Monday, July 02, 2007
Workplace woes
It's taking me a while to settle at my new temp workplace (it's not a mining company, they just build plants that process the ore. Which is good for Australian jobs. That's how I'm squaring this with my conscience.)
Nobody told me about Coffee Guy, who mystically appears in the car park at certain times - I only realise he's been and gone by the large number of people suddenly clutching paper cups. No-one warned me about casual Friday, making me the only person in smart trousers (taking me back to all those times at school when I forgot about mufti day, and was the only person wandering vaguely around in school uniform.)
I've also just discovered that the teaspoons in the drying rack are in fact all dirty - which has me feeling just disgusting - and at lunch today I sat next to a lugubrious gentleman who spent the entire break disputing the Tupperware catalogue. ("Two hundred and sixty dollars for a saucepan! Hah!" "Plastic baking trays? The wife'd still melt 'em." "Thirty dollars for four glasses? Look at 'em! You could get twelve for that price in Target!") Then he proceeded to discuss his ailments, and how he really shouldn't be at work but had to come in, and he knew we would all get sick, because it was going around, and all the employees merely reinfect each other, but he had to finish his work, so here he was, hoicking away...
The best business I've encountered so far has to be Computers Built By Bludgers (which means something different in Australian slang - not the Harry Potter kind of bludger). This company is based in Sonorous Close. I'm not joking - there's a distinctive J. K. Rowling element to this. What is rather nice is the way that any gap in the conversation is filled with a cheerful "So how's it going?" Almost all business conversations - at least the ones I've had - end with "No worries!" followed by "love," "darl" or "mate": much friendlier than the more formal UK equivalents, "You're welcome" and "My pleasure." I still sometimes confuse Jan and Jean, Lennon and Linen, but I find myself understanding the accent instinctively. This affirms that all those years of watching Neighbours were not in vain!
Nobody told me about Coffee Guy, who mystically appears in the car park at certain times - I only realise he's been and gone by the large number of people suddenly clutching paper cups. No-one warned me about casual Friday, making me the only person in smart trousers (taking me back to all those times at school when I forgot about mufti day, and was the only person wandering vaguely around in school uniform.)
I've also just discovered that the teaspoons in the drying rack are in fact all dirty - which has me feeling just disgusting - and at lunch today I sat next to a lugubrious gentleman who spent the entire break disputing the Tupperware catalogue. ("Two hundred and sixty dollars for a saucepan! Hah!" "Plastic baking trays? The wife'd still melt 'em." "Thirty dollars for four glasses? Look at 'em! You could get twelve for that price in Target!") Then he proceeded to discuss his ailments, and how he really shouldn't be at work but had to come in, and he knew we would all get sick, because it was going around, and all the employees merely reinfect each other, but he had to finish his work, so here he was, hoicking away...
The best business I've encountered so far has to be Computers Built By Bludgers (which means something different in Australian slang - not the Harry Potter kind of bludger). This company is based in Sonorous Close. I'm not joking - there's a distinctive J. K. Rowling element to this. What is rather nice is the way that any gap in the conversation is filled with a cheerful "So how's it going?" Almost all business conversations - at least the ones I've had - end with "No worries!" followed by "love," "darl" or "mate": much friendlier than the more formal UK equivalents, "You're welcome" and "My pleasure." I still sometimes confuse Jan and Jean, Lennon and Linen, but I find myself understanding the accent instinctively. This affirms that all those years of watching Neighbours were not in vain!
