it was okay. very unorganized. i still dont even know what my hours are.
before i went in, i had to stop at 19th and market to pick up materials for my drug test. i had to be there at eight. i was outta there by 8:10.
from there, i walked on down to 9th and chestnut to get the day's training started. i have no idea how long we (the new hires from the agency) are supposed to stay in training. today we were in it for all of 15 minutes. and that's after i sat and waited for an hour for the instructor and the training to being. finally someone came in, but they weren't alerted to the fact that at least two of the people in the room (myself and a guy named franklin, who i initially saw when i went to the staffing agency's office to be tested). franklin is... interesting. he shall be described and discussed a little later on.
so anyway, franklin and i knew absolutely positively nothing about anything the instructor stand-in was talking about. i soon caught on tho; i mean the stuff isnt that hard (i'm a claims adjuster, by the way. aren't u jealous? :/ ).. but she's up there ramblin on and on about ITS and MHS and IBC's and 123's and who knows what else. franklin and i were the only completely new hires; everybody else in the room has been working with the company for awhile already.
so not long after we told the lady that our canvases were completely blank, the actual instructor finally came in. we were pulled out and sent to the instructor's desk so that she can give us our fundamental necessities (photo ID, computer login IDs, etc.). we got none of that. instead, she put us on some lady named miranda's team, introduced us to a lady named mary, and told us to go to lunch and see mary once we got back so that we could get our ID's and then be paired with someone to shadow for the day. or, we had the option of leaving and going on home after we got our ID's and stuff. franklin and i decided to stay for at least an hr to show the initiative and interest that we're pretending to have.
now i shld say, we were told this at 12:15. lunch is at 1 pm. ends at 2. so we basically got a 2 hr lunch today. franklin treated me to a nice little buffet spot near the office where we ate and waxed poetic and philosophical and all that stuff.
so. about franklin. franklin is a salesman. he's got the personality for it; very outgoing and slightly intrusive in the way that salesmen must be to get your attention, even when its clear that you dont want to give it to them. he makes conversation with everybody. *everybody.* it's a little annoying, but hey, that's what u need to do to network, and that's all he talks about. network network network.
he's harmless enough, though. i guess. i kinda like talkin to him for pretty selfish reasons; he hangs on nearly everyword i say and looks at me like im thee smartest person on god's green earth. we talked about lots of things over lunch (i mean hell, we had two hours)--my time in kentucky, black nationalism, feminism. i felt like a supergenius. and it felt cool to have that attention paid to me. he's kinda... out there though. a couple times he went off on some tangents about numerology, astrology, the 'numerous higher beings' there cld be up there in the sky, and how he heard that jews are the real devils because they own everything.
*blink*
..i didnt touch those.
so yeah, he's type odd and slightly cornballish, but he's young and it feels good to have somebody there around my age, and plus i feel like i already have a colleague there, which is good.
im a bit worried though. he invited me to lunch, 'respectfully,' because i'd told him i have a boyfriend, but at the little buffet place we went to, the lady tried to ring my meal up separately (note: i initially insisted on paying, but he refused harder than i protested, so i gave in). i said to her, 'oh, we're together.' and he tapped me on my shoulder and said, 'dang, i like the sound of that!' then said he was just playing, of course. then at the table he did the whole 'take off your glasses/wow/what color are your eyes?' thing, which i found corny b/c they're clearly doo doo brown. its hard to mistake doo doo brown for anything else.
so im keepin franklin at a 'respectable' distance as any 'respectable' girl would.
we got back at 2 and went to mary's desk for our logins, as instructed. but, for some reason, she sent us straight to the desks of the people we were to shadow. so, no logins. no id's. nunna that. im very unimpressed with how they integrate new employees into the company thus far, but whatever. im gettin paid well; i can put up with 2 hr lunches and leavin early.
mary put me with a woman named starr. starr is an older lady, kind of grandmotherly looking. gray headed and lazy eyed. dark skin, bright white hairs sprouting for her second chin. not too attractive, but she was really nice and patient with me. i'd managed to make it through a whole hour and a half before i decided to go ahead and get up and leave; then we started chit chatting, and she started asking me questions about myself when i told her where i was from. one of the last questions she asked me was:
'are you saved?'
.... i HATE being asked that question. i hate it because the ppl who ask it, in my experience, tend to be fundamental fanatics who consider it their personal godly mission to save u if u tell them u havent been saved. this happened to brittany and i as we were sitting on the sign on one occasion. when she asked me that question i hestiated in answering and flashed back to that moment; i then decided that i really dont want to worry about being missioned to everytime i come in to work, so in order to keep things as simple as possible for me/her (cause i wldnt want her to waste her time), i smiled and nodded my head yes.
she laughed. 'ha ha! now how did i know that?'
i have no idea why she thought that.
but, i went along with it and moved to gather my things, but she said to me, 'there are some more of us here,' and then started introducing me to people as she picked them out and pointed at them. 'this is tracy; she's a bible thumper too.'
.... dude.
yeah. it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
and i think she's gonna try and hook me up with her son; she kept telling me about him, showin me pictures of him. 'this is my boo boo! he'll be 23 his birthday.. oh, his birthday's in april too! isn't he cute?'
yo, dude is NOT cute. like.. his head is square shaped and his hairline like almost touches his eyebrows. maybe i'll tell her im dating a minister. i already lied once, right? what harm cld it do?
well i guess technically i didnt lie. i have been baptized. do that count? no? oh.
so anyway, i left at 3:30 and came on home. when i got here, i opened up my email. rewind to about a week ago, maybe two. i see this ad for a G L O R I O U S job as a dental receptionist in center city.
no dental exerience needed. $14.50 an hr *to start* weekly, quarterly, and monthly bonuses benefits no late nites no weekends free trip to florida once a year, completely free.
man, i applied to that shit SO. HARD.
heard nothing.
..until today. they wanna interview me. my dream job wants to interview me and they dont let me know until my first day on this craptastic job.
%$@^&$%^*%&
but!
the angels have smiled on me: the interviewing will take place between 6 and 8 pm.
i am SO goin to that interview. and if i get it? i am SO quittin this job @ the insurance company.
so pray for me.
and i made a hair appointment for friday after work, too, but... she said it's gon be $70. iont know if i can come up offa that. plus i gotta buy a new flat iron, too.. that's a lotta money. so im thinkin bout just gettin a good flat iron, washin my hair, and having them trim it at the shop friday, and then when it's safe, i'll give doin my own perm a shot.
sound like a good deal?
i hope so. somethin must be done.
so, that was my first day. as a reward for sitting thru all this jibba jabba, i give u this: video of the aftermath after my big big ol brother sat on me before he left home after thanksgivin break. http://youtube.com/watch?v=9lEPgi_3reU
