Tiny Eden

Thursday, February 26, 2009

So, I started a new job a few weeks ago. It is at a gym. It is pretty mindless, so it is just what I need right now. I basically check people in, answer the phone, and make smoothies. Doesn't seem that complicated, right? For some reason, last week, I really did not think that I was competent enough to do this job. I called my mom in tears last week - almost to the point of hyperventilation - because I really thought that I was an idiot. It seemed as though the first statement out of everyone's mouth to me that day while I was working was, "Just to let you know, in the future, fill in the blank." Basically, everything I did that day was incorrect. Apparently, I don't know how to answer a phone correctly. After you thank people for calling the gym and then identify yourself, no matter what the question is, you are supposed to ask them if they are a member. Ex. Caller: What time is the step class being offered today? Me: Are you a member? or Caller: Do you have showers at your facility? Me: Are you a member? And if they say no, I am not supposed to answer their question - I am supposed to take down their name and their phone number and transfer them to my manager so they can try to sell them a membership. I don't work well that way. I want to answer the question and then ask if they are a member. I would be really ticked off if I called somewhere just to get a stinkin answer about something and I was transferred to about 1o different people just to find out if toilet stall number 2 has toilet paper in it. And then when people call wanting to cancel, I try to follow protocol, which changes about 8 times during every shift, no one wants to separate themselves from the little social circle that they have going on so I am constantly just taking messages. And of course no one will actually call the people back so the people that answer the phones are always getting yelled at by patrons. Honestly, I would want to cancel, too. Someone called the other day to ask to have a copy of their agreement faxed to them. I don't have access to the agreements, so I gave the message to someone who does. He proceeded to tell me that he was not going to fax her a copy of it and she would have to call back again to ask for it. Some of the people there are really, really lazy! The poor operations manager is there for 13 hours a day 7 days a week because apparently everything falls under his position. Then there is my nemesis - the smoothie machine. And why would it decide to work on the day that everything else was going wrong? My manager is up at the desk and someone comes up to ask for a smoothie. Of course, I jump on it because I wanted to actually do something right in front of her. Little did I know, we were all out of the flavor that the person wanted. So I prepare the mixture and put it in the machine to be blended. I hit all the buttons and notice that when the juice is supposed to be coming out, it is all water. I hit a few more buttons and hit blend and it literally explodes all over the place. I then realize that there is no more triple berry syrup crap under the machine, so I ask if he wants a different flavor. He tells me strawberry, so I give that one a whirl. Well, I put the blender cover with the closed lid on it instead of the one with the hole in it. When I hit the buttons and the liquid starts to pour out, it goes all over the place and then the blender kicks in. Now I have an even bigger mess. I swear I want to wear a t-shirt that says - "I really am smart. I can administer high alert drugs. Can you????" Then to make my day even better, there was a stuffy artsy fartsy man and his wife who are in their 60's who came in and he decided to check himself in as I was doing something else on the computer. I told him that I needed to rescan his card and he looked at my manager and said, "Ugh, it is so hard to train people right these days!" Needless to say, I no longer greet him. I swipe his card and don't say anything. I am too old for this crap and I am too old to feel badly about myself because of someone else's actions. I think part of the problem is that I am too nice and too soft spoken. When I am in NY, I never feel like I am not good enough, not pretty enough, or not smart enough. But for some reason, I always feel like that when I am in GA. Well, enough is enough. Take your nasty attitude and your triple berry crap smoothie and shove it where the sun doesn't shine!!!!

On a much happier note, Sam's lung functions are going up!!!! Yippee!!!! He is feeling better and looking better. He just needs to gain a little more weight. But then again, being that it is busy season, he has been eating at work. Once busy season is over, I will be fattening him up with eggplant, sausage, and pasta!

"You can't please everyone and you can't make everyone like you." Katie Couric

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