Wednesday, July 4, 2012

What are you doing?

Today was a weird day at work. At internship. Whatever. You know what I mean. A lot of people were leaving early today for the holiday tomorrow. Overall the week seems kind of slow. Having a one-day holiday smack in the middle of the week is weird.

Today this guy decided a fancy coffee run was needed and gave me a list of coffees to go get. He told me to get myself one, which was really sweet. Except that eight people wanted coffees, and mine would be the ninth and I wouldn't be able to carry it. I felt like Anne Hathaway in the Devil Wears Prada running down the block holding trays of coffee. I put the change in my bra, because my dress had no pockets and had nowhere else to put the money. When I got back, the guy held his hand out for the change, and I told him I'd put it down on my desk and would go get it, and just stepped into the hall, made sure nobody was looking and plucked the bills out of my bra. After I gave him his money, he was like "Wow, that was quick, you must have run!" Yup.

Over the last two hours of work everyone was talking about their summer trips. Josh is leaving for Israel soon, for two weeks, and I was tempted to lie and say I was going to Israel. Everyone is going somewhere. Even the two people I secretly identified as being poor. One is going to the Jersey Shore and the other is going to the Hamptons. It made me kind of sad. I know we have the vacation deal, but making that happen is really hard. I want to go on vacation to be like everyone else, but it is so scary on so many levels that in some ways I'm more comfortable just working.

Towards the end of the afternoon a partner walked out yelling, "Does anyone around here know how to do a proper cover letter?" Nobody responded or made eye contact. He picked the girl standing near me and told her to do the letter in final for a FedEx about to go out. She asked if I knew what he meant, and I didn't really. I guessed. I changed the date to today's, indented each paragraph, fully justified the body of the letter, and put one line of space between each different thing. She sneaked the letter into his office while he was out of it, and we went back to what we'd been working on.

The partner went back, saw the letter, and stormed out holding it, and yelled "Who worked on this?" The other girl totally threw me under the bus and pointed at me. "She did." Fuck, really? I will remember this. Bitch, I hope you get your period and get stuck without a tampon.

He walked over to me. "You did this?" I threw her under the bus too. "She asked for my help." The partner nodded. Turned back to the other girl. "You should ask for her help more often." Her face got red. After he walked off she told me not to get too excited, that if they think I'm good at simple things, they'll only offer me a simple job like reception. Now I am worried she's right.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would say its' the other way around. It may have been a test by the partner. Either way, you showed you understood and got the letter finalized (whether you winged it or not lol). I doubt they'll be offering you a simple job. :-)

Anonymous said...

I can with great confidence say that the girl is full of crap. From the way you described the situation, she got tested and failed, miserably. From everything I know of you from your blog, you are a dream employee. Your smart. You think through your actions. You are resourceful. You are honest. In the same way Arnie has recognized your talent, it is clear from the partner's comment that he recognizes it too.

Don't worry. Continue to work hard. Continue making a good impression. You will very likely get a good offer upon graduation.

Anonymous said...

What the others said. If you can't do the simple things, they won't let you do the challenging and interesting things.

Alisha said...

Once again, what the others said. Good for you! That's the way you prove yourself and move up...

Anonymous said...

To be honest, you sound like a dream employee. You're willing to work hard and perfectly able. Just ignore the other idiots, and follow your instincts. You'll do fine.

Abby said...

What everyone else said. At your level, the people who lie low and do a good job, win.

Kizz said...

Specifically you were honest (you said she asked for your help and you owned up to doing the work), you turned out to know what he was asking for, and you had the balls to try something even if you weren't sure it was right. The only thing the partner could possibly ding you on was not volunteering immediately. Vocal, public praise isn't something office people give out much and that chick knows that your praise came at her expense and it was her own fault. Nice work, Sam! You're going to be remembered for that and remembered as someone who works on the fly, independently, and with little instruction. That's what they need on important, complex projects.

Abby said...

Also, that other girl sounds... yikes. So nasty. Hasn't she stopped to think she might actually need your help again in future? Talk about burning bridges.