A Day On The Job

I find it so funny how after being away from work for five months how by the end of the day, it feels as if I have not been away at all and I find it hilarious how all the same frustrations have not changed one iota.

Thursday is payroll day and as per usual, payroll was late. This is not good. People want the proof that they got paid asap. I don't deliver checks. I only deliver the stubs. This is important to know. I got back to the mail room after the first mail run and people were already hanging around waiting for me to distribute the payroll envelopes which had arrived. (it comes from off site) I could understand every bodies lack of patience in this matter if I was actually handing out the money. It is about a 45 minute job. Each envelope has to be meticulously accounted for. There are about 75 envelopes. Names and numbers have to match. It is not acceptable to misplace an envelope and I am very meticulous! These people know the rules yet every time payroll is late we have to go over the rules again. "No you can not root through and try to find your envelope. Why? Because you will mess it all up and it will take me double the time to do this job if every thing is out of order. Please come back in 45 minutes." Seriously, their money is in the bank and most of the staff know approximately how much will be in the bank and 45 minutes will not change anything.

The next frustration is the "We did not receive our payroll envelope" argument. Because I have meticulously accounted for all the envelopes and checked and double checked and even remember delivering the envelope, yet it is hard to convince the person on the phone that they did indeed have their envelope delivered. I decide to go and talk to the person face to face. By the time I get to the third floor by golly "We found it!" Of coarse sweetheart! That is because I did deliver the envelope. That is because your nurse manager already picked it up. Did you think of checking to see if she had it? No? Arghhhh! This scenario plays out every second Thursday.

For those who do not know, I work in a hospital. After retiring after 29 years of service, I rehired back as a casual. I don't work regular shifts but am called in when things get desperate. Things seem to be desperate more often than I would like so that is why I did not let them know that I was back. I work for Materials Management. I have been crossed trained to work in shipping and receiving and I have been crossed trained to do data entry and inventory control in central supply and distribution but my main job the last 10 years was in the mail room. That is where I am in my comfort zone and could practically do the job in my sleep. It takes time to train casuals because there is just so much memory work involved. We handle not only our own mail but receive and send mail through out the city to various other departments and facilities. Even though I have been out of there for five months, I think I am the only casual that they have. My supervisor used to think that it was an easy job. He has changed his opinion. That is because when he can not find a replacement he has been forced to sort and deliver the mail. He has had to do the payroll. He becomes very confused and wants nothing to do with it all. He confessed to me today that I had made the job look easy. Ahh, it is nice to be so loved and appreciated. So often we take things for granted until it is gone.

I let the guys know in shipping and receiving that I would not be taking any hours in their neck of the woods. I imagine that now that the cat is out of the bag and it is known that I am back that our scheduler will try to talk me in to working the data entry /inventory control job. It is a high paced and stressful job. So much has changed. I really don't want to do that job. I am out of my comfort zone. I need to grow a backbone and learn to just say no.

After I retired, I took a casual job at our local grocery store for something to do. It is hard on my body. Eight hours of being on cement floors stocking shelves and lifting heavy boxes for minimum wage is not the brightest idea that I have ever had. When we are finished all the treatments perhaps I will look around and see if I can find another casual job around town that is not so physically demanding. I like being out and about and really like being around people but I do not want to feel so wasted by the time I get home. I want to be able to bend and tie my shoes by the end of the day.

For now, I have decided that I will only accept hours in the mail room. It was fun to go back and see everybody. I sure know a lot of people in that building. There are social workers, people in volunteers and spiritual care, porters, therapists, nurses, the gals in the eye center, the guys in facility services and bio med., all my housekeeping friends, ambulatory care, and oh! the list could go on and on. People calling my name and waving and smiling. It was hard to do my rounds and make any kind of time. I sure got lots of hugs today and my co-workers gave me a beautiful card. I have have missed them. I almost cried a few times today. Maybe I should bring my buddies in Mat. Man. a big box of doughnuts.