I'm Not Ready

I relish my four days off.  I spend time with the trees, the birds and the squirrels, rarely having human conversation.  I meditate and remain as still and peaceful as possible.  I need those days to prepare me for the bedlam that awaits me come my Friday work day.

It doesn't matter whether 30 or 200 people are checking in on Friday.  I know as soon as I walk in the door I will be slammed with swirling chaos.  Part of it is because it is Friday and some of the full time staff are making sure all their work is done for the weekend.  It is a Friday frenzy so they can be worry free over the weekend.

A larger part is because there are too many people trying to work in too small a space.  The office/store is set up with two phones, two chairs and two computers.  The space behind these work stations barely allows for one person to move back and forth as needed.  When I come to work I make a third person and an hour later another employee clocks in which makes for four people.  Do the math, and there are two people with their fingers up their butts (as Jean would say).

Now, the reasoning behind the four employees at the same time, and overlapping for several hours, is that this is the busiest time of the week.  Because it is so busy, two people will be working the outside booth for check-ins and two people will be in the store answering the phones and taking care of store purchases.  This is reasonable and logical.

However, I must always remember that this is the Hood, aka the Fun House.  It is the craziest of crazy places and if people don't want to work in the booth, why then of course, don't open the booth.  To my knowledge management does not question why the booth is not open and there are two extra employees milling around the store, underfoot and idle.  It makes no sense but what it does do is add to the general air of confusion and disorganization.  The seasonal help see this happen week after week, but the full time employees rule the work place and they are the ones that say when and if this magical booth opens.  I have learned to keep my mouth shut and stay out of the way.  But that is why I know that on any given Friday, chaos will reign.

And because I know this, I rest as much as possible on my four days off.  But this week has been particularly busy.  There was the trip to Sandy on Tuesday which ate up a big chunk of the day and then Wednesday I had to deal with the multiple steps of straightening out my pay check's direct deposit.  My cell phone has died so I am dealing with getting a new battery and then there was the extra laundry since rugs needed to be washed and on and on and on.  Just one of those weeks.

I deal with whatever comes my way, nothing else to do, but I do not feel as rested as I usually do on my Thursdays.  But come tomorrow I will once again enter the bedlam. 

Oh, I am so not ready.