Do I smell jelly donuts? This is my lucky day...

Like most people, I'm not happy with my job. I'm not particularly UN-happy, exactly. I mean, I like what I do, by and large. I like the people I have to deal with, mostly. I like my co-workers, or the majority anyway. Hate my bosses, but that' the way work is supposed to...work, I guess. It just seems that my work is never done. I mean I get a project finished, and before I can even enjoy the completion, there's at least one other project sitting waiting for me. I don't want to talk about my work in specifics, so let's assume that I'm working in a donut store. We'll use that as an example.



I don't really wait on the customers, but it's my job to keep the donuts stacked and available. The boss has decided that we're going to have 4 of each kind of donut available at any one time. So when someone buys a creme-filled, I have to go get another creme-filled to replace it. While I'm doing this, we right lose two glazed and a jelly donut. So after replacing the creme-filled, I have to go get the replacement glazed and jelly donuts. When i return with them, I see we're down to three sprinkles, three powered, and only have two left on the bearclaws. So I have to go replace them.

Now, not only do we have donuts at this place, but also have coffee, that's a big seller. And its been determined that we like to have 20 cups of coffee available in the pot. We can work with it as low as 15 cups available, but at the point management starts complaining because the coffee's low and we dont want to run out. So when go to get the sprinkles, powdered and bearclaw, i see the coffee is down to 18 cups available. I don't want management complaining, so I have to stop and get the coffee available back between 20 and 24, depending. And this takes a little more time, so I have to concentrate on that, and can do very little else while I'm preparing it.

So I get the coffee back up to 20, and then, on my way to get the sprinkles, powdered and bearclaw, I notice glazed is down by two, creme-filled by one, and powdered by another. So I make sure I get enough to get all of them filled back up. naturally, when I get back with them all, we're short a Bavarian creme.

Now, we also have a soda machine in this place, for people who don't like coffee. And once it's all set, it's generally good for a while. however, every so often, one of the tanks goes empty and needs replaced. And when the Pepsi tank got bad, it needs replaced RIGHT NOW, cause customers will complain to management that they don't have any Pepsi, and then not only I hear them complaining, but management comes down on me too to get the Pepsi tank changed. So i have to drop everything I'm doing and replace it, which is really a time consuming endeavor. But of course, I do get it replace.

So having replaced the tank rather speedily, and feeling proud of myself for doing so, what do I get? A thank you from the customers? A 'good job' from the management? No, I get word froma co-worker that while I was changing the tank we ended up short two Bavarian cremes, one jelly, three powdered, and all the glazed gone, as well as the coffee being down to just 17 available cups and management not happy. What can i do but shrug my shoulders and start work on replacing them.

I know, it's not a strenuous job. I'm not digging ditches, or climbing ladders, or hefting big bags of something. but it's just never ending. I never leave work with a sense of completion, accomplishment. Even when i leave work on Saturday, I know when I go in on Tuesdays there gonna be...several donuts missing that need replaced, the coffee will be low, and it's possible a co-worker might have drained one of the soda tanks totally dry and I'll need to fill that before anything.

I'd just like to leave work every so often thinking, "There we go, I got all this done today, and everything's settled and stable for now." But it never happens.

Oh well, I guess that's why I get paid the big bucks, right?

POLT

"He's a super-villain! You know, the ones who look pretty much like our guys, but lie and plunder and conquer the planet instead!" "Those aren't super-villains, those are politicans." - L-Ron, JLA Classified #4