Grrrrr.....

Got kinda pissy the other night at work.  I was really busy and behind, trying to get my department caught up before going on my weekend, and a shit ton of work was dropped on me unexpectedly, work that we normally wouldn't have done on such short notice but had to do because it was for "VIPs".

I realized then and there, that in my dream job situation, I would have the power to say one little but powerful word: NO.  (Or, rather, my natural instinct would be three words long: "Go fuck yourself," but my parents read this blog so I'll try to be better with the cursing.  But... there will still definitely be cursing.)

I've seen a few episodes of <don't judge me> the Millionaire Matchmaker, and I get a little thrill whenever the crazy matchmaker chick doesn't like a rude client and screams at him, "Get the FUCK outta my office, you're BANNED from my business!!!"  I can think of a few instances in my career in which I would have LOVED to have done that.

Example numero uno: at one of my past jobs, I was asked by the chef to work on a gingerbread house, a school project for his friend's daughter.  He asked me to construct the base and house, and let the daughter decorate it and make the finishing touches.  Although I was already overwhelmed with work and found it unethical, because my chef asked me to, I sucked it up and constructed the base and bare bones of the house.  When my chef's friend came to pick it up, instead of being grateful, she asked me to keep working on it and finish it.

<Insert PERFECT time to scream: "Get the FUCK outta my kitchen!  You don't even WORK, do it yourself!!!">

But, alas, no, I had to bite my tongue, grin, and through gritted teeth, say I would be happy to finish it.  Thankfully one of my cooks was happy to take on the project and finish it.

So, as my wise Pa would say, "What have you learned from all this?  I've learned this...

Criterion #1 for my dream job: the power to say NO.

I'm sure this would be ideal for ANYone in ANY profession, but it's especially difficult when you're in the service industry.  It may not be attainable at first, but hopefully I'll get to say No some day!