not even alcohol can fix this one, job searching saturday.
in case any of you were wondering, i am apparently an idiot. let's ponder why...
i suck ass in advanced cardio, i'm not sure why i thought any class titled advanced cardiovascular physiology would be easy... but i did not expect to spend my time diagnosing/treating imaginary patients out of my text. i'm pretty sure this is not med school and i just want to learn about cardiovascular physiology. our text even says it was written so that first year medical students and allied health students could understand it. great. last time i checked i am not in med school and i don't plan to be. hm.
furthermore.. i do not understand a single word that is coming out of my physics professor's mouth. not a word. really. then i got preached to today about how he is there so i could ask him questions and if i am not asking him questions when i am confused then i am wasting my money. my response to this: i don't even understand enough of the material to know what i don't understand/ask a question that makes any sense. the reason our text states we need to understand electrical circuits? because defibrillators use electricity! this is clearly a good reason to spend weeks and weeks studying electrical circuits, and for the record, not everyone in the life sciences needs to know about defibrillators.
all of that aside, the number one reason why i am an idiot? my boss told me i am! really this story is more effective if i just start from the beginning.
what's my job? for $7/hour the government pays my pay checks to sit at the reference desk in the library. i put paper in printers, look up books and articles, and answer questions about microsoft word! in the library we have an area called the curicculum center, which houses a bunch of books aimed towards grades 12 and under, for education majors. this part of the library doesn't use normal call numbers and i don't know how to find books back there, and no one ever tried to train me back there anyway.
so, this morning this chick is looking for a book. which actually happens to be a story in this volume of stories because our picture book version was checked out. so, i write down the call number and point her in the right direction. sounds reasonable, right? well, i forgot to write down the title, but really i gave her the call number, and when you go to find books you should be looking for the call number, not the title anyway. she comes back maybe 10 minutes later and says she was having trouble finding the book, my boss asks me to go help her. well, since i don't know how to find books back there i tell my boss i don't really know how to find books back there. that seems pretty reasonable to me as well. what else could i do? tell my boss i don't know how or walk back there and waste this person's time when i know i don't know how to find the books back there. well, apparently neither of those answers is the right one but i'll get into that later.
so my boss goes back there, finds the book. but then she's all bitchy with me and makes a big deal about how she has to talk to me when i come back into work at 2. whatever. i have better things to worry about than an angry lady from brazil.
at 2 i go back to the library and just start working, i'm going to pretend she didn't even talk to me this morning at all. too bad that plan only worked for about 15 minutes before she noticed me working. shit.
buuut, monday before this we had another fun conversion that becomes relevent in our little meeting later. so.. one day last week i came in 15 minutes like i usually do, even though i don't clock in until 7:30. normally i check my email and such before 7:30. but that day i walk in at 7:15 and she starts telling me to go do all of these things, so i clock in at 7:15. when she is checking over time cards monday she comes over to bitch me out because we aren't allowed to clock in before the library opens, i try to tell her that she told me to start working at 7:15, so even if the library wasn't open i was working. she's clearly not happy about this but gives me the shitty 15 minutes of pay and i decide i'm not walking in the door until 7:30 anymore.
okay, back to our meeting. apparently i am lazy and i never get up from my computer. ever. why? because she has been stalking me to watch this and "nearly all" of the librarians have said something about this. i am going to go with she has been stalking me and one librarian mentioned this.but she has examples.. so.. students will come up with a question about word and i will walk them through how to do it, you know, so they know how to do it later too.. apparently i should get up, go to their comp and just do it for them. one day some lady was standing at this machine we have (its like a reverse atm, it takes your money and puts it on your print card), the machine has scrolling instructions to read through, so, the lady is standing there and i assume she is reading the instructions. well, my boss decides 2 seconds standing there is too long and takes it upon herself to go help her. SHE WAS STANDING THERE FOR 2 SECONDS. she didn't look confused and she never asked for any help. but she was standing there so i should have gotten up and went to help her, i'm not even sure why we have instructions then. then that thing this morning, i should have never said in front of the person that i don't understand that area of the library. what should i have done? who the fuck knows because i asked her about 20 times and she just kept telling me i should never say i don't understand in front of a patron but she never once told me what i should have done. last example? when i come in in the mornings i sit at the comp and check my email while chairs are out of order at the comps. but i say to her... but i'm not on the clock. i don't clock in until 7:30 like you said to. but i am ao lazy just sitting there checking my email in the morning.
this starts a whole snowball about what i should do in the morning. let me tell you, i received all of 15 minutes of training for this job, which only involved how to look up books. this is the first semester i ever opened the library and she never told me i had to do anything differently than when i come in during the day. buuuut, in the morning i am supposed to never clock in before 7:30 and once 7:30 passes i can't leave the reference desk unattended. BUT in the morning i need to refill all of the printers, go around to each printer and shake the mouse to make sure its working, push in the chairs, and go around collecting loose books on the first floor. i also need to refill any supplies at our supply stations and pick up anything on the floor. but, notice that i cannot clock in before 7:30 and once it is 7:30 i'm not supposed to leave the reference desk.
so, i ask her what exactly she wants me to do in the morning. but she says thats not the point. i tell her i get the point, i need to go help people blah blah blah. then i tell her i am changing the subject, i want to know what is expected of me in the mornings because she never told me any of the above except to check the printers. what's she say? stop trying to make excuses and say i never trained you, you are just being defensive and trying to push the blame on me. that same conversation repeated about 5 times.
this same thing happened last semester, i closed on friday nights and she never once told me i had to do anything special at night. then the person in charge of the library at night comes up and is like, "why aren't you doing this, this, and this?" ...what? so i bring that up today. but she just keeps yelling at me for trying to claim i wasn't trained. theeen, this semester lauren got that shift and i happen to have the shift before it, she comes in the first friday of the semester and i mention something about the walkie-talkie and she has no idea what i am talking about. she asks me to stay and just show her what to do at night, so i don't clock out until about 30 minutes later. i got yelled at for that as well, i should have asked before staying 30 mins late. my boss leaves an hour before lauren is even scheduled, i couldn't fucking ask.
then, last week i come in during the day, sign in 15 minutes early because we are out of paper upstairs and the paper is stored in the basement. so i sign in, i have to go clear off a cart, then take the long way to the basement because i need an elevator, go fill up the cart and bring it back and unload it all into our cabinets. the whole process takes longer than 15 minutes, but she yells at me today for treating her like an idiot, she knows it doesn't take 15 mins to do that. what the fuck?
so she just yelled at me a lot and refused to answer any of my questions. i asked her if we could talk about this tomorrow as far as what exactly she wants me to do in the morning but she said she wouldn't do that and if i don't know then i must be an idiot and i won't be opening anymore. then some other bullshit about how i obviously can't handle working and i won't be getting 20 hours a week anymore either.
job searching here i come.
i think i am going to have a meeting with her boss, all she had to do was train me and this wouldn't have ever happened. however, there are rumors that she is being fired because she doesn't even do her job. when she works at the desk she spends her time grading papers for her class and she isn't even in her office when she is supposed to be.
i forgot to mention in my myspace blog that if i didn't "shape up" and fix everything in a month i will not be returning for the fall semester. know lets thing of a really dramatic way to quit.. that will also make her feel like shit.
i suck ass in advanced cardio, i'm not sure why i thought any class titled advanced cardiovascular physiology would be easy... but i did not expect to spend my time diagnosing/treating imaginary patients out of my text. i'm pretty sure this is not med school and i just want to learn about cardiovascular physiology. our text even says it was written so that first year medical students and allied health students could understand it. great. last time i checked i am not in med school and i don't plan to be. hm.
furthermore.. i do not understand a single word that is coming out of my physics professor's mouth. not a word. really. then i got preached to today about how he is there so i could ask him questions and if i am not asking him questions when i am confused then i am wasting my money. my response to this: i don't even understand enough of the material to know what i don't understand/ask a question that makes any sense. the reason our text states we need to understand electrical circuits? because defibrillators use electricity! this is clearly a good reason to spend weeks and weeks studying electrical circuits, and for the record, not everyone in the life sciences needs to know about defibrillators.
all of that aside, the number one reason why i am an idiot? my boss told me i am! really this story is more effective if i just start from the beginning.
what's my job? for $7/hour the government pays my pay checks to sit at the reference desk in the library. i put paper in printers, look up books and articles, and answer questions about microsoft word! in the library we have an area called the curicculum center, which houses a bunch of books aimed towards grades 12 and under, for education majors. this part of the library doesn't use normal call numbers and i don't know how to find books back there, and no one ever tried to train me back there anyway.
so, this morning this chick is looking for a book. which actually happens to be a story in this volume of stories because our picture book version was checked out. so, i write down the call number and point her in the right direction. sounds reasonable, right? well, i forgot to write down the title, but really i gave her the call number, and when you go to find books you should be looking for the call number, not the title anyway. she comes back maybe 10 minutes later and says she was having trouble finding the book, my boss asks me to go help her. well, since i don't know how to find books back there i tell my boss i don't really know how to find books back there. that seems pretty reasonable to me as well. what else could i do? tell my boss i don't know how or walk back there and waste this person's time when i know i don't know how to find the books back there. well, apparently neither of those answers is the right one but i'll get into that later.
so my boss goes back there, finds the book. but then she's all bitchy with me and makes a big deal about how she has to talk to me when i come back into work at 2. whatever. i have better things to worry about than an angry lady from brazil.
at 2 i go back to the library and just start working, i'm going to pretend she didn't even talk to me this morning at all. too bad that plan only worked for about 15 minutes before she noticed me working. shit.
buuut, monday before this we had another fun conversion that becomes relevent in our little meeting later. so.. one day last week i came in 15 minutes like i usually do, even though i don't clock in until 7:30. normally i check my email and such before 7:30. but that day i walk in at 7:15 and she starts telling me to go do all of these things, so i clock in at 7:15. when she is checking over time cards monday she comes over to bitch me out because we aren't allowed to clock in before the library opens, i try to tell her that she told me to start working at 7:15, so even if the library wasn't open i was working. she's clearly not happy about this but gives me the shitty 15 minutes of pay and i decide i'm not walking in the door until 7:30 anymore.
okay, back to our meeting. apparently i am lazy and i never get up from my computer. ever. why? because she has been stalking me to watch this and "nearly all" of the librarians have said something about this. i am going to go with she has been stalking me and one librarian mentioned this.but she has examples.. so.. students will come up with a question about word and i will walk them through how to do it, you know, so they know how to do it later too.. apparently i should get up, go to their comp and just do it for them. one day some lady was standing at this machine we have (its like a reverse atm, it takes your money and puts it on your print card), the machine has scrolling instructions to read through, so, the lady is standing there and i assume she is reading the instructions. well, my boss decides 2 seconds standing there is too long and takes it upon herself to go help her. SHE WAS STANDING THERE FOR 2 SECONDS. she didn't look confused and she never asked for any help. but she was standing there so i should have gotten up and went to help her, i'm not even sure why we have instructions then. then that thing this morning, i should have never said in front of the person that i don't understand that area of the library. what should i have done? who the fuck knows because i asked her about 20 times and she just kept telling me i should never say i don't understand in front of a patron but she never once told me what i should have done. last example? when i come in in the mornings i sit at the comp and check my email while chairs are out of order at the comps. but i say to her... but i'm not on the clock. i don't clock in until 7:30 like you said to. but i am ao lazy just sitting there checking my email in the morning.
this starts a whole snowball about what i should do in the morning. let me tell you, i received all of 15 minutes of training for this job, which only involved how to look up books. this is the first semester i ever opened the library and she never told me i had to do anything differently than when i come in during the day. buuuut, in the morning i am supposed to never clock in before 7:30 and once 7:30 passes i can't leave the reference desk unattended. BUT in the morning i need to refill all of the printers, go around to each printer and shake the mouse to make sure its working, push in the chairs, and go around collecting loose books on the first floor. i also need to refill any supplies at our supply stations and pick up anything on the floor. but, notice that i cannot clock in before 7:30 and once it is 7:30 i'm not supposed to leave the reference desk.
so, i ask her what exactly she wants me to do in the morning. but she says thats not the point. i tell her i get the point, i need to go help people blah blah blah. then i tell her i am changing the subject, i want to know what is expected of me in the mornings because she never told me any of the above except to check the printers. what's she say? stop trying to make excuses and say i never trained you, you are just being defensive and trying to push the blame on me. that same conversation repeated about 5 times.
this same thing happened last semester, i closed on friday nights and she never once told me i had to do anything special at night. then the person in charge of the library at night comes up and is like, "why aren't you doing this, this, and this?" ...what? so i bring that up today. but she just keeps yelling at me for trying to claim i wasn't trained. theeen, this semester lauren got that shift and i happen to have the shift before it, she comes in the first friday of the semester and i mention something about the walkie-talkie and she has no idea what i am talking about. she asks me to stay and just show her what to do at night, so i don't clock out until about 30 minutes later. i got yelled at for that as well, i should have asked before staying 30 mins late. my boss leaves an hour before lauren is even scheduled, i couldn't fucking ask.
then, last week i come in during the day, sign in 15 minutes early because we are out of paper upstairs and the paper is stored in the basement. so i sign in, i have to go clear off a cart, then take the long way to the basement because i need an elevator, go fill up the cart and bring it back and unload it all into our cabinets. the whole process takes longer than 15 minutes, but she yells at me today for treating her like an idiot, she knows it doesn't take 15 mins to do that. what the fuck?
so she just yelled at me a lot and refused to answer any of my questions. i asked her if we could talk about this tomorrow as far as what exactly she wants me to do in the morning but she said she wouldn't do that and if i don't know then i must be an idiot and i won't be opening anymore. then some other bullshit about how i obviously can't handle working and i won't be getting 20 hours a week anymore either.
job searching here i come.
i think i am going to have a meeting with her boss, all she had to do was train me and this wouldn't have ever happened. however, there are rumors that she is being fired because she doesn't even do her job. when she works at the desk she spends her time grading papers for her class and she isn't even in her office when she is supposed to be.
i forgot to mention in my myspace blog that if i didn't "shape up" and fix everything in a month i will not be returning for the fall semester. know lets thing of a really dramatic way to quit.. that will also make her feel like shit.