Office Matters - 2

A secretary & an accounts asst were appointed by the 3rd month & some of the pressure was off me. Now I was able to concentrate more on the administrative side of work. The 2 who were appointed were younger than me but more experienced. But even then it was clear that I was ahead of them in terms of language & maturity. NOW I was in my element acting like an old-timer, explaining stuff 2 them, etc. The PM knew that I was too good for his company. If he wanted 2 pacify a client or give a good impression of the company he’ll entrust me to do the job. But otherwise he was always looking for faults & trying 2 undermine my confidence. He tried to create differences between colleagues to make sure they wouldn’t conspire against him.
If only he realized the amount of time he dedicated towards creating tension between people, could be utilized for the betterment of the company.

Even at home I was not relaxed which led to a few tension creating episodes between husband & me. During 1 of those times he told me to quit if the job was going to create friction at home also. I went ahead & gave my resignation. PM was suspicious, colleagues were surprised, friends called me an idiot, husband was the most astonished of the lot. He never thought I would leave a job which I tried so hard to get. As for me, I was in confusion. Did I do the right thing? But 1 thing was clear I was not going to work anywhere at the expense of family harmony.

I gave 10 days notice but was terminated after 2 days coz PM got info from somewhere that a competitor had offered me a good deal. The info he got was outdated coz the rival company had offered me a good deal & I already rejected it coz they were located a good distance away from where I stayed.

My kids were overjoyed to see me at the bustop the next day when they came back fr school. i thot my decision was for the best. Just then I got a call from the company to meet the MD at the office that day itself afternoon. I went.

The PM was kicked out the previous day……..finallllllllly. They wanted me 2 join back. I asked hubby. He said ok. So I told the MD I’ll be happy to join back but would he please understand tht I have 2 children below the age of 5 & b a bit reflexible abt my work-timings. He agreed without hesitation. And I joined back. As simple as that. So now u’ll ask me why I quit. I really can’t pinpoint anything. But at that point I was feeling stressed from all sides & something had to give. And it had to be me.

Office without the Pm was like……..kaala saaya(a dark shadow) out of our lives. Like breathing fresh air after a long time. Life became much simpler now. Maybe my resigning without a moments thought also calmed a few of my husband’s fears. Whatever the reason, life settled down a bit after that.

But business was at an all time low. Whatever PM was in the office, to the clients he was a smooth talker. He knew his subject very well & could talk anybody in2 anything. He brought in a lot of projects for the company; his only problem was he didn’t know how 2 execute them to the finish. The man in charge now was just the opposite….he didn’t know how 2 convince a client to give us the project but whatever v had in hand he finished them all. The real victory is when v can convince the client to part with the balance amount and that’s what he did. But to survive in the industry v needed work. This kind of work didn’t need many people in the office. So now v were just 2 in the office with hardly any work 2 do. It was so boring & frustrating. Then a miracle occurred……

The Manager decided tht the company will subscribe to a broadband internet connection. I actually thought it was bad business decision. I mean, there is no work & here v r increasing the expenditure in the company but personally I held my breath & waited. Within a wk Etisalat came & did the needful & v had a business line. Yip, yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

And life changed after that. Imagine an internet connection which opened up sites just as v clicked. V could download or upload stuff to our hearts content (well not exactly but close). I was online the whole day. I loved it. Just loved coming to office.

Never missed even a day of work. Even if I were sick I would drag myself to office…… to rest. If u r wondering why……….then just imagine that u r terribly sick & trying to sleep, now imagine 2 kids who have no intentions of letting u rest.

It’s been 9 months now since I joined work. I am quite ‘happy’ here. People ask me why I’m still there coz my initial plan was to pick up the ropes in a small company & move on. But I’m not really in a hurry to make any changes in my life. The pay is lousy but it’s a stress free job, ideally located & I have the run of the place. I never was very career-oriented…….u knw the dynamic types who is keen to grow upwards (ok, ok growing sideways is another issue altogether).

A lot of my life’s ambitions have been realized. I now wear formal clothes to office everyday. It was a struggle to fit into them in the beginning but since then I have lost a bit of weight & toned up a bit….a bit. Now it looks like I was born to wear them. Ok I’ll cut the exaggeration. My once unused signature is found in all the paperwork of the company. Infact I’m so fed up of signing that I’ve switched to short form now. I used to love the cold cut sandwiches from ENOC/ EPCO (refreshment centers at petrol stations). My office is next to ENOC & I have had my fill eating sandwiches from there.

So all in all, my wishes are being fulfilled one by one. Yes, i wd like to lose another 5 kgs but then there is no hurry. It will happen...............in its own time. Yes it will.......for sure.