What Now

I love my job. I'm really glad that I can say that because I know how rare it is for people to feel that way about their work. However, there are times that I simply can't believe what I have to put up with while I'm here.

I've been busting my butt to finish up a large sign order for the COO of the SpRocket. It wasn't that the signs were complicated or anything, it was just that they were big - and there were a lot of them. With a little focus and as little slacking as I could get away with, I was able to get the man what he wanted within 2 1/2 days. Woo-Hoo! Now, I wasn't expecting a reward or even a pat on the back (that doesn't really happen here), but I was expecting to be able to get back to my regularly scheduled task list. Because of who he is, and the fact that he is a former Army General, the COO tends to expect his requests to be a priority. I'm cool with that. So yesterday when I was fielding sign requests from everyone and their great uncle, I get a call from the secretary of the COO. She asked if I was working on any signs. I told her I had finished everything he had requested except for one and she said fine. I go back to my other work and my boss soon walks over to me and asks if I have finished the park direction sign (the one I hadn't finished when the secretary called.) I suppose it wasn't enough for me to tell the secretary of the COO that I had one more to go. They had to call my boss and ask him. I'm guessing it's because they want Sam to know that I still have a sign to finish, you know, in case I had lied to him and told him I was done. The sign they wanted me to do is made of metal and outside. If it's too cold or too hot, the vinyl stickers won't stick to metal, so I have to wait until the temperature is right. It was freaking snowing yesterday! It wasn't just too cold to try and stick the lettering on, it was too cold to be outside! It does me no good to tell anyone who doesn't work in Graphics the whole temperature thing, because I don't think they believe me anyways. Luckily it was in the 50's today, so I was able to make the sign. I hope the man can sleep now knowing it's done. Jeez.

Another thing that is strange about my job is that it seems as if very few people realize that there is an actual person who makes the signs. Any time I'm outside or in the museum, I draw a crowd of curious onlookers, some of which work here. I get people asking reasonable, if annoying questions, "What are you doing?" "Why are you taking that off?" Then of course I get the idiot questions like "Do you work here?"

Me: *blank stare* Um, no, I'm vandalising. Shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone.

Do I work here? Are you kidding me? Would anyone in their right mind walk into a public place with razorblades, paper towels, glue dissolving chemicals and new lettering and just proceed to destroy something and then repair it in full view of everyone? I've even taken to wearing the lab coat that I used as a smock while I was working in the print labs at school (unless it's just too hot) so that no one will ask me stupid questions. My idea was that it looks at least like some kind of official "I work with paint and stuff" indicator. Apparently I give the general public too much credit. The only thing more dumb was when I wore the flight suit as a uniform and got that same question. Do I work here? Gah.

Other than the dumb questions and onlookers, my time outside today was nice. I forget how much I like to be outside when it isn't hot. It's so rarely pleasant outside in Alabama that I guess I've just gotten conditioned to avoid going out there unless I have to. I actually enjoyed myself, but I had to remember not to sing along with the iPod as loud as I wanted to. Sigh.

I also had to pick up a lost retainer this morning. Ick! Ick! Ick! If it weren't for the fact that I know first hand how angry a parent will get if expensive orthodontic appliances are lost or broken, I would would have left it on the ground. I took it to a couple of camp counselors and sat it on their table and they looked at me like I had just barfed in their laps. Hey, it's their choice to work with kids, not mine. They shouldn't be as grossed out as that. Kids wear stuff like that, after-all. Yuck.

Oh, and I know there are a couple of you out there that will appreciate this: While I was working, I noticed that a group of 11-13 year old boys were watching me and giggling. I didn't think anything about it (you know, with the onlookers and all) until I bent down to pick up something I dropped and realized that the neck of my shirt had gotten pulled down past the point of decency and was showing off my bra and "the girls." The sad thing is that those boys will probably remember seeing boobs more clearly than whatever else they've learned at camp so far.