Thursday has arrived. I had to get to the office early again, clients and all. I woke up in darkness. Actually woke up to Bill’s alarm clock and had to ask him to hit the snooze button. I eventually got up soon after Bill, shower, cereal, coffee, email and dress slacks. That was all I was concerned with as puttered around the office. I walked down the street listening to Magical Mystery Tour and strolled through Church Square Park. I walked over to River Street, no need to see Plantain Man, he’s dressing in layers due to the temperature.

Got on the Path train, crowded but I found that I generally get on the train with a good looking guy to peruse and there was a shorty about three feet away from me. He was shorter than me, hence the name ‘shorty’. Nicely dressed, nice shoes, very nice shirt, no tie with a nice pair of shades on his head, not covering his eyes which made me think that his hair is light sensitive. A flaw in this otherwise nice picture. As the train approached Ninth Street, he turned as if to get off the train but he was checking himself out in the reflection of the door glass. It was worth looking at.

Got my bagel and walked onto work, listening to ‘Baby You’re a Rich Man’ and ‘All You Need is Love’. It put me in a good mood. I set everything up in time for clients that were late. Not a big deal, Jenn had come in to temp once again which freed me up for a lot of things. I didn’t rush around, I was feeling pretty good. In the back of my mind I was wondering about Leslie Thompson. I sent her a thank you email and was paranoid about misspellings despite my running spell check a few times before finally sending it.
Alan and Lizzie Borden both asked how my interview went and I had no news to tell.

I was outside having a smoke when my cellphone rang. It was Leslie Robertson offering me the job. Money is about the same as it is now and benefits are comparable. They would like me to start on January 2. I accepted and went inside and called Bill. He was very happy and restrained because he was at work, but I could feel his enthusiasm. I asked him should I give notice today, tomorrow or Monday and he said today, just to get it over with.

I spoke with Donna after I got off the phone with Bill and told her that next week is my last week, my last day will be December 15. She said in her affected British accent, ‘I suppose if you’re not happy you should go.’ She couldn’t tell? She also made me promise to go to the Holiday Party next Thursday., which could definitely make going to work on Friday a challenge. I challenge I might not be able to meet. Sounds like a plan.

It’s Wednesday, the day I’ve been waiting for. A hump day. After being told yesterday about what a lousy job the front desk has been doing by the germaphobe known as Donna, I had my hopes set on going to Bill’s wake for his great aunt Betty. I mean, going to the interview after work. I was scheduled to meet the president of the staffing firm, a Leslie Thomson. But first I had to get through the day. I had to go to work earlier than usual. It was no big deal, I was helping Jean, a nice woman from Ireland by way of England.

She’s always been nice to me so it’s a pleasure to be able to help her. She’ll be someone I miss when I leave. I had a dream last night about another nice person in the office, Bill Moore. He’s from English aristocracy, and very down to earth. It’s the wannabees from England that aspire to aristocracy that are the biggest phonies. In the dream it was Bill Moore who was leaving and I gave him a hug and wished him well while dabbing a tear from my eye. He was quite a help today, and he did a lot of dirty work for me since I was in a suit and tie. For the wake.

It was more of the cleaning out of the storage area cum production room. Jenn didn’t make it in today, claiming flu like symptoms but forgetting that she told me about how she had to go to the Korean embassy to get a new passport since she has dual citizenship. It was ok by me, just more shackled to the desk like I hadn’t been in a while. There was a meeting in the production room, myself, Donna, and a few other numb skulls. They stood around discussing moving this and that and whenever I interjected an idea or told them what I had been doing, it was totally ignored.

These people aren’t friendly, nor are they polite. I just stood there like Homer Simpson with Rock and Roll Part Two playing in my head while they sounded like the schoolteachers or adults in various Charlie Brown cartoons. The meeting ended, nothing accomplished except for Bill Moore rolling up his sleeves and throwing things out. I went back to my desk not really running around since Jenn and I were told that the front desk should never be unattended and since I was the only one at the front desk I dared not move.

I found a file on my computer from the previous occupier from January and I found it very interesting. It was about hiring two receptionists.

Here’s a piece of it,
Receptionists – 8.30 – 5.30
Lunch 12.30 – 1.30
Two part-time (because we have burnt out the last two full-timers).
Graduate, presentable, professional, confident, experienced…
Either two shifts / day – 8.30 – 1.30 and 12.30 – 5.30
(total 10 hours at $20 = $200 x 5 = $1000/week)
or divide the week into full days,
(8 hours at $20 = $160 x 5 = $800/week)
Phones, conference rooms, office supplies, kitchen supplies.

Apparently they needed two part time receptionists since one gets burned out. Guess what? I am the one receptionist. And I am burnt out. Nice salary for part time work. It shows me that they recognize what a hard job it is, and how they don’t do a thing about the situation, they just keep losing receptionists. I’m merely the latest to be heading to that revolving door. It’s like they just keep putting Band Aids on an open wound. Fuck them.

I left the desk unattended at 4:00 like I had stated that I needed to do. Linda was supposed to be covering and she was taking her sweet time. I had to go and get my ride to White Plains to attend the wake, and or, get to the interview. I hopped on the 1 train and was soon in Times Square only a block or so away from where the job is. I got there on time naturally and met Leslie Thompson. We sat in her office and discussed my resume and how well regarded I was by the staff in the office who I had only met last week for about twenty minutes.

As she perused my CV, she asked about the music industry and what kind of music I liked. I answered the Beatles, because it’s true. That set her off. Oh my she loves the Beatles. She proceeded to tell me about how much she liked their new CD, ‘Love’ and what a fun experience she had listening to all 25 tracks. I told her I didn’t get it yet because when ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ came out on DVD a few years ago in November I bought it the first day, upsetting my sister because she was hoping to get that for me for the holidays.

She enjoyed meeting me and basically told me the job was mine after we discussed salary and benefits, she just needed to call Wanker Banker and speak to my supervisor Gillian Wallis for a reference. I called up Gillian once I hit the street and gave her the lowdown to which she said she’d give me a glowing review. Now it goes into the waiting game. Leslie Thompson mentioned that if I didn’t hear from her early next week, I should give her a call. They’d want me to start in January by the way. Cross your fingers.

And thanks for the 4:30 good vibes.