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dolorosa_12Day 21 - Your job and/or school (part 2)
So, I thought I'd split this up as the post about my schooling was getting pretty long.
I've had so many jobs. From the age of 15 I've been constantly employed (the longest I went without a job was one month when I moved from Canberra to Sydney in early 2003).
My first job was two weeks spent filling in during the winter holidays at Mountain Creek, a health-food shop in Griffith in Canberra. I knew the people who ran the shop, as we had been going there since I was seven. They were wonderful, kind hippies. They gave me milkshakes and free food. I had a great time working there, apart from the one afternoon when a woman made me cry. (She wanted pearled barley. I had no idea what it was.)
I then got a job at Bruno's Truffles, a Swiss bakery and chocolate shop which in those days was at the Narrabundah shops. It's since moved to Mawson. I worked at Bruno's every Saturday and during the Easter and Christmas holidays for the next two years, until I finished college. It was a great job. Bruno gave us (me, and an ever-rotating group of teenage girls) a great deal of freedom. He'd go home at about noon, and after that we'd have the shop to ourselves. I had a key to the shop, knew the alarm code, and was responsible for closing it up. My friends K and N, who were slightly older and could drive, were responsible for taking all the money to Bruno's house at the end of the day. We were known as 'the bread goddesses of Narrabundah'. It was pretty cool.
After that I worked briefly in an RSL club canteen in Sydney, and then in an Italian bakery. In both jobs, the (much older) men who washed the dishes asked me out. In the bakery, the owners were drug dealers, and they detested me. I left after two weeks at the RSL club, and two months at the bakery. In both places, I had no respect and no responsibility. In the bakery, I wasn't even allowed into the room where the aprons were kept because it had the computer where the accounts were kept (not the money). Probably had the drugs there too.
At this point, I was 18 and in my first year of uni. I then got a job at Woolworths in Double Bay. God knows how, but I lasted there for over a year. I was miserable. The people who ran the place had an annoying habit of rostering you on for a particular number of hours, understaffing the place, and then calling you up in the morning and asking you to come in early. I wouldn't have minded if they'd originally rostered me on for those hours, but I really resented being hauled out of my house if I hadn't planned for it. We got into the habit of taking the phone off the hook until my shifts 'officially' started, so they couldn't call me. This job taught me never to give an employer my mobile phone number.
Finally I was able to quit Woolworths because I got a job at Croissant D'Or, an absolutely awesome European patisserie that was two doors down the road from my house. I worked there every weekend, and during the weeks leading up to Christmas, for the next three years. In fact, when I moved to Canberra to work full-time, when I was back in Sydney for the weekends, I would work at Croissant D'Or, and when I came back to Sydney in 2008 I worked there again. I worked there for two weeks last year when I was back in Sydney for Christmas. I love the shop. Again, the owners treated me with respect. They were seriously awesome. If customers were rude, the attitude was not 'The customer is always right', but rather 'respect my staff or get the hell out of my shop'. I worked with some pretty cool coworkers, including my own sister, who was fantastic to work with. Sometimes I honestly think I'd be happy just working there for the rest of my life.
During the years I was an undergrad, I also worked as a book-reviewer for a newspaper (mainly reviewing young-adult books) and babysitting two twin boys. I loved both of those jobs.
When I graduated, I got a job sub-editing for the paper for which I reviewed. This meant I had to move back to Canberra.
Initially, the sub-editing job was two days a week, so I got two other part-time jobs: tutoring at Kumon (a maths and English tutoring service; the centre I worked for was the one where I myself had been a student between the ages of 10-15) and working in the food stalls at Cirque du Soleil's show Varekai. Both of these jobs were awesome, Kumon because it was calming and paid very well for the amount of work required, and Cirque because of the amazing energy, the fact that we got to watch the show for free and the music that we listened to while working. I also just really enjoyed working in three different jobs for the variety.
But then I was offered the opportunity to work full-time at the paper, and, for career reasons, chose to do so. I was instantly miserable. I hated the location of the paper's offices (in Fyshwick, which is an industrial centre with not much in the way of cafe culture), the work made me want to tear my hair out, and I found it frustrating that I couldn't leave until a set time, even if all my work was done. I slipped into full depression again.
When I got accepted at Cambridge, I moved back home to Sydney to save money. During this time I worked at five different jobs. I did a bit of remote sub-editing for the paper in the mornings during the week (until 2pm), I worked early morning and afternoon shifts at the after-school-care centre at a local primary school (7-9am, 3-6.30pm), I went back to working at Croissant D'Or on Saturdays and Friday afternoons, I continued writing book-reviews for the newspaper and babysat for the twins. I was so busy I barely had time to think, but again, I enjoyed the variety.
Since being at Cambridge, I've worked in a local Kumon centre (which was appallingly badly run and nowhere near as good as the one in Canberra), I've continued to work as a reviewer for the paper, and I have worked at the English faculty library. This year I'm also going to begin supervising (ie teaching) undergrads in my department.
I've been working now for just under ten years. What I've learnt is that I am capable of enduring just about any kind of job, and would be able to do something I hated if I had to. I've learnt that I will always prefer a bad job with good people to a good job with incompetent or cruel people. I've learnt that I'd rather have a variety of part-time jobs simultaneously, even if it means rushing around a lot, than one full-time job. And I've learnt that the best jobs are the ones where people treat you with respect, and where you feel like you have control over the manner in which you work and the tasks you perform. I plan to take all this into account the next time I have to work full-time.
Day 22 – Something that upsets you
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry
Day 25 – Your sleeping habits
Day 26 – Your fears
Day 27 – Your favorite place
Day 28 – Something that you miss
Day 29 – Your favorite foods/drinks
Day 30 – Your aspirations
So, I thought I'd split this up as the post about my schooling was getting pretty long.
I've had so many jobs. From the age of 15 I've been constantly employed (the longest I went without a job was one month when I moved from Canberra to Sydney in early 2003).
My first job was two weeks spent filling in during the winter holidays at Mountain Creek, a health-food shop in Griffith in Canberra. I knew the people who ran the shop, as we had been going there since I was seven. They were wonderful, kind hippies. They gave me milkshakes and free food. I had a great time working there, apart from the one afternoon when a woman made me cry. (She wanted pearled barley. I had no idea what it was.)
I then got a job at Bruno's Truffles, a Swiss bakery and chocolate shop which in those days was at the Narrabundah shops. It's since moved to Mawson. I worked at Bruno's every Saturday and during the Easter and Christmas holidays for the next two years, until I finished college. It was a great job. Bruno gave us (me, and an ever-rotating group of teenage girls) a great deal of freedom. He'd go home at about noon, and after that we'd have the shop to ourselves. I had a key to the shop, knew the alarm code, and was responsible for closing it up. My friends K and N, who were slightly older and could drive, were responsible for taking all the money to Bruno's house at the end of the day. We were known as 'the bread goddesses of Narrabundah'. It was pretty cool.
After that I worked briefly in an RSL club canteen in Sydney, and then in an Italian bakery. In both jobs, the (much older) men who washed the dishes asked me out. In the bakery, the owners were drug dealers, and they detested me. I left after two weeks at the RSL club, and two months at the bakery. In both places, I had no respect and no responsibility. In the bakery, I wasn't even allowed into the room where the aprons were kept because it had the computer where the accounts were kept (not the money). Probably had the drugs there too.
At this point, I was 18 and in my first year of uni. I then got a job at Woolworths in Double Bay. God knows how, but I lasted there for over a year. I was miserable. The people who ran the place had an annoying habit of rostering you on for a particular number of hours, understaffing the place, and then calling you up in the morning and asking you to come in early. I wouldn't have minded if they'd originally rostered me on for those hours, but I really resented being hauled out of my house if I hadn't planned for it. We got into the habit of taking the phone off the hook until my shifts 'officially' started, so they couldn't call me. This job taught me never to give an employer my mobile phone number.
Finally I was able to quit Woolworths because I got a job at Croissant D'Or, an absolutely awesome European patisserie that was two doors down the road from my house. I worked there every weekend, and during the weeks leading up to Christmas, for the next three years. In fact, when I moved to Canberra to work full-time, when I was back in Sydney for the weekends, I would work at Croissant D'Or, and when I came back to Sydney in 2008 I worked there again. I worked there for two weeks last year when I was back in Sydney for Christmas. I love the shop. Again, the owners treated me with respect. They were seriously awesome. If customers were rude, the attitude was not 'The customer is always right', but rather 'respect my staff or get the hell out of my shop'. I worked with some pretty cool coworkers, including my own sister, who was fantastic to work with. Sometimes I honestly think I'd be happy just working there for the rest of my life.
During the years I was an undergrad, I also worked as a book-reviewer for a newspaper (mainly reviewing young-adult books) and babysitting two twin boys. I loved both of those jobs.
When I graduated, I got a job sub-editing for the paper for which I reviewed. This meant I had to move back to Canberra.
Initially, the sub-editing job was two days a week, so I got two other part-time jobs: tutoring at Kumon (a maths and English tutoring service; the centre I worked for was the one where I myself had been a student between the ages of 10-15) and working in the food stalls at Cirque du Soleil's show Varekai. Both of these jobs were awesome, Kumon because it was calming and paid very well for the amount of work required, and Cirque because of the amazing energy, the fact that we got to watch the show for free and the music that we listened to while working. I also just really enjoyed working in three different jobs for the variety.
But then I was offered the opportunity to work full-time at the paper, and, for career reasons, chose to do so. I was instantly miserable. I hated the location of the paper's offices (in Fyshwick, which is an industrial centre with not much in the way of cafe culture), the work made me want to tear my hair out, and I found it frustrating that I couldn't leave until a set time, even if all my work was done. I slipped into full depression again.
When I got accepted at Cambridge, I moved back home to Sydney to save money. During this time I worked at five different jobs. I did a bit of remote sub-editing for the paper in the mornings during the week (until 2pm), I worked early morning and afternoon shifts at the after-school-care centre at a local primary school (7-9am, 3-6.30pm), I went back to working at Croissant D'Or on Saturdays and Friday afternoons, I continued writing book-reviews for the newspaper and babysat for the twins. I was so busy I barely had time to think, but again, I enjoyed the variety.
Since being at Cambridge, I've worked in a local Kumon centre (which was appallingly badly run and nowhere near as good as the one in Canberra), I've continued to work as a reviewer for the paper, and I have worked at the English faculty library. This year I'm also going to begin supervising (ie teaching) undergrads in my department.
I've been working now for just under ten years. What I've learnt is that I am capable of enduring just about any kind of job, and would be able to do something I hated if I had to. I've learnt that I will always prefer a bad job with good people to a good job with incompetent or cruel people. I've learnt that I'd rather have a variety of part-time jobs simultaneously, even if it means rushing around a lot, than one full-time job. And I've learnt that the best jobs are the ones where people treat you with respect, and where you feel like you have control over the manner in which you work and the tasks you perform. I plan to take all this into account the next time I have to work full-time.
Day 22 – Something that upsets you
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry
Day 25 – Your sleeping habits
Day 26 – Your fears
Day 27 – Your favorite place
Day 28 – Something that you miss
Day 29 – Your favorite foods/drinks
Day 30 – Your aspirations
