Tag Archives: work

Workin’ at the good ol’ ENT

Posted on by
1

A few highlights from the past 3 weeks at my new job:

  • Having fun getting to know the 3-4 ladies I work with the most and doing my best to stay neutral when each of them tells me stuff about one of the other ones.  They are friendly and have been great to me.
  • Trying to figure out what to do when one person trains you to do a task one way and then another trains you a little differently.  Do I do it all ways at once so that whoever is watching over me at the moment is satisfied with my work?  Good stretching exercise for my pea brain!
  • Getting tickled when patients walk up to the counter, tell me the doctor they came to see and then just look at me.  I look back and say, “and you are?”  Being psychic would help, either that or having a photographic memory for more than a few thousand patient names!
  • Realizing that a smile goes a long way in helping people feel welcome or better about their day.
  • Wishing there was so much more I could do for a patient besides smile when they’ve come in for a biopsy report or have been disfigured by surgery for cancer.
  • Trying to remember that many of the patients are not raising their voices at me because they’re angry, it’s because they’re hard of hearing.
  • Learning a big lesson today after making a mistake that upset one of the docs so much he dropped the “F” bomb in the back office.  Woops.
  • Making cookies tonight to take tomorrow to help make the back office a happier place.
  • Realizing there are so many people in the world who have very little people skills, even intelligent people.
  • Knowing now more than ever how important people skills are.  Taking time to learn them is time well-spent.
  • Also realizing there are many people in the world who care most about their preferences and being considerate of others isn’t always a priority.
  • Being so thankful to have already met a few other co-workers who are believers.
  • Being thankful for a job in which I can be with people and hopefully make a difference.
  • So extremely thankful for Friday afternoons off!

 

Day 7 – Undercover Boss

Posted on by
1

Have you seen ads for a new show on TV called “Undercover Boss”?  In a reality show format, a boss or CEO of a company suits up in the uniform of his/her employees and works side by side with them.  They won’t know it’s their boss.  I want to see it sometime.  I can imagine a couple of possible outcomes:  one – the employees might get embarrassed or worse, even fired, if the boss sees that they goof around all the time or cheat or some other unethical choices, two – after working in their shoes for a while the boss might gain more compassion, appreciation or respect for them and treat them better afterward, three – boss and employees could have a much better relationship after their worlds intersect more closely for a while and after the boss gains some new perspective.

I saw this bumper sticker once and it made me laugh.  Jesus is coming again someday, true, but He already came and walked with his people, lived side by side, and stood in our shoes.  It’s so hard to comprehend God, who is not limited in any way, who made everything that exists (so He must be bigger than it all), who can be everywhere at once and knows everything, putting skin on and becoming one of us.  It’s almost as if He said, watching people mess up and live broken by sin, “I need to take care of this myself.”  How did He shrink Himself down?  How awkward would that be for Him to be enclosed, to be limited, to be in a body that could be sick or damaged? Continue reading →

My mom, my friend

Posted on by
Reply

img_0614I just enjoyed a few days with my mom.  She came over to visit since my girls are on spring break so I took two days off work.  We saw a movie, shopped ’til we dropped (groceries and the mall), ate some M & M’s and ice cream, drank diet cokes & coffee, and just relaxed.  My favorite part of the visit was when we had breakfast together at Bob Evans one morning, not because of the yummy omelet and pancake, but because of the heartfelt open conversation.

One of my mom’s famous lines when I was a teenager was “I’m your mom, so I can’t always be your friend.”  In other words, “I’m laying down the law here whether you like me or not.  We’re not gonna be buddies right now.”  It was the right thing to do and I’ve told my girls that quite a few times myself.  They just love it.

Thankfully that’s only true for a while.  Once I got married and began my life with John the relationship changed a little.  We were more friends than mom and daughter, though I still felt like her little girl.  When I became a mom myself, all sorts of light bulbs went on in my head as I experienced the joys and trials of raising little ones.  “Ohhhhh – now I see why she said that or did that.”  As the years go by, I’ve become more and more comfortable just being my mom’s friend.   The roles have changed.  I’m not the self-centered teenager I used to be.  I actually see that my mom has needs, has hurts, has things she wants and needs to talk about.  She wants to share joys and answers to prayer and have me rejoice with her.  It never occurred to me before when my mind was preoccupied with dating, doing my own thing, and arguing with her about curfews.  I forgot that my mom and dad were people, too, not just parents.  Imagine that!

As we sat and visited the other day, my eyes were opened a little bit more to the hurts my mom has trudged through and how God has ministered to her heart.   Continue reading →

Workin for a livin

Posted on by
Reply

Middle daughter is about to get driver’s license.

Middle daughter wants a car.

After parents laugh hysterically they tell her they are broke.

Middle daughter realizes that to make money you must work.

Middle daughter gets a job!

Congrats Kaikin!  She’ll be bagging your groceries at the local store starting soon and savin’ her way to an automobile.  Looking back, I wish I would have gone to a grocery store or restaurant for my first job.  I worked in a quiet clothing store and was pretty much bored to tears every evening.  Those were the days when you really dressed up for work, too, so I’d be standing around in high heels, whistling and changing the clothes on the mannequins every night just to make the time go by.