Jennysha's job log: 4
Jennysha Patel
- February 2009.
The story so far… Jennysha graduated two years ago, and it was a while before she figured out what she wanted to do. She is now looking for ways into publishing.
Out of sympathy
A week or so ago, I called in sick at the bookshop. I wasn’t exactly on my death bed or anything but I was feeling pretty ill and I didn’t much fancy breathing my contagious germs all over fellow colleagues or customers. Plus, I knew, with the weather being so cold and snowing, going into work would most likely make me worse and hence the recovery period take longer. That was the second time that I’ve been off ill from the bookshop. I don’t think it’s anything to be concerned about. It’s just common at these colder times of the year for there to be numerous ‘bugs’ going around.
The first time I was off for three consecutive shifts; I received a bit of sympathy but the responses I got when I called in were rather robotic without the slightest hint of compassion and made me begin to question myself as to how I was feeling and even generated some guilt. Yet once I returned to work, there was a flurry of concern, albeit insincere, of ‘Are you OK? We hope you’re better now.’
This second more recent occasion was no different when I phoned in. Management was just as uninterested. They were worried about having to deal with the repercussions of me being absent from work instead of my general health and if I was OK. I was left feeling somewhat furious by the lack of concern shown. I decided the following day to grin and bear it and work instead of calling in sick even if it left me feeling quite possibly worse than I already felt. I grumbled, sniffed, coughed and choked my way through that shift.
Time tells
I don’t like to judge. I like to give people more than one chance. Of course first impressions cross my mind; they are inevitable, but I just try to remember that we can’t be nice and happy every single day and if it so happens that I meet someone when they are having a bad day, I should cut them a bit of slack. This theory can be applied to people but also to situations, most notably the organisations which I work for. I started my job working at the bookshop in October of last year. My first impressions were awful; no-one seemed interested in new members of staff and this included ignoring or not acknowledging both me and other newbies. Limited or inexistent hellos, smiles and welcoming banter were all regular occurrences, or should that be non-occurrences! I was chuffed to bits that I was offered the job to work there and was entrusted to a very specific role (as opposed to plain old Bookseller) due to putting in some effort with my CV, cover letter and application form. Naturally then, I was enthusiastic to get stuck into the job at hand and figured I needed to keep my initial thoughts to myself and give the job and the people some time to get used to me and vice versa.
Four months down the line and my initial thoughts are ever present and more than often, worse! I don’t really dread going to work there because I like the work that I do - it’s more a case of the actual staff that I cannot stand.
Working at the library, though, couldn’t be more different. To put it simply, I love it. I’m not sure if it’s a council/public sector thing - but this being my second time working for a city council (the first time was with a Leicester city council organisation) is going just as well as my first time. On the whole, the people have a different (good) attitude to work; they are mature and are there because they want to make some kind of difference to society and services offered. No doubt there are some people I am particularly fond of more than others, but the team of staff at the library are just lovely. The senior staff do not exert their ‘seniority’ and use it against me or other non-senior staff. I am able to speak to managers of varying levels and ask questions without feeling intimidated or as though I mustn’t ever approach them. I bet if I was ever sick there, I would probably be sent home and urged to stay put until I’d fully recovered!
I take comfort in my job and interaction with staff at the library. As for the bookshop, I find peace in the fact that I am only there part-time and see it as ‘a means to an end’, as a fellow (albeit exceptionally pleasant) bookshop colleague said to me.
Read my previous job logs
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