Workplace 8 - Socks, jocks and....

 

So now I'm going to ruin the timeline continuity of this blog but I'd totally forgotten about this job until recently.
During high school I was friends with a girl that lived next door and her aunt owned a ladies underwear store at Lutwyche. Obscure means for getting jobs I have!

I did some weekend work for her, basic things like stocking
shelves, opening and sorting new stock etc. Just the junior stuff. Probably giggling a lot too. Occasionally someone would come out of a dressing room half dressed and ask me to tighten a strap or can I get this in a 14C? and I'd get all embarrassed coz 15's an awkward age for girls. I remember it being a relaxed fun place to work, all the ladies were pretty cool.
I think it's hard to take things too seriously when you're surrounded by lingerie!

According to my gorgeous Mum, my big contribution to the store was that they got a lot of girls in with limited English and they could understand me. This sounds crazy because normally no one can understand teenage girls but I grew up in a house with a constantly changing stream of international students. Waking up in the morning and finding a foreign stranger in my kitchen wasn't cause for alarm, it was life. So when international students came through I'd learnt how to lose the Aussie accent and communicate through sign language enough that I could help them. I think the other staff were relieved to not have to try and deal with to be honest!

A long suppressed memory that this has brought up is of our cross dressing regular. He would come in, all make up and dresses and high heels, mosey around the store picking out some new items, try them one, ask our opinions on whether this fit, how was the colour etc. I'm not sure that at that age I was equipped with appropriate response mechanism's yet. I hadn't developed the automatic acceptance of the true store assistant in the face of anyone with a wallet yet. With no idea how to greet this person, what size I thought s/he was... I resorted to stocking/tidying the store in opposite corners whenever he came in and, as always, giggling a lot. I'm a cheerful person. I like to giggle =)

The benefits of working in a ladies delicates store are:
Cheap underwear! (If you're a lady, or into that) Want a different bra for every outfit? Want to match every day of the month? Done. Also, they'll fit properly. It's kind of amazing if you've been buying bra's that you THOUGHT were right for you to suddenly have bra's that ARE right for you. Life is beautiful. BTW, if you've never known: the number = the size around under your bust, the letter = cup size. Unfortunately that's about all I remember....

The downsides for being a 'smalls' merchant:
I know any guys still reading this are imagining that I'm talking about working in the wardrobe room of a Victorias Secret magazine shoot. Most of these women look like you're Mother. Or Grandmother. Or, as mentioned, your Uncle.
So that's got rid of the guys.
If you're nervous around naked people, don't like touching people, or giggle at the sight of tiny red lacy things, you might want to check out some of my other blogs or wait til I write a job review that's more relevant.

Workplace 7 - Good with Kids?

In one of my frequent looking-for-a-new-job periods, I mentioned my situation to a friend of mine. She turned out to be the director of  a fantastic little childcare centre in St Lucia called Munro's. She offered to give me a few shifts here and there and so my seventh job began.

I like kids. They're noisy and energetic and creative and their problems are simple. And kids seem to like me. I think it's because I'm noisy and energetic and creative and I pay them attention. So we get on well.

I'm not saying that the staff I met there, who were beautiful, caring women that I have a lot of respect for, weren't paying attention. They were, but it was to dangerous situations and crying children and needy children. Being a childcare worker is an exhausting and difficult job. I think I've had enough experience in different industries to say that it's the hardest job I've ever done.  (If I come across a harder one, I'll revise) So finding the energy and motivation to seek out the quiet, well behaved kids, or to keep up with the "A.D.H.D." ones, becomes near impossible. 

I like to imagine that I was a welcome relief for the ladies in the 2-3yo's room. The 'hyperactive' kids (somehow always boys? Isn't that weird....) were my FAVOURITES. We built forts, played endless tag, pretended we were in jungles and generally ran riot. It was awesome! And after lunch, at nap time, they slept. This sounds obvious but these were the kids that never slept in the daytime. The staff had had to accommodate them and triy to keep them quietly reading books in the corner while all the other toddlers passed out. When I was there however, everyone slept. Even me. I was knackered. 

I worked at Munro on and off for the next few years. My friend would call me up when staff went on holidays, or I'd call her when I was looking for some more hours and I'd meet a whole new group of kids. Sometime I'd find kids that I'd looked after in the baby's room were now in the toddlers room. Was cool watching them grow up in little snap shots. And while I know this is just a job review I have a few opinions of childcare that I've formed and would like to share.

I like the idea of childcare to teach young children, particularly single kids, to share, interact etc. All those social interaction skills. What breaks my heart was the kids that were there from 7am to 6pm, every day. I try not to judge the parents, life is hard and I'd like to think that they would be with their kids if they could. The devastation on a young child's face as they're left behind is hard but worse was how, at the end of the day, they'd pretend to play next to the gate, jumping up each time it opened, only to be left til last. I can't agree with parents that do that and I worry about those kids. 

I was sympathetic to the parents that had to do that until one day I overheard my friend being loudly abused by a parent because the childcare centre wasn't open on Christmas Day. "Christmas should be mandatory! I want to be enjoying my day, not stuck with my kids!" 

Later, I asked her about it and she told me that she gets that a lot. Every year. 

I wanted to be sick.

Anyway. I could rant more but then this blog would be angry and painful to read so how about I move onto some of my favourite moments? 

Also here's a cutie photo of my nephew to make you smile again =)

My best memories all seem to be of the quiet kids.

We (the hyper boys and I) were playing jungle one day. This basically involves picking your favourite jungle animal and then going around the playground as it. Lions, tigers, bears, elephants - anything big and noisy and dangerous was popular. There was a small, quiet boy that used to watch the louder boys play and he came up to me and very quietly asked if he could play and would it be ok if he was a butterfly? Watching him gently flapping around through all these tigers and bears was hilarious!

Another little boy hadn't said a word the whole time I was there. He played by himself and didn't make a mess and if someone took his toys off him he just moved onto playing somewhere else. The kind of child that childcare staff dream of. But the other thing he never did was smile. So I started trying to bring him out a little more, involve him with the other kids, play games with him. And over a few weeks, he started letting out a personality and becoming more outgoing. It was astonishing to me to see the confidence and enthusiasm he developed so quickly. Just from some individual attention he become a totally new child. Still well behaved and great to have in the room but now he was also fun and cheeky and creative. 

So. After that long winded recounting, in summary:

Work in childcare if you like kids. If you are patient, creative and energetic.

Don't work in childcare if you like things tidy, clean, quiet and you need a chance to sit down regularly. 

Also, even if you love kids, don't work in childcare long. It ruins your faith in people and your enjoyment of the job. 

Workplace 6 - Italian Adventures

I spent two days working for a small, family run, Italian restaurant. I have no idea how/why the job happened but I was going to be a waitress.

For the first time I donned the international uniform of wait staff - black pants, white shirt, hair in a ponytail, and excitedly turned up to my first shift.

My diary entry for that night reads:
"5pm. Start at Ginos. So much fun! Earnt $2.20 in tips"

This was apparently awesome for me. I remember the $2.20 in tips was important as they didn't actually pay me for the nights work. Oh, to be young and easily exploited again! I've come to suspect that the words "trial", "training period", and "junior" are what the hospitality industry run on. And as you read on you'll become aware that the tip was undoubtably due to a chirpy "It's my first night!" into the face of some perplexed but good natured customer.

Anyway, I remember being confused a lot, trying in vain to remember the abstract and mysterious table numbering system. It started with 1 in the corner at the front and then kind of spiraled around the room to the centre, then jumped to the opposite side of the next room over and numbered back down towards the back corner. Once you've been completely confused by this, there were little alcoves hidden around numbered randomly with no reference to the rest of the restaurant. And because the family that worked there KNEW this system so perfectly, there were no numbers on tables thus leaving their hapless trial staff completely stuffed.

So that first night, I spent the last few hours polishing and wrapping cutlery out the back, a repetitive and easy task that no one can actually muck up. I was at that level of service. The one you hide out the back and give the simple tasks. Around me the kitchen created and sent out carb filled tomato creations that tore at my stomach and more experience wait staff moved back and forth like monochromatic conveyer belts. They sent me home when I ran out of knives.

Cue, second shift. My diary for that date reads
"GINOS --> Got paid $60"

Thrill! A second shift AND they paid me! Clearly I was onto a win here. The second shift went roughly the same way as the first. Stand out of the way by the kitchen a lot, get confused by tables, look blank at any questions and eventually retreat to cutlery wrapping. I could get used to this, I thought.

But it was not to be.  Shift two was my last, I never heard from them again.
The restaurant is still there tho, so if you want to cut your teeth on a waitressing position that only pays tips and who's numbering system is somewhat illogical, there would be a great place to start.

Bon Appetit!

Workplace 5 - Mobile Rejuvination

After high school I did a Massage Therapy course and when I failed at being a Skirmish Selling Superstar! (See last blog) I returned to Brisbane and started one of those jobs that are considered 'long term career' in my work history.

Rejuvinators Health Massage is a fantastic company. 

Each week I would tell them what hours I was available to be on call, and they would send me job details by txt. And massage pays well. Much better than whatever all my friends were doing in their first year at uni. So I found myself earning about as much as I do now (hmmm should I have made more progress in 7 years...?) and only working the hours I wanted. It was a pretty sweet gig. 

So I'd get a txt, uniform up and head off. Most of the jobs were in hotels and the staff looked after the Rejuv girls so well. I got to know most of the receptionists and concierges fairly well. They'd unpack my car, taking it off to be parked in some mysterious hidden area hotels have and someone would take me up to the room.

Now I realise you're probably thinking "What is she thinking? She just turns up to hotel rooms on call? This is sounding like the seediest job ever!" 

But really, it was ok. Rejuvinators look after their staff and the hotel crews were pretty awesome, checking up if we were late etc. And most of the people that I met were lovely. Couples on holidays, people on business trips, athletes travelling for competitions. I got to really enjoy the surprise of who I was going to meet next as it was always such different people. I'd get to talk to a stranger for an hour and I learnt lots of random things during that year. Or they would just sleep which is great for a masseuse. 

Some memorable jobs I went on were: 

• A lady who swore at me the entire massage but didn't want me to stop hurting her as she really needed to work out her back
• Massaging Geoffrey Rush. I was nearly an hour late and when I got to the hotel half a dozen staff came with me up to the room, using any excuse, such as carrying my gear or needing to push the elevator button for me and I had no idea what was going on until he opened his room door. He was lovely, blamed my lateness on traffic and slept through the whole thing. Win!
• A man who wanted his massage on the tiny balcony that his hotel suite had. The room was quite high in the city and I soon had an audience of people in nearby high-rises waving and acting out and playing charades. The guy on the table had no idea but it was quite entertaining for me!
• A lady who ordered two massage therapist to be at her room at 3am and when we arrived she was nowhere to be found. After about half an hour of searching she was finally located on one of the high roller tables and could we come back in a couple of hours as she was on a winning streak? We said no, got paid the full amount and left. Inconvenient but an easy job!
• And a couple on their 60th wedding anniversary - awwww =)

So it was interesting work, lots of variety in terms of people and location and very flexible hours. Obviously the more I was available, the more I could earn so that was good. I worked at Rejuvinators for about a year and really enjoyed it most of the time. 

If you like the sound of this job, you will need some sort of Massage Therapy qualification and reliable transport. Rejuvinators will provide additional training so that you know what you're doing. The ability to make small talk with strangers and knowing when to shut up will also be of benefit. In return you'll make good money and choose when you work. Also you'll see some of the gorgeous hotel rooms scattered around the city.

Alongside these perks however you will spend lots on fuel and washing, and need regular massages yourself due to carrying around a table and bag of equipment. And every so often someone will ask if you do extras and you will have to resist the urge to break their spine as they lie on the table. Also at some point, one of the required oils will leak in your car and you will go everywhere smelling like peppermint or lavender or orange oil. That's not so bad tho!

Workplace 4 - Sydney

I feel this post holds an important message if you are ever seeking a job.

If you are on any of the lovely and helpful job websites and notice an advertised position has these characteristics:

• Too many CAPITALS AND EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!!!!!! (ie giving off the vibe that it was written by a puppy on speed)
• Uses phrases like: "Superstar", "Craziest most FUN place to work!!", "Have the X FACTOR quality?" and "DREAM TEAM!" (all direct quotes - for more type in 'backpacker' to any job search website)
• All the salaries are attached to "OTE" (On Target Earnings or Over the Top Exaggerations)
• And they don't actually say what you will be doing - just that you need to be AWESOME and they only have 18+ positions left!!!!!!

Then you will be doing something like what I did for four days during a trip to Sydney.

At the start of each day we turned up at the very funky office (bar included) and were pep-rallied on our task for the day by the same speed driven puppy that obviously wrote the ad. After this, all bright eyed and disorientated we were broken up into teams (gangs) and allocated our merchandise (weapons) for the day.

Then, in our multi-cultured (backpacking) group of about half a dozen, we would take the train to our designated area (turf) for the days work (harassing).

Once on location, we would spread out to maximise efficiency of our impact and then would politely approach (yell at) potential customers (innocent bystanders) with the intention of enriching their lives (our pockets) with a bargain (probably still overpriced) opportunity to buy TWELVE GAMES OF SKIRMISH!! WOW!

Incredibly, enough people aimlessly wander through the central areas of Sydney waiting to be convinced that  they need a dozen games of skirmish to make this particular approach worthwhile for whole teams of people, day after day. 

Which is not to say that we weren't told to piss off 19 times out of 20 but if you persist you will find that bored, rich, feeble minded person that is the mainstream market of the Superstar Street Hawker!!

The highlight of this job was running into The Cat Empire in Darling Harbour before their concert. They were very friendly and didn't want to buy any games of skirmish, thank you. We also made friends with a group of English lads and went with them to a pub where they proceeded to cry over losing the World Cup.

It was a great job for seeing the different parts of Sydney and I had some lovely, non skirmish related, conversations with randoms on the street. I learnt that no one actually comes FROM Sydney, they all go there from somewhere else. It also taught me that I don't like sales and I'm not particularly good at it as I didn't manage to sell a single skirmish pack over my 4 days. 

So, if you want a job that is in the fresh air, if you are extroverted, or introverted and don't want to be, like to get exercise while you work (ie, be on your feet all day) and take abuse in your stride - YOUR A SUPERSTAR AND THIS IS THE JOB FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If, however, you don't like the idea of people swearing at you, you do like to sit down, and you haven't got an accent or the personality of afore-mentioned puppy on speed, maybe some other job would suit you better.

Workplace 3 - The Christmas Rush

Hands up if you remember Boccoo. Teen clothing store with a monster mouth as the entrance?

Anyway, I was a 'christmas casual' at Bocoo at the end of grade 11. I know! I was already cheating on my first job with another job! I was clearly cut out for job-whoredom. But you can make your judgements of my work morals later.

I only have a few memories of this whirlwind position:

1) The clothes. Apparently, when you work in a clothing store, they expect you to wear their stock. I see the logic in this however I didn't like any of the clothes there. At all. I think most shifts I turned up really early and then wandered around til I found something I could stand wearing for that shift and bought it. Yay staff discounts! Since them I've only aimed at stores where I want the clothes anyway.

2) I remember my brother picking me up after my first shift and grinning at me as I excitedly told him every single thing that had happened in the last 4 hours. He sagely informed me that jobs don't stay that exciting, it's just at the start. He was right.

3) And randomly, I remember having a conversation with a lady who beamingly told me that she'd "just set up her Christmas Tree!" Further conversation revealed that she'd actually found a stick in the garden, filled a bucket with mud, jammed the stick in it, and then stapled some tinsel to it. She was laughing so hard as she told me, and was so proud of her creativity. I loved the randomness of it.

When I think of Bocoo, the greatest theme was how much I enjoyed interacting with customers - chatting to people, finding out what they'd bought, where they were going for Christmas, just everything. I really learnt to like people. And in retail of all places! But people are always my biggest buzz. I hope there's some teenage kids out there now finding that.

So, if you would like to work at Bocoo:

Pros - again, easy work. Folding clothes, chatting to people. Unless your incredibly shy or more of a 'it looks better crumpled" kind of person.

Cons - Bocoo seems to no longer be in business. This might make it tricky. Also, you may not like the clothes and you will be paid peanuts.

Good Luck!