This is Weird

Today was my first real day in the office. Okay, so yeah, I was physically there before we left for training, but I wasn't doing any real work. Today was the first day of real work, which I was confident I knew how to do until I started doing it. It was a day of organizing and returning phone calls, scheduling appointments and outreach, and putting together chairs. Yes, putting together chairs.

Our work environment is interesting...we're in the building with the people whose jobs we took. We're just renting space, and that makes life, well, interesting is a diplomatic word for it. We did have chairs before we left for training, and today we didn't. So, the first task was to put together a chair from Staples. Despite my colleague and I wrestling it to screw the arms on, we couldn't make it work. This did not bode well for the rest of the day. Instead of spending an hour screwing an arm on a chair, then another hour or two assembling the second one, we wrestled them into the car and to Staples where for a mere $5 they put them together for us, AND deliver them back to the office. Whoo-hoo Staples!

Chair debacle behind us, I dug into work. And freaked out. Suddenly I was paralyzed by not knowing how to go about the tasks I thought I knew how to do. I called someone, messed it up big time, and desperately asked my colleague for help. She was amazing. She walked me through some processes, and even role-played. It was fun, and totally educational.

Then I got a phone call. It seems that some people and groups believe our program is a great dumping ground for kids. They make it mandatory for the kids to apply, despite their interest in the program or lack thereof. And boy, did I get a dumper on the phone. She was tough, and I wasn't sure how to deal with it.

I went home for lunch, feeling defeated. I ate my leftover naked chicken burrito and petted the kitties. As I got in the car to drive back, I started thinking about Schmells Bargo, and wondering if I shouldn't have just kept the easy job. I knew, even as I was thinking it that I would've hated being there long-term, and that the challenge was good for me. And here's where the title of this post comes in--As I was having those thoughts, pondering what work is for and my purpose in it, lo and behold I drive past a Dordt billboard. I know it's there, on my route to work, but my eye caught it and I had this vision of Gen 300 and task and calling.

Then I laughed out loud at myself. By the end of the work day, 5pm sharp according to the building manager, and no I'm not allowed to stay longer even if I have more work to do, I was feeling a little better organized and a little less overwhelmed. Then I went to the gym, turned the iPod up so loud the guy next to me probably had to listen to Eye of the Tiger too (it's motivating), and worked off the day's stress.

Did I mention how I won a bunch of things at training due to some knowledge and my unrelenting spirit of competition? There is a teamwork Successories mug on my desk to prove it.

Tomorrow is another day, and damn it I'm going to kick ass.