blog post about? Well, as Jimmy Rabbitte says, "I'm fucked if I know!"

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