Learning and relearning.
The next few months, should everything work out, I will be inundated by learning and relearning. There's all the new Targety things I need to know, such as what can be returned and what can't in guest services, where all of that goes, and what to do with everything that comes in there. I'll be learning what to do and what to not while ringing sales, who to contact while doing so, and how to get through each shift being fun, fast, and friendly. I'll be learning the language, because Target assuredly has its own language. I'll learn how to make every second of every break and lunch count, so I can get through each shift and feel good at the end of it.
The thing I'll be relearning the most is patience. This will apply to both jobs, though as of late, it seems to apply more to Cathedral work than Target. The clientele at Target is generally friendly and understanding; indeed, in the few days I've worked, I've only seen one guest truly upset about something (she insisted an item was one price, when our system said it wasn't, and she angrily told us to change our signage, then). At Cathedral, it seems like every other bride or groom is problematic. The requests they're making aren't necessarily extravagant or unreasonable, to be fair. They're just against the policies we've had set for at least as long as I've been here, and some for infinitely longer. Most of these problems come from our off-site chapel. The rules and policies there are a bit more lax, but only for the chapel itself. Music rules are the same as they are at Cathedral, which can come as a shock to couples who've been told "yes" to every other request they've had regarding their wedding Mass. It's very hard to have to be the one to tell these couples "no", especially since most of their requests are, as mentioned, reasonable.
Most of it stems from the rigidity of our policies. I understand that. We can't bend the rules when we want to, because then why do we even have them? There'd be no point. It does make our lives easier, in some aspects, to have the same firm policies at both locations. It makes it harder, too.
Some of it stems from the mentality of the wedding world, as it were. When I was preparing for our wedding, all the wedding magazines/websites/whatever, said the same thing: read all the rules and policies for all the vendors/sites/etc. Make sure you understand what they can and cannot do, and what they expect. If they have a rule that goes against something you want, talk to them about it, and try to see if you can get what you want. After all, it's your big day! Big day or not, that doesn't mean you should get everything you want exactly how you want it. Life just doesn't work that way. And it makes it infintely more trying when couples do not realise that.
There's more difficulties involved, some of which involve our rules vs. other churches' rules, our staff vs. the staff as a whole, and even more, but getting into it is just going to upset me further. I've gone over and over this in my head, with others, and it isn't going to change anytime soon. Suffice it to say that it seems like weddings are getting more and more difficult, and I don't know what to do to make it otherwise. I'm frankly sick of thinking about it.
...which just goes to show exactly how far I need to go to relearn patience.
The thing I'll be relearning the most is patience. This will apply to both jobs, though as of late, it seems to apply more to Cathedral work than Target. The clientele at Target is generally friendly and understanding; indeed, in the few days I've worked, I've only seen one guest truly upset about something (she insisted an item was one price, when our system said it wasn't, and she angrily told us to change our signage, then). At Cathedral, it seems like every other bride or groom is problematic. The requests they're making aren't necessarily extravagant or unreasonable, to be fair. They're just against the policies we've had set for at least as long as I've been here, and some for infinitely longer. Most of these problems come from our off-site chapel. The rules and policies there are a bit more lax, but only for the chapel itself. Music rules are the same as they are at Cathedral, which can come as a shock to couples who've been told "yes" to every other request they've had regarding their wedding Mass. It's very hard to have to be the one to tell these couples "no", especially since most of their requests are, as mentioned, reasonable.
Most of it stems from the rigidity of our policies. I understand that. We can't bend the rules when we want to, because then why do we even have them? There'd be no point. It does make our lives easier, in some aspects, to have the same firm policies at both locations. It makes it harder, too.
Some of it stems from the mentality of the wedding world, as it were. When I was preparing for our wedding, all the wedding magazines/websites/whatever, said the same thing: read all the rules and policies for all the vendors/sites/etc. Make sure you understand what they can and cannot do, and what they expect. If they have a rule that goes against something you want, talk to them about it, and try to see if you can get what you want. After all, it's your big day! Big day or not, that doesn't mean you should get everything you want exactly how you want it. Life just doesn't work that way. And it makes it infintely more trying when couples do not realise that.
There's more difficulties involved, some of which involve our rules vs. other churches' rules, our staff vs. the staff as a whole, and even more, but getting into it is just going to upset me further. I've gone over and over this in my head, with others, and it isn't going to change anytime soon. Suffice it to say that it seems like weddings are getting more and more difficult, and I don't know what to do to make it otherwise. I'm frankly sick of thinking about it.
...which just goes to show exactly how far I need to go to relearn patience.