The Kinks of It All

I work as a part-time Office Assistant at a corporate law office. I've only been working there for only four months, but so far I've enjoyed it immensely. With any job though, there are always one complaint.

Well, okay, FOR ME, there is always one complaint.

I do enjoy this job. Trust me, after my fiasco with my last job this job is heaven. I do wish that I was full time, but I have as much hours as I could to be full time. My attorney boss is an amazing woman. And the people that I work with are great to be around. I'm actually bonding with some of them over Weight Watchers.

I guess what truly bugs me is the fact that I have to be the bad guy. I've been told at my many other jobs that I am very observant, and I catch a lot of things that most people would not notice. It's a trait that has helped me in the three years of law. It will still be very handy when it comes to my library studies. The thing is that when I work with those who are completely oblivious, it's hard to not be the bad guy. The one that always foils the plans because I point out something that won't work. I am human and I do make mistakes on certain things, but I am always the one that points out the bad things that my time sharing partner or my supervisor will do.

Example: this Friday I was going through the Orders that were signed by the Judge. Policy is that we send the orders to our clients then close it and put it in our bottom cabinet drawer. Well, there was one folder that I couldn't find. Usually we put the files that still need signatures on the top shelf of our desk (Our = Jennifer (time sharing partner) and me. Yes, we share the same name). I couldn't find this particular one. I thought, "Oh, maybe we put it back on the active shelf by accident." Looked. Not there. Then I thought, "Oh, this may be a duplicate! Maybe it has already been closed!" I looked, and there it was! Now, of course the Anal Person in me had to check to make sure this was right. I mean, it doesn't hurt to check.

Apparently it does in my world. I found out that my time sharing partner closed the case with the wrong order. The order was for another financial institution. Not our's. And, of course, being the one that likes to point out mistakes (I was the pain in the ass that said, "Teacher! Teacher!" when I found a mistake), I went to Mary (my boss) and said, "Look!" Now, any boss would then go to my supervisor (my time sharing partner's aunt, mind you) and say, "Hey, this shouldn't be. Let's make sure we don't do this." Or maybe say, "Just to let you know, we don't keep these. We should really throw them away, unless I say so."

Not my boss. My wonderful, sweet boss said, "Oh, that is disturbing. You better tell Jasmin (my supervisor) this. Make sure she knows that we shouldn't keep these, and not to do this again."

Now I know Jasmin isn't that big of a fan of me. I mean, I'm the one that is slowly overpowering her niece's half of the job. Of course, it would help if she actually participated in the job. But I'm the one that took over the rest of Friday. The one that is slowly getting more responsibilities. I can't help it; I'm a perfectionist and must be good at my job. So, resentment ensues. So the fact that I then have to tell her things that I point out, instead of having the backing of Mary, just makes it worse.

I am the bad guy. And I just don't want to be. If I was in a managing position, then that would be all right. That would be part of my job. But I'm not that. I am an office mongrel at the bottom of the food chain. It's Jennifer and me, Jasmin, then Mary. It shouldn't be that I have to tell Jasmin what to do for her job. Just like I really shouldn't be telling my own equal that she needs to do her job (i.e. call our clients, set up telephonic appearences, making sure all motions get equal attention). That should be Jasmin's job. Just like pointing out errors that were found should be Mary's job.

This is the one and only time that I curse my observation skills. I don't want to be the bad guy. I just want to do my job and do it right. The thing is if I stop observing and stop pointing out things, our law firm loses money because we're not catching our mistakes. These are not tiny, insignificant mistakes. These are the ones that set back our ability to give our client the upmost care. Like today: we got a notice from the court that said our motion is being sent back because one of our documents had the wrong client on it. Guess who found that?

*points to self*

And when I was showing Jasmin, she said, "What, what is wrong? I don't see it?" I had to go to the document that had the wrong client name, then move to the next document that had the right client and point at it. It took her five minutes to realize it. I really am not exaggerating, it took her five minutes and me saying, "We put the wrong client in the document" for her to get it.

*sigh*

The thing is, Jasmin is not stupid. Jennifer is not stupid. Just...not as observant. And they're both so rushed when it comes to things. And I've learned that you can't rush things. If you rush, you make horrible mistakes. I've done pretty bad mistakes at this job because of rushing. You have to take your time, do the best that you can do, and hope for the best. And that's why at my last job I was so stressed: I was always having to take out fires. And then, because of rushing, have to take out fires that were caused by trying to take out the previous fires. Of course, that's life. But that's how I get through the day: doing the best that I can.

And look what happens: I get to be the bad guy that has to tell my own superior how to do her job.

I guess I can't get everyone to like me.