Honeymoon's Over

My sister's on her honeymoon this week. I envy her visit to tropical paradises with the man of her dreams. However I, too, have been on a honeymoon these three weeks. Not quite in the same way as she, but a honeymoon nonetheless. I have been working at a new job.

Week 1 -

The first day nerves evaporated by afternoon when I felt a rush of enthusiasm. My boss had just told me (with a funny look on his face when I asked) that we work 40 hours a week. All the time! And then he said we work flex time, so I can come in at 6:30 and leave at 3:30 - no traffic! I wasn't necessarily busy all week, but it was all new and exciting. I was trying to get to know the poeple, and I was trying to learn everything I could. The last thing I wanted was for them to regret hiring me!

On Day 2 I felt a little nostalgia for my old job. This nostalgia came mostly in a longing for Microsoft Outlook and perhaps a Windows operating system that hadn't been made while I was still in college. Although Office 2003 arrived on my computer by the end of the week, it really seemed quite unreasonable to me that no one had told me the company used Lotus Notes for email before I accepted the job. (What can I say, I'm an accountant and can't handle change!) However, when I left my job on Day 2 at 4:00 - let's just say no more nostalgia.

Week 2 -

I continue to feel a little odd. I also continue to learn until, by the end of the week, I can do most of my routine tasks by myself - if I had system access. Although my work is different in form, I still don't feel much different than I would have felt the first week or two of working at a new audit client. My coworkers would have all been entirely new. The place would have been new. And our workload would start out light-ish.

I begin working early and am loving my free time. I am a person again. That's the only way to say how I feel, and I want to shout it from the rooftops, "I am a person again!" I hadn't realized until now how my last job had taken that feeling from me. I knew when I was working there that I was not Sarah. But I didn't know just how much the company had contrived to squash everything good about, well, life. I joined the church choir, read, played my crossword puzzle, and generally wasted time. It was great.

Week 3 - The Honeymoon Ends

No matter how much you love your job, coming to work after a 4-day weekend is always going to be hard, especially if you wake up at 5:15. I found out this week that the reason we work 40 hour weeks is because we work hard during our busy times, and our non-busy times are...well...not busy. So when my manager said we were adequately staffed, he meant (at least in my former world's terms) overstaffed. Still...loving the job.

And then I had a bad day. Lack of sleep and caffeine combined to put me in an emotional state by Wednesday that little things threatened to make me cry. My coworkers play a game of Jeopardy each day where they answer questions on a calendar. They play all year long and track their points! I finally had the courage to ask my cube-mate to play along (I LOVE trivia), and I got a fairly blunt and unappologetic, "No."

The day went downhill from there. I can't remember all the specifics, but I think my manager patronized me, I did something wrong, and I didn't have much to work on.

But then I went home at 3:30 and it got all better.

You see, I can be generally happy at anything I do. Which doesn't mean a bad day doesn't come along now and then? So when it does, it's nice to know that the day will end as soon as possible - 8 hours after it began. I can go do something that will get my mind off of work, instead of living work and then sleeping and dreaming about it.

So the honeymoon's over. I have learned that my job is not perfect. I will have to work to grow relationships here, just like anywhere else. I will have to find ways to entertain myself in the slow times, while hopefully impressing management along the way. However, I do not regret my decision to be here, and if I ever do, all it takes to put me straight is one look at the clock.