Thoughts About Jobs

Yeah, yeah, so I'm obsessing a little bit about jobs lately. If recent posts aren’t evidence enough, I’ll let you all know that things on the job front are not exactly satisfactory. No detail is needed at this point, I’m sure someday you’ll get the whole story, but for now, all you need to know is that it’s caused me great unrest the last couple of months. Hence, not being able to think or write about much else.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking when it comes to jobs and careers lately. Sure, I still have some high points at work: when the last person walked out the door of our fundraiser a couple weeks ago, and knowing it (logistically) went off without a hitch, hearing about how impressed people are by our youth, or basically anything that has to do with our youth’s successes. I still believe in the organization’s mission and still think what we’re doing is an essential element in the community, some things have just changed.

Today an inkling of satisfaction creeped back into my job. At 7:30 this morning, I spoke to 500+ Nordstrom employees about YB. Yes, it was early in the morning, yes it was at this crazy shopping mall that I get turned around and ultimately lost, every time I go, but I really do like speaking to people about our organization. It breaks up the monotony of office work, and it provides a reminder of why I chose to work at YB in the first place.

On top of that, Nordstrom is a very charitable organization, and it’s always refreshing to see large groups of people, and large organizations, who want to give back to their community. I was able to sit through the store’s entire yearly-all-staff meeting, and what struck me the most was how happy everyone seemed to be. There was this uplifting atmosphere that I realize has been missing from my workspace since July. These people were all excited and joking around, you could tell they felt good about what they did for a living. There’s nothing wrong with retail, I love shopping as much as the next girl (and would love it even more if I had the means to actually shop once in a while) I just know I’d suck at it, so I’ve never considered it as a job option. So watching all these people in this particular field do what they do, and loving it, was just fascinating to me. I realize that somewhere amongst those 500+ people, someone wasn’t 100% content with their job, but the atmosphere was just so different from what I’ve been used to. It really made me think twice about where I’m at in my job and career.

Talking with one of my coworkers last week, got me thinking about the first job I had in high school. I started out bussing tables at Ole’s Pizza and Spaghetti House in my hometown the summer after my junior year of high school. I can remember driving home at the end of every night, smelling like pizza, a salad bar and the deep fat fryer all mixed into one, with sore feet and a little bit of cash in my pocket (which would later turn into a lot of cash when I actually started waiting tables) feeling like I really accomplished something. I don’t know if it was because Ole’s was my first job, but I just don’t get that feeling anymore. I know I had those moments in the beginning at YB, but I can’t even remember the last time I left for the day really feeling good about my job like I did when I was schlepping dirty dishes and jugs of salad dressing. Obviously, I don’t want to go back to bussing and waiting tables for a living, but I do know I want to go home with that feeling again. This isn’t anything profound, but, until a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t realize that was missing, and that’s something I want to get back.

So, you see despite all of my recent whining, it is slowly going away. I know that things need to change, and I am 100% certain that it will change, very, very soon.

I feel like I’m getting back into the groove of things. I’ve got nothing going on tonight, and since it’s only 6:00, you just may get another random post from me tonight.

Oh, you could only be so lucky!