Six years later....

Well, what an interesting couple of months. It is almost the end of 2009 and I am still wondering where the year went? What did I do this year? Well, I work as a temp for a year, still with no out-look of being hired full time; I turned 25, and yet still remain looking like I’m 17; oh and I am still living with my parents even though a year ago I said I would only live with them for 6 months to a year. Where did the time go?

This past weekend I was reunited with many of my high school alums, sadly at a memorial service. In retrospect it was a rather odd scenario. While I was catching up with all of my classmates I was having a great time, other than the nature of the reunion. It was so much fun hearing what everyone was up to, where they had been and most of all to see that a good number of them were at the same place in life that I am! That same place being: living with their parents, exploring where their career is headed, either going back to school or contemplating it, and just trying to ride of the poor economy and consequently the poor job market.

A really interesting part that I did not expect from the gathering is the flood of emotions I experienced after the evening had ended. Most people had grow up, just like I had, but some of the evening was the same high school drama and immaturity. And while I have left my high school self, that being my insecurities, fears and emotion driven antics, in high school, I was amazed at how insecure I felt again; how all of my fears because of these insecurities came back, but thank God no emotion driven antics ensued. Two days later and I still can’t shake some of the feelings. I don’t really know why? I know who I am and am very ok with this. Yet I fear did they like me, did I say something stupid and other normal high school feeling. I know that we all have left that place in life, but wonder if anyone else had the same reaction that I did? And what will it be like the next time I see these people? I hope that as we grow this reaction with dissipate as well.

How President Obama has Something in Common with Kanye

Well…He has done it again. Yes I said again. I would suspect that being Kanye West publicist would never be a boring job. The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards’s have made him a household name once again. But as the week progresses people still are not forgetting about “the incident.” Monday, as People Magazine, CNN and E! Online were reporting on the previous night events and what the other celebrities thought of it, others were starting to wonder if the whole thing was a PR stunt. Michael Sebastian blog post spells out the facts to provide speculation about the nature behind the rude interruption. Then there is Kanye’s history. I also noticed that this article fails to mention his past award show interruption. After so many blunders I would categories him as the king of ill-behavior. Almost five days later, everyday has brought a new story about the incident, Taylor’s Mom confronted Kanye, Kanye calls and apologizes, Taylor gets flowers from Janet Jackson. The most notable is probably how President Obama called Kanye a Jackass. While I think almost everyone agrees with him, he also has a PR blunder of his own. First of all, please know that saying “this is off the record” does not mean it’s off the record. Anything you say can be quoted! As the President, he should know that! This is a definite FAIL on his part. While I do think both made PR boo-boo’s…One definitely has a more justified opinion than the other.

The big 25!

When will you grow up?

So part of the struggle of relocating and making a fresh start is creating a new social circle. While I did move back to my hometown, most of the people that I knew that used to live here don’t anymore. Not a big surprise considering it has been six years since high school and the natural path of life is that most people move away from where they grew up.

I will admit it took me a while to be motivated enough to get out and make new friends. For the first two months I just felt like it was nice to be home and spend time with my parents, seeing that I did not see them much while I was in college. Then, when I had finally had enough, about two months after moving home, we had freak weather and pretty much could not leave the house for the whole month of December. Or at least that’s what it felt like.

Then January came. A new year, a fresh start. “This year is going to be great!” I told myself. A friend and former co-worker was moving into the area, along with his new wife a few months into the year. I was so excited; my social life was back on track. They were great and introduced me to people that they new in the area that were my age, as well as in the same place in life as me: a single, twenty-something, career-oriented, person. Most of my friends in my former location were a litter farther along in life (married with kids on the way) or still in college. My new friends seem to be going through similar situations as me.

In a recent conversation with a friend, I encounter a mirroring situation going on at work. The problem being: an annoying co-worker. While our situations were different, to me it asked the question: how do you deal with a person that just does not quite get that they need to knock off what they are doing?

I really wonder if this is just the issue has anything to do with the fact that I am some what “green” in my work place. I also seem to feel that the problem be a combination of the person taking advantage of the fact that I am young, small (I’m only 5’1”), and a female. I know that it sounds silly. I am not normally one that thinks people are thinking of me this way, but when I am working with middle-ages, 6’ plus men, I can’t help but consider it.

My main problem is with one person who continues to think it is funny to pound on the side of my cubicle and startle me while I am deeply involved in my work. Every time they do it they say, “I need to wake you up.” The first time I thought ok, I can see how you would think that is funny, even though I don’t. But then they continue to do it, again and again. I tend to be someone of a passive person and laugh things off, but most recently I had the temptation to yell, “knock it off jack a**.”

I’m feeling really conflicted about this. I have to work with this person everyday and may need for them to prioritize my work over others. By telling them to “quit it” are they going to deliberately put off my work? How do I tell then without other people in the office hearing? Is there a way to do it politely without hurting their feelings?

I know that these questions seem a little silly, but I feel like this is a whole new territory for me. I feel the need to tread lightly. I guess this is just a new experience for a twenty-something.

The Un-Resume

Being in the work place now for more that two year, along with a recent career change and relocation has cause a lot of change in me, in a good way. After being at my current job for a while, I started thinking one day...if I were to create a resume with many of the unique things I learned in my last jobs, what would it look like?

In our current world, many people are looking for work. And many of these people are applying with the same generic resume. Being one of these people recently, I have spent many hours thoughtfully created a resume that included important information like where I received my degree, important skills that I think I will bring to the work place, a good number of the computer programs that I can use, as well as my previous places of employment. Along with this list of previous employers is a list of duties included in this position. This list has been thoughtfully composed. I have spent a lot of time thinking out the most important aspects of my jobs, what would be fitting for the position I am applying, and what looks important. In some down time at work a few weeks ago I got to thinking, if I were to create a resume with some of the more eclectic job duties, or thing I learned on the job, what would it say?

So far, here is what I have come up with:

-Able to calmly handle really strange phone calls. Example: Person who called and spoke un-comprehensible English to me, to which I said, “excuse me, I don’t understand what you are saying.” There reply was, “I bet you don’t. I need to talk to someone about the voices I have been hearing in my head for a year. I need someone to disprove the information.” I was able to transfer them quickly to the campus Pastor.

-Discreetly ask co-workers to call security when mentally unstable person enters the office and will not leave.

-Able to work a copy machine, load paper, and follow the directions to un-jam it. I know that this should seem simple. But you would be surprised at how many people cannot do this.

-Appropriately word emails as to not make anyone mad when asking them to do something, fix something, or stop doing something all together.

I know that this is a short list…but I would like to hear others stories about odd duties associated with job, and what others might include in an informal resume.