New part-time job Working for a big box US home improvement store. My first weekend: interesting.→[More:]

There is little about this position that matches any of my prior jobs/career. While I have an advanced degree in architecture, at this job, I’m the weekend facility support person; which means everything from making sure there’s soap in the dispenser to running the zamboni to clean the floor to whatever the MOD (manager on duty [OMG is there ever jargon to be learned] ) asks of me.

At this point, I’m thinking this position is the best of all since I don’t have to run a cash register. I’m walking almost all day both inside and outside the store, rather than stuck in one location. I am getting paid to exercise: walking about 5 hours a day – SCORE! – awesome except for the very sore hip which was a problem before. And, my position is weekend only, so the regular weekday guy gets the big stuff. He’s the only one who knew enough to train me, so it was very un-corporate. Good guy, with whom it will be good to time-share a position. He even suggested walking the perimeter /exterior as both part of the duties and also as a good break. Now I see why.

People. Lots of people. More people than I’d imagined. Too many people. I don’t want to think about people. I’ve not spoke to this many people in the last 2 months. Seriously. People. Interaction. You smile at everyone and greet every fellow employee or customer. I’m going to have to build my ability to socialize since I’ve been mostly a hermit. Argh, it’s overload to my solitary quiet self. People, all needing a smile. People everywhere. All about people.

The corporate culture is interesting for me. I had a bachelors degree in Sociology so observing big groups is so terribly fascinating. And I am partly outside, since my position takes me all over. I’ll have to digest more to be able to form any cohesive thoughts about this particular group. Standard for any large organization is the jargon for everything; i.e., MOD stands for Manager On Duty, etc. so I can already see the differentiation of the employee group from the public.

The weekend customers are homeowners, while the weekday customers tend to be construction industry types. Therefore, it seems the corporation has figured out staffing to meet the different needs: weekday mornings in the lumber yard and corporate sales are very busy; while weekend mid-days/afternoons are the busiest. I already knew from personal experience that date-night (Saturday) was the best time to go and not be faced with crowds – that’s when Tom and I would go if we needed something.

I’ll bore you with occasional reports as/if I find anything else interesting/worth distilling. Not likely that I'll Get my own f#ing blog... As is, I’m ready for a nice soaking bath to remove the day’s worth of sweat and grime.