As per every evening, I asked Marty how work was going last night. He told me that it is super busy, as they are behind in their stocktake counting by about a week. Hmm..Jaimee has swimming at school this week, so my services are not required - yet I still have Luke and Kate booked in for childcare that morning. I could have quite easily laid on the couch with a book or a movie (I am not going to lie and say that I would have spent the golden 'alone time doing something constructive)....or I could help out at my darling husband's workplace for the morning. I offered my services, not really expecting to be taken up on the offer, but he must have been feeling a bit desperate because he said "if you want to, that would be great". Huh. Guess I am off to FL Bone for stocktake!
I woke up feeling rather excited about my adventure back into a real office space.
I worked as an audio-typist/receptionist for a year in the UK, and really loved the office environment...the dressing up in 'fancy clothes and heels', the banter with the others in the office, the sense of accomplishment as I churned out typed reports and letters all day long, and of course the coffee sitting on my desk and sweeties in my top drawer. As a teenager, I used to work my school holidays doing data entry at both my parents workplaces for $20 a day. When I was 14 this seemed like a good deal. When it was with mum, I was paraded around the super flash offices and shown off, then got to watch a movie in town after a mornings work and the best bit - a lunch from the Chinese place downstairs (mum worked in a highrise building in Auckland City). With dad (who worked for a hardware company) it was a pie from the lunch bar down the road, a treat from the snack bar, oh...and again, the joy that comes with being paraded around to the work crew who treated me like I was just the sweetest thing on earth!
So I carefully picked out a trendy office outfit to wear, then changed my mind several times and finally got myself sorted. I was just popping on the red lipstick to match my tights, when Marty came in. He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit flash to wear?" He reminded me that I was going to be out in the concrete stockroom counting dusty handles and locks, not sitting at a computer sipping coffee. I stood my ground - hey, I am the girl who wears heels to playgroup, I can wear what I like. Several minutes later, I was asking him for reassurance that my outfit wasn't too much. He laughed. I did not get changed, I wasn't going to dash my office glamour vision now.
I dropped off all the kids at their various school/daycare/granma's house and walked into the office ready to go. The only two females in the place thought it was lovely that I was there to help. The guys thought it was hilareous that I would even want to help and joked with Marty "no snogging in the aisles"! Typical hardware humor! The boss walked past me working, then took a double glance when he realised I was not his employee. "Have you come to help...finally, someone who can count!" he joked.
Marty put me straight to work, and 2 hours later I was still happily counting handles, and then cellotaping a bit of paper with the number onto the box...yep, that is their system. I had some great suggestions for updating and speeding up the way they do things, to which Marty's workmate (very nicely too) explained that in order to do that, they need to take ALL the stock down from the shelves and re-arrange it...something they would love to do but just can't spare the time to do it. We are talking wall to (high) ceiling shelves packed with tiny boxes. I admit, probably not the easiest thing to update! As I looked up at the towering shelves of brass and steel, I wondered out loud at one stage what would happen in an earthquake in here. I was told "don't even think about it...it's not a good thought". Gulp.
At 10am, I was told it was 'smoko' time and my coffee and freshly baked nacho scone awaited me. I perched on the edge of Marty's desk in the office for a few minutes before one of the guys offered me a seat. Marty got in trouble for not noticing I needed one! Hehe, you tell him boys! I was told that Marty was being unusually well behaved while I was there too...makes me wonder, since they have known Marty for longer than I have (Marty has been with the company since he was 18). One of the guys even told me that he taught Marty to drive!
At 11am, I was due to collect Luke from Granma. But I was reluctant to leave...it was so peaceful out the back, opening box after box of hardware and counting the contents. No children, no housework, just a nice simple job. And I even got to see my husband occasionally as he worked near me. I ran over the road to the library where they were, and wondered if she might like to have Luke for a while longer....thankfully, Granma loves the time with her grandson, and was very happy to take him for while longer. Yay! I happily went back to the dusty storeroom.
The best bit? At 12pm, I got to have a 'lunch break' with Marty. We strolled through town hand in hand, enjoying the sunshine and each other. It was so nice, I offered to come again next Wednesday. But alas, my services will no longer be required then. Hmm...maybe I could convince them to start re -organising the stockroom....
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