Day 47: Temp assignments

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 47: Temp assignments

Yesterday I mentioned that I’m ready to jump out the window because of the awful temp assignment I’m currently doing.

While some people give preference to a full-time job, others think temping is rather cool. By going from one organization to another, one gets to meet a lot of people, the work never gets boring, new things are learned, hours are more or less flexible, and at any time the temp can take time off. It sounds ideal.

Unfortunately, it isn’t. True, temping has a lot of perks, but it also has some down points. There are lots of new beginnings, and new beginnings are usually difficult. 

https://underthetorontosun.blogspot.com/2019/08/day-44-new-assignment.html

Some people temps meet are friendly and helpful, others are rather arrogant. And not all jobs are nice, there have been one or two where I walked out never to return.

Still, the majority of temp assignments are nice and the people are welcoming. Of course, they are welcoming, the temp is there to help out, to make their lives a little easier, to do a job nobody else wants to do.

I remember my very first assignment ever. It was for Flink bakery in Benoni, South Africa. Oh boy, and what an assignment that was.

Every morning the office staff was presented with freshly baked bread with real butter, two types of jam and honey. With it came coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Not in mugs mind you, but in three silver pots along with dainty cups and saucers.

At 10:30 more coffee and tea, along with a selection of muffins, bagels, and tiny pancakes.

At lunchtime, a trolley was pushed in the office holding again warm bread, and a variety of cold cuts and cheeses. 

Coffee and tea to wash it all down.

At 3:00 once again coffee and tea, this time with a huge plate with slices of cake.

I just loved working there and was more than a little sorry when after three weeks the person I was standing in for returned.

My most interesting assignment was working for Ermetek, a military company where I was responsible for typing manuals for tanks. How to take them apart in case of a problem, and how to put them back together again.

Before starting with the company, I had to take the oath of silence. I couldn’t talk about my job to anyone, not my husband, not any member of my family, not with friends, nobody. Not only that, I had to keep this code of silence for 7 years after leaving the company.

Yet another wonderful assignment was working for Lever Brothers. 

Beautiful offices, wonderful people, interesting work, and the benefits … Every month I received a bag with 3 boxes of washing powder, 3 bottles of fabric softener, 3 bottles of detergent, 5 bars of soap, plus some other little goodies. The bag was so heavy, one of the men had to hoist the bag into my car. The day I left, after my 18-month assignment, my department took me out for dinner, and presented me with a dozen long-stemmed roses.

The bottom line is, with temp work you never know where you’ll end up or what is expected of you. When it’s good, you're sorry having to leave, when it’s bad, you know it’s only for a limited time and then you can wave goodbye.

 

Day 44: A new assignment

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 44: A new assignment

They say that all beginnings are difficult and I can attest to that. Take yesterday for instance …

I started a new temp assignment and was sent to 2266 Raspberry Street (not a real address). I looked up the address on Google to find out how to get there and felt confident that all would go well. It didn’t.

For starters, I missed my bus stop. Even though I knew where I was going, I didn’t know exactly where to get off the bus. When it reached Sheppard Avenue though, I knew I’d gone too far and had to backtrack.

After getting off at the right stop, I had to find Raspberry Street, which was easy enough and so was locating number 2266. 

The trouble started when I tried to get into the building. The doors had a security lock and one needed a passcode to get in. Hm, now what? There was no phone to call anyone and there was nobody around.

That’s when I spied two gardeners at work. I tried to persuade one of them to let me into the building, but I was met with ‘Sorry, no English’. Well, I didn’t speak Spanish, so now what? Eventually the gardener’s supervisor showed up, he did speak English and let me into the building.

From there on everything went smooth. I was shown to my work spot, explained what to do and even though it was all new to me I was confident that I could handle it. As a temp one has to be adaptable.

Around 10:00 a.m. I felt like a coffee, but … there was no coffee available. Neither was there tea, juice or even water. My goodness, talk of a problem! So I made my way to the nearest gas station where that boasted ‘Coffee on the go’. Perfect. The coffee wasn’t all that great, but it was better than nothing.

This is why I prefer working in downtown Toronto rather than in the suburbs. Downtown has everything: coffee shops, eateries, and a variety of stores. It has happened that I forgot my comb or lipstick. It may not seem like an emergency to you, but it is to me. If I can't comb my hair I look like Medusa and if I can't touch up my lipstick I look like death warmed up. It's also nice to be able to pick up a lunch, a snack, or anything else one might need.

Anyway, I battled my way through the day, doing this, that and the other, and made it to 4:00 p.m., home time. When I exited the building, I noticed it was pouring rain. A deluge you might say. Now what? I had to make it to the bus stop, but I couldn’t possibly leave the building under these conditions. I had to wait it out until the rain eased up a bit.

When I saw the bus coming, I knew, it’s now or never. Rain or no rain, I had to catch this bus because who knew when there would be another one. Ready, set, go … I sprinted across the tarmac to the bus stop and made it with seconds to spare.

I wasn’t the only one who got caught in the rain, people were dripping everywhere. One or two had brought an umbrella, which I should have done too, but who thinks of taking along an umbrella when the forecast is sunny with 20% chance of rain? Cold and wet I took a seat and shivered all the way home.

Today, things went a lot better. I got off the bus at the right stop, been given a fob I managed to get into the building, and to be on the safe side I brought a jacket and an umbrella. And what’d you think, it’s warm, it’s sunny, with not a cloud in sight.

Day 11: Catching those zzzzz’s

Between You, me and the Lamp Post

Day 11: Catching those zzzzz’s

I’ve started a new job. Nothing to get excited about as it is temporary work, not a full-time job. Why do temp work rather than a permanent position …

At my age nobody will hire me anymore. They can say all they want that age discrimination is dead, I can assure you, it’s very much alive. If I apply for a position and a beautiful twenty something applies for the same position, guess who will get hired.

So I gave up the search for a full-time job and concentrated on temp work. Over the years I build up a reputation and now certain companies as for me by name to come back again, and again, and again.

The company I’m currently working for is one of my least favorites. There’s hardly anything to do and at times I’m so bored I could climb the walls.

And I’m not the only one who is bored.

Take Susan for instance. Susan, an administrative assistant, has her cubicle in a quiet part of the office. By quiet part I mean, not much foot traffic.

Yesterday I needed her help for something and made my way to her desk. When I got there I found Susan bend over her desk, her head propped up on her right hand. She appeared to be reading a document in front of her.

When Susan didn’t acknowledge me I figured that she couldn’t see me, so I moved in a little closer. When there was still no reaction I leaned in and found Susan … fast asleep.

I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I wake her and quietly make my way back to my desk and ask for her help later? As I started to back away, Susan suddenly woke up with a jolt.

Later that afternoon I returned a file to Susan, found her sitting back in her chair, once again … fast asleep. She obviously must have been very tired.

When it was time for us to go home, we congregated by the elevators. Alfred asked Susan how her day had been. “Oh I’ve been so busy I hardly know what to do first,” she said. I didn’t dare looking at her for fear of bursting out laughing.

Then again, Susan is hardly the only one who falls asleep on the job. A few years ago I worked for the Justice Office of Ontario. Every month the Justices of the Peace held a meeting to keep each other up to date on what was happening in the courts. As the minute taker I found this exciting at first, but it quickly got boring. (You try listening to them quibble about how many pleats a Justice of the Peace’s robe should have.)

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who was bored with the meeting. The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud bang, followed by hilarious laughter. One of the Justices of the Peace had fallen asleep, tumbled off his chair and was now under the table. After the man had clambered back onto his chair it was decided that we should break for lunch.

Strange isn’t it, plenty of people suffer from insomnia, but where it comes to napping, they have no problem catching those zzzzzz’s.

Day 166: Think before you pull out your wallet parents

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 166: Think before you pull out your wallet parents

My friends and I got together the other day. Alice was not in a good mood, in fact, she was fuming mad.

“Get this,” she came straight to the point, “Margaret’s maternity leave is almost finished, and she doesn’t want to go back to work. She wants to be a stay at home mom. She’s a qualified chartered accountant and now she wants to quit her job!”

“Do what I did,” Victoria said, placing a calming hand on Alice’s arm. “The very same thing happened with my eldest daughter Cindy. She studied law, passed the bar exam and got hired by one of the big law firms of Toronto. A month later she and Eric got married and three months after that she got pregnant. When it was almost time to go back to work, she announced that she wasn’t going to, that she was going to be a stay at home mom.”

I said “That’s fine honey, but I invested in your future by paying your tuition, amounting to close to $200,000. Now you have a choice, you either go back to work or you are going to pay me back. I won’t charge you interest, but if you’re gonna throw your future away, I want that $200,000 to be paid back to me. And not with $20 a month, we’ll set up a payment plan. We make the amount payable over 10 years, which will amount to $1,666 per month.”

She started laughing and wondered where in the world she was going to get $1,666 a month. I said, “Well honey, that’s your problem. But that’s how it is.”

When she saw I wasn’t joking, that I was in fact deadly serious she wasn’t laughing anymore. When her maternity leave finished, she returned to work. Problem solved.”

I don’t have that problem with my daughter, Angela,” Maggie piped up. “I wouldn’t mind a grandchild, but when I talked to Ruby about it she was having none of it. “Do you think I put myself through university, studied my ass off and worked two jobs just to chuck it all away in a kid?” she said. “Forget it, mom.”

It seems to me that the problem lies with the parents. If mommy and daddy pay for tuition the son or daughter is more likely to chuck their career at the first opportunity than if the student pays out of his or her own pocket. They know what it took to get where they are and are more likely to appreciate it. 

Think before you pull out your wallet parents!

Day 57: How to spot a scam

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 57: How to spot a scam

There are very few people on earth who wouldn’t like a little extra money. Students to pay their tuition fees, the unemployed to have some income, those who are underpaid to earn a little extra, and seniors who want to supplement their income.

Scammers know this and come up with a variety of ways how to put money in your pocket. Usually, it requires registering with a site, doing little jobs, or doing absolutely nothing, and see the money come rolling in. Unfortunately, after all the time and effort you put into registering, you’ll never see one cent.

The latest scam is http://fixwork.online/index.php

The site requires a call name, your address, email address and a name to which you would like your cheques to be made out to. After registration members are provided with a unique code which they are required to post on social media sites. For every hit their unique link gets they get paid $10. Once they reach $300 they can request payment.

Sounds legit, right? Unfortunately, if you stop to think about it for a second, it’s a scam. Who is going to pay you $10 for simply posting a link to a website? Nobody. If you want to earn money, you have to work for it, as simple as that. Something for nothing should send red flags wagging. Or, if something is too good to be true, it usually is.

A sure way to find out if a ‘job offer’ is legit or not, is to simply Google the name of the organization. It’s what I did and I found the following info here:

https://benjisdad.com/is-fixwork-online-a-scam-review

as well as a very helpful video on YouTube here:

That’s the thing with scams, you’re never the first one to fall for it, someone’s been there before you. Some keep quiet about their experience, others post reviews to warn others. Unfortunately, as soon as one scam is exposed, another one pops up. So stay alert and learn how to spot a scam.

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Day 54: Discrimination – Old vs. Young

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 54: Discrimination – Old vs. Young

An HR manager recently posted a message that he had hired a woman over 50 and had taken quite a bit of heat for it from the younger generation. There were a number of comments, I put in my two cents and commended him for his decision. I added that giving the choice between a 25-year-old and a 50-year-old, I would pick the 50-year-old every time.

Most young girls marry, start a family and go on maternity leave several times. Next, the kids get sick and mom has to take time off to look after them. With a 50-year-old, you avoid all that. Women that age are not only experienced, they have grown up children.

Well, when I said as much, I was severely criticized and insulted. It was even said that I discriminated against my own kind. Maybe that’s true, but I’m no stranger to discrimination myself. Over the years I’ve been discriminated against for being too tall, too thin, too young, too old, being from a foreign country, speaking with an accent … you name it, it’s been done.

If I’m partial to older women vs. the younger generation it has a reason, several reasons actually.

Take Tina for instance. Tina’s parents spent close to $250,000 on their daughter’s law school education. She had a brilliant mind, did her articling in one of the top law firms in the city, with a firm job offer after graduation. Six months before she graduated she met a man and married him. A month before graduation she announced she was pregnant and moving to Chicago. Her parents begged her to finish her education. She could practice law in Chicago after the baby was born. But no, Tina didn’t want to listen, she wanted to be a full-time mom. Today she has two children, is divorced and her parents are still paying off her student loans.

Then there’s Betty. Betty is an administrative assistant in a bank. Shortly after she started her job she got pregnant and went on a year’s maternity leave. When she came back she back she announced she was pregnant again and took off for another year of maternity leave. When she came back to work she was already pregnant for the third time and off she went again.

Next up there’s Yasmine. Yasmine also works for a bank, has four children and shows no signs of stopping. Her children range from age 6 to 11. All four go to school and after school they are looked after by their elderly and disabled grandparents. One is blind the other in a wheelchair. When Yasmine comes home from work, she picks up her kids and promptly kicks them out. In spring and summer, they play (unsupervised) in the condo building’s garden, in fall and winter they are banished to the corridor. When it’s time to eat she calls them in and after supper sends them to bed. When asked why the kids have to go to bed so early she openly states that she can’t stand having them around. Well, if that’s the case, why then have four children?

Are there other examples of young people acting irresponsibly? Yes, tons of them, but I think you get the idea. No need to go on and on.

Now women over the age of 50, on the other hand, are a whole different kettle of fish. When they get hired, an organization knows it’s getting value for money. Women who re-enter the job market at that age are either widowed or divorced and need the job for the money. The chances of an older woman quitting because she’s getting married are slim to none, and the chances of her getting pregnant and going on maternity leave are zero.

Other benefits of hiring older women are that they will show up on time, every time. They are experienced, they know what they’re doing, and take pride in their performance.

So, if you want to say that I discriminate against young people, go ahead. My conscience is clear. 

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Day 35: Work experiences

My Writing Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 35: Work experiences 

Where it comes to working experiences, I can entertain you with a string of anecdotes. In the early years as an immigrant in South Africa, it was nearly impossible to get a full-time job, but there was plenty of temporary work.

My very first temp assignment was for an industrial bakery. The bookkeeper wanted some time off and I was sent by a temp agency to stand in for her. One of my responsibilities was to calculate the worker’s wages with the Kalamazoo system.

The office, my co-workers and the work itself were all nice enough, but what really stood out were the perks of this job. 

Every morning at 9:00 the office was served freshly brewed coffee, along with a tray of thickly sliced, warm bread. The tray also held a bowl of real butter, as well as peach, apricot and strawberry jam.

At 11:00 more coffee, this time accompanied by a variety of scones, muffins, and cinnamon rolls.

Between 12:00 and 1:00 employees were served sandwiches with a choice of ham, salami, pate, cheese, or one of five salads.

At 3:00 coffee again, this time with a selection of pastries.

At 4:30, the official end of the day, every employee got a free bread.

I was more than a little sorry when after three weeks the bookkeeper returned to the office and my assignment was over.

A few month later, I was sent to a company where – before I was even allowed to enter the premises – I was called into the security office and was asked to take the oath of secrecy. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I was soon to find out. 

This particular company built military equipment and my job was to type instruction manuals for the soldiers on how to make minor repairs. 

According to the oath, I was not allowed to discuss my work with anyone outside my department and certainly with nobody outside the company. I was to keep this oath for the duration of my stay and 7 years after I left the company. 

The biggest shock was when I came face to face with a tank. I had seen tanks in the movies and on TV of course, but that didn’t prepare me for seeing one in real life. Not only did I feel dwarfed by this enormous machine but I just about peed my pants when I saw its 9-meter (32 feet) gun pointed straight at me. I was teased mercilessly when I returned to the office as white as a sheet.

Life as a temp isn’t all fun and games though. Here in Toronto, I was sent to one of the big law firms for a three- week assignment. Very uncharacteristic of me, I left after just one hour. 

I knew the assignment wasn’t going to work when I arrived at the office and was shown to the desk of the girl I would be standing in for. 

Clearly, she loved spiders as there were spiders everywhere. She had several 8,5 x 11 colorful pictures of spiders pinned to the walls of her cubicle, two black and orange tarantulas were dangling from the ceiling, where a huge plastic (but very lifelike) black tarantula sat next to her computer.

Looking at the setup, I could feel a chill creeping up my spine, while the hairs on my neck and arms were standing up. 

I was supposed to work here! Me, whose terrified of spiders was supposed to work on a keyboard not 3 inches away from long black spider legs!

I tried to be brave and cautiously, from afar, placed a couple of Kleenex tissues over the black monster next to the keyboard, but it was no use, I knew what was under those tissues and even though I knew the spider wasn’t real, it still gave me the creeps. 

I informed the agency and left. As it turned out, three temps before me had done the very same thing.

In yet another law firm the environment was perfect, but the lawyer was a monster. He had a string of do’s and don’ts that included:

His printing had to be picked up every 20 minutes.

His teabag had to soak in hot water for precisely 45 seconds. Not 44 seconds, not 46 seconds, but 45 seconds.

His mail was to be presented to him in alphabetical order.

Cheques had to be stamped at an angle of exactly 45 degrees.

No work was ever to be visible on my desk.

This, of all things, presented the biggest problem. How does one do paperwork without any papers showing?

If these demands weren’t enough, the lawyer was terrible abusive in language. He screamed and shouted insults at the slightest provocation. If chairs weren’t replaced at exactly the right angle around the boardroom table, he would scream at his people for half an hour or more, getting angrier by the minute. If there were only 5 bottles of water instead of 6, this would set him off too.

When I suggested keeping bottled water in the fridge and only placing the bottles in the boardroom shortly before the meeting, I was on the receiving end of his wrath. To me, this made perfect sense as nobody wants to drink lukewarm water, but apparently, the lawyer didn’t tolerate suggestions.

When he came storming from behind his desk, ready to strike me, I got out a there. Verbal abuse was one thing, but I wasn’t risking physical abuse.

In hindsight, I should have let him. If he had struck me I would have had proof of the abuse. As it was, when I filed a complaint against the lawyer and the first thing the lawyer I contacted asked was “Do you have proof?” 

According to the lawyer, he’d seen this all before and a complaint without proof didn’t stand a chance in court.

Later I learned that he did contact the abusive lawyer who promptly denied everything.

I often played with the idea of putting together an anthology of work experience stories. Do you think this would be a good idea?

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Day 27: How to cope with things you’re dreading to do

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 27: Dread – How to cope with things you’re dreading to do

We all have things we don’t want to do or put off for as long as possible. For some people it’s house chores, for others it’s a task around the office, for others still it’s simply getting out of bed every morning. How to cope with things you’re dreading to do often have a simple solution.

Waking up

Few things are worse than waking up early in the morning to an annoying bell of an alarm clock. For a more pleasant awakening experience, select a musical tune on your iPhone. Waking up to music is far more preferable than hearing beep beep beep.

Personally, I hate waking up at 6:00 a.m. in the morning and I think I inherited this from my father. One morning he got so annoyed by his alarm clock, he pitched the bloody thing out the window.

Doing dishes

Ask 9 out of 10 people what their most hated chore around the house is and they might say doing dishes. Why do you think automatic dishwashers became so popular ...

If you have no choice but doing the dishes by hand, make things a little easier on yourself by doing part of the dishes before sitting down to lunch or dinner. 

After dishing up, you can wash the pots, that way after dinner all that’s left to do are the plates and cutlery. 

Or better yet, have your partner or children do the dishes. Hey, you cooked the meal, it’s only fair that someone else takes care of the clean-up.

Ironing

Another much-hated chore is ironing. The iron may have become more sophisticated over the years and lighter to handle, but it’s still a boring activity that takes its toll on one’s lower back and leg muscles. 

In all my life, I’ve ever come across one woman who stated that she loved ironing. She loved it so much, she ironed everything, from her husband’s underwear to his jeans. 

If you’re like the rest of the population and think ironing is boring, watch something on TV while you’re behind the ironing board or listen to an audiobook. You’ll be surprised how much more enjoyable ironing is while your favorite author is whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

Around the office

Personally, I love filing, but a surprising number of people hate it. I used to too until I decided to change my routine. Shortly after I started with the company, my filing basket was groaning under a number of papers and it took me hours to create order out of chaos. 

When I was finished I vowed never again to let this happen. From that day forward I did my filing daily. Usually, it took me less than 10 minutes to have everything in its proper place.

Going to the gym

Many people know that they should go to the gym to lose weight or simply stay in shape, but they keep putting it off. They’re too tired, they have too much to do, they don’t have the right clothes, they hate going alone ... you name it and they’ll use it as an excuse.

Fact is, once you’ve been to a gym, you’ll want to go again and again. If you don’t like going alone, ask a family member, a friend, a colleague or even a neighbor to come along. They might feel the way you do and might just be waiting for an invitation.

If you don’t have anyone to accompany you, go anyway, chances are before long you’ll hook up with someone who is alone too.

Going on a diet

Most people have gone on a diet at one time or another in their life and failed spectacularly. In most cases, that’s because people tend to be way too hard on themselves. They make their diet so strict that within a matter of days their good intentions go out the window. Or they don’t see results quick enough and hurt their toes by kicking the scale in a dark corner.

The right way to go about a diet is to make an appointment with a dietician. These people are trained professionals who can advise you on losing weight the healthy way. They can also recommend the right book for your weight loss program.

For everything you dread to do there’s a solution. If you can’t think of anything practical, give yourself a reward once you’ve dealt with something.

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