There had to be a catch somewhere...right?

Already I do have a few complaints about office life. Some days it is really frustrating for a girl like me to be stuck to my computer. Here is a brief summary of the problems I've encountered.

The cubicle walls are just too high. Some of my co-workers tower over the top, and every time they stop to chat from the other side of the wall, I get jealous. Now I'm not really a jealous person but in this situation I excuse myself - giraffitis is really an enviable trait. It hurts me to know that even if I jump, my eyes barely and only momentarily peek over into other cubes.

The guy in the cube next to mine is naturally cool. Really cool, like the kind of cool you can't get by just buying name brand and going to the most rockin' parties. Cool that runs through and through. He takes great care of himself and somehow manages to personalize the "biz cas" apparel and still look professional. Now I'm naturally happy and driven...but cool, well that is in a whole different realm. Shit, it's like going back to high school. It's a sad realization that I will never be that kind of cool.

Even though it stains your teeth, deceives your body, and makes your breath smell naaaaasty (the aaaas should be said with vocal intonation), coffee holds a special place in my department. Other morning drinks do not seem to fit into office life, a sad thing I'm learning to cope with. The sign by the coffee maker ($.25 per cup or $6.50 for the month) does NOT direct anything toward people like me, people who drink tea . Do I momentarily and daily transform into a sugar thief? What about the stir spoon, do I get to use that? Dare I let it out that I drink herbal tea, that there isn't even a drop of caffeine entering my body? What a debacle!

Someone always seems to "just feel like baking". The table is filled daily with some sort of fattening delicious treat, and people almost get offended if you don't celebrate their birthday/promotion/randomness by eating the goodies! Wouldn't it be nice if someone "just felt like gardening" and brought in a veggie tray? But oh no, in cOrporate aMerica, that kind of thing is unheard of.

So you can see, life is not entirely peachy in my world of work. Hopefully I can put up with these horrible horrible nuisances and just focus on the job! Wish me luck :)

The seaweed is NOT always greener in somebody elses lake ( please reference, The Little Mermaid)

So I've made it through two weeks and discovered that I am quite a lucky sponge. Let me tell you why!

• My department has only 15 people and, departmental consensus says, our boss is great at his job and really sets his people up for personal development and promotions.

• The gentleman whose desk I am taking says "You are starting off in the perfect place. Most recent grads get sent to customer service (department size 100) and can get promoted to here after a few years. "

• The trainer says "You are going to be SO bored in training. You've seemed to adjust really well and absorb the info (hence the sponge) everyone is offering. After shadowing a few days, I've seen you sitting in and ready to take over, you're learning quickly!"

• I get it. "it" being what I am supposed to do. I see how the different people in my position react to situations, who they call, how they choose what actions to take, and I know that I will be successful...once I get used to everything. Like the little engine that could, I just think to myself: I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. This is going to be fun!

So the job is good, let me tell you about a few of the other perks that keep me seeing the world through rose colored glasses.

• The company pool is AMAZING. Clean, deep, sparkly blue, and a perfectly chilling 82*. It's wonderful, even at 5am.

• I get a free personal trainer.
  

• They have group cycling (spinning) classes too!
  

So I seem to be surviving, now I just want to learn to do my job! Last week and this week I've been job shadowing, asking a lot of questions, and I even cruised from building to building to meet with individuals from other departments that can fill me in on the overall supply chain structure. In addition to that, they decided to torture me with hours of computer simulations/slide shows that are ::yawn:: terrible. All next week I've got official training 8am-4:30p (rumor has it they are bringing Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish!) Things are off to a solid start!