I Am All Service Jobs!

Outside of his day job, my boss was on the board of a certain city commission. One day, he came to me with an interesting offer. The commission only had a few paid employees, and one of them had just quit. I had two weeks of use-it-or-lose it vacation time coming up; would I be interested in temping over there during those two weeks? Not only could I earn some extra money, but I could also provide my boss with a report on conditions within the office; the board had concerns about employee turnover and day-to-day operations.

It was my third day of temping at the commission when this guy walked in asking about a business permit. I explained that he had the wrong department and he went off. This was the third office he’d been to this morning; he was sick of getting the runaround, didn’t anybody take responsibility for anything, this was why the city was going to h***, etc. The manager and the only other employee left in the office had both stepped out, so it was my privilege to deal with this gentleman.

Finally, I got a word in edgewise and asked who told him he could get a business permit here. He angrily showed me the form someone in another department gave him, with our address on it… except it wasn’t our address. He needed to go to an office at [Address] North, and this was [Address] South. He realized his mistake, but it was still my problem somehow and he continued griping at me all the way out the door.

After my two weeks of “working vacation” were up, I returned to my regular job. On my second day back, just after I pulled into the parking lot and stepped out of my car, I heard a familiar voice. It was the guy I met while I was temping.

“You again?” He said. “You work here, too? Good God! How many jobs do you have?”

Startled, I tried to explain how that was a temp job and this was my regular job, as if it was any of his business. He didn’t seem too impressed. Thankfully, his errand that day involved another agency in the same office park… not mine!