Friday, April 8, 2011

On the grind and pretty sure how I feel about it

The title is a reference to my buddy Deej's post about his new job.  In it, he says "I'm back to work blah blah blah and I'm not sure how I feel about it blah blah blah..."  Well, I got myself a job too.  And I'm absolutely certain about my feelings.  They go a little something like this...


Ok, not really because I'm glad to have a job.  And to that end, my job is sweet.  But, in the blogosphere, the job sucks.  On my very first day, and within the very first hour of my employment there, I cut my finger deep enough that it required eight stitches.  I was carrying this unholy and God forsaken light fixture.  My grip slipped or something happened-I'm really not sure what exactly occurred-and I was soon leaking everywhere.  Fortunately, this operation was legit enough that they had insurance, so I could go to the doctor and get treatment at a reputable place.  But I digress.

Basically, I'm hired muscle.  Only, I'm not as strong as I used to be and I have eight stitches in my left pinkie finger.  So, any labor intensive activity is going to, and has sucked.  I'm not in as good of shape as I used to be, so the difficulty involved in any physical task is multiplied by a factor of around 270 pounds.  Or 255, according to the doctor.  But who's counting?  I'm no longer the 220 pound man-child that used to eat fastballs for lunch and crap lasers to second, or first.  Hopefully, after a few weeks of this, I'll be approaching that svelt young stud.  But for now, we're fighting an uphill battle.

Long story short, work is kicking my butt.  Wake up time is roughly six in the am, a time that I'd recently found was about right for my early morning scrabble with Pete.  And that was before bed.  So we get going at seven AM and the day begins.  I fight the urge to look at my watch for what would seem to be the better part of the morning.  After 3-4 hours of disciplined non-watch-looking, I finally sneak a peak.  7.47 AM.  Looks like another long day.  Sigh.

The clock literally crawls throughout my work day.  The kinds of things I've been enjoying are:
-Moving heavy objects from one side of the warehouse to the other,
-Moving the same heavy objects from the other side of the warehouse to the one,
-Moving heavy objects from inside the warehouse to the parking lot (sometimes with the aid of a pallet jack).
-Moving heavy objects from the parking lot to the warehouse, with or without a rolling device,
-Yesterday I branched out to shoveling dirt and raking gravel, which was sadly my most enjoyable experience to date,
-The construction of shelves with the Herculean equivalent of an erector set,
-Scrubbing, mopping, vacuuming, sweeping, and scraping floors,
-And lastly, today I was tasked with clipping the wires off of the electronic ballasts used in florescent lighting.

So, the job description clearly does not contain, philosophy, piano, baseball, or sales.  And even though I blog about the misery that is my work day, I'm actually kinda relishing the opportunity.  With a negative attitude, the job will only get and seem worse.  On the other hand, if it is approached with the humility that we are called to embody, and a sense of pride in simply doing the job well, then it has it's own rewards.  It's time for me to eat the humble pie and I choose to eat it with a smile.  It's no one's fault that I'm in a stage of life that dictates this occupation, so complaining is pointless.

It may feel like the chain gang to me now, since I'm out of shape and 8 hours on my feet is close to murder, but there is much to be learned about the job, life, and myself.  With each mindless task, I'll engage my brain and thoughts.  And with every exertion, I'll embrace the physical hardship as exercise, both physical and mental.  I used to be mentally tough because of my training in baseball.  After becoming soft, I'll be tough again.  And I'll know that only through developing myself in this situation can I develop into a person who continues to make the best of others.

2 comments:

Peter Anderson said...

i miss our weekday morning scrab seshes, but im glad youre back in the workforce. stay away from light fixtures.

Cwatts said...

I miss the scrabs too bud. And I had another encounter with my nemesis today. Fortunately, I showed him who was boss. No cuts, nicks, or leakage. Just some sore stitches.