My New Job

Now that I have been at my new job for a few weeks and have remembered to bring a camera to work, I thought I might fill in my family and friends about exactly what I do now that I am a college graduate.

It's not that glamorous, but it does offer me a decent wage in five-fifty-an-hour Utah and there's a chance for benefits, so I feel blessed! I am a receptionist at a good-sized steel company in Spanish Fork, Utah just ten miles south of Provo. When I arrive at eight in the morning, after having cruised down the freeway in the glow of the sun just cresting over the mountains, I settle in at my desk to answer phones and process hefty stacks of paperwork. My favorite part of the day (other than lunch) is when I can abandon my desk and the insistent phone calls pelting my ears and escape to the warehouse, where I file the paperwork that hasn't gone into a why-isn't-this-matching-up-as-it's-supposed-to pile. Now that I've shown acceptable aptitude for these three tasks (more complicated and frustrating than they seem, especially because I still haven't grasped the overall flow chart of the papers that stream past my desk) I have begun to add in a third task to my repetoire: "keying." This is an annoying nickname for entering orders into our ancient DOS-based computer system. The process is as annoying as its name - the clunky, non-intuitive computer program uses all those awful one-letter commands that sucked back in the eighties and confuses me to no end. Every time I "key" an order, though, I get closer to understanding the process.

For the most part, my coworkers aren't very friendly. They are all from rural areas of Utah, many from the Spanish Fork area, and are very clique-y. Not everyone in the office is exclusive - the older staff aren't very "group" conscious - but the majority are very aware of who they include in their conversations, jokes, stories, and lunches, and who they don't. There are really only two of us in the office that don't belong to the office "club." Three of the four ladies I work with and three of the salesmen joke and chat among themselves, but if non-club members try to chime in or indicate in any way that they are interested, the conversation dies. I'm not sure I understand the dynamics here - these are all adults thirty years old and above, all married and each has children. But as my friend pointed out, it is like watching a group of high school girls. The ladies in the office get together and whisper and giggle and plan exclusive lunch dates, while the guys talk endlessly about the sports they coach and that their kids participate in and plan golf and baseball outings. They never, ever talk about their wives; their kids are only mentioned as part of the overall sports scheme. To be ignored or not included isn't all that fun, but to be honest, I'm not sure I want to belong to a group like that. It's all just a little too familiar to memories I have of middle school. I'm beginning to see why, during my preliminary interviews, personality traits were emphasized while abilities were glossed over. The company was looking for a person that could "fit in" with the employees and work with rough-and-tumble personalities. I'm not sure what I expected, but having coworkers that constantly use bad language, won't even joke with me about "The Office" or "Saturday Night Live," and all belong to the same LDS ward wasn't what I imagined! It isn't all bad, and I'm finding friends in unexpected placed - they're just mostly in the shipping office and the warehouse!

Here are some pics of my new job, which I am grateful for and give my best at, no matter what surprises have come my way:


My desk!



The phones I stare at all day!



My DOS computer - arrghhh!!!



Photos of my family and Italy that keep me inspired throughout the day.



View from my desk - the sales guys' desks.



The warehouse!



Another view.



My filing area, where I enjoy the best part of my day.



Papers to file.