Sooo...I Left My Job

(I actually wrote this January 18th =) I'm a little late!)

This temping experience is different than the others. Before I remember being placed in various reception & admin jobs and feeling one of (or a combination of) a few things:

1. Bored
2. Under utilized
3. Saddened
4. Embarrassed
5. Frustrated
This go 'round, however, produces other sentiments. Ironically, the positions I'm holding are similar, but the experience is new. My primary placement at the moment is with The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. I'm helping them with an annual mailer. Simple. But the combination of people's positive attitudes and working in an environment that's interesting to me (I have a psych degree) makes for a fun & pleasant work day.

Noah recognized a change in me as soon as I finished day 1. "You're an entirely different person than you usually are at the end of the day. You must like this place," he told me. It's amazing how much you're influenced by the people who surround you. I've learned (although it isn't a huge epiphany) that I either need to love my job or love the people I work with to remain content at the workplace.

I think back to Ameriprise where the job was a drag but the people were great. Even now, being a receptionist isn't exactly thrilling, but everyone I've met here today on this (one day) assignment has been exceptionally nice. Nice doesn't seem like an accurately discriptive word but that's exactly what they are - genuinely nice. Every single person I've interacted with from the guy who let me in this morning to the "hello's" from the people making their breakfast in the kitchen has been polite and warm and welcoming and accepting. There's no pretention. No conceit. It almost feels like visiting someone's manshion and discovering the people living in it are refreshingly humble.

This office is byfar the most engaging, lovely, peaceful I've ever seen - it's an architecture firm - and the people also reflect those qualities. Go figure! It just goes to show you that there is (some) hope for corporate America! If only companies would realize that happy people are productive people and, more importantly, that it doesn't take much to make people happy! Both the temp jobs I'm working currently have nice office surroundings and down to earth employees and it's enough to create a mutually beneficial workplace. (I just looked up the word "drudgery" to find antonyms to complete the previous sentence and the synonyms listed include: struggle, chore, slavery, toil, rat race, labor and low and behold...work! How has "work" become synonomous with slavery & toil? How terrible is that?!)

At MTV the office was pretty cool. At least at first I thought so until I realized that my cubicle walls were strategically positioned just high enough to block my view of the window and the world outside of it. The people, however, were always a hurdle. Even if I wasn't completely inundated with work from the day I started, I don't think we would have hit it off. They were just a different type of people. And I don't mean because we didn't share things in common. It was more so their attitudes...about themselves and life in general. You don't have to like the same foods or share an interest in the same movies to be friends with someone. I believe you just have to have similar world views and attitudes. I believe in doing as much good for others as you possibly can - extending myself, inconveniencing myself for the benefit of others. We're all interdependent so you do for people and people do for you. You don't just do for the ones you like...it doesn't take any character to do that. I don't want to get distracted here, though. The tone thus far has been pleasant! Lol

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that this temping experience has opened my eyes. People make a difference, whether you would like them to or not. I tried for months to zone out at MTV - to retreat to my own place inside my cubicle where no one else existed - but was impossible. We're not made for isolation. Though I wouldn't say at this point I'm 100% sure of what I want my next step to be, I definitely have a better idea of what I'd like it to look like and I thank God for that.