The advantages of having a secretary in the house...

[missroserose]

Last night, I spent about an hour getting our last-minute Christmas mailings ready to go - wrapping everything in tissue, packing it all up in boxes, putting address labels on, filling out customs forms, etc. This morning, Brian stopped at the post office to get it all sent, and according to him, the dude behind the counter was practically on his knees thanking him for having everything packaged and taped and filled out properly. Poor guy. I can't imagine the crap he has to put up with this time of year, especially from people who don't organize stuff for a living.

Comments

[errant-variable.livejournal.com]

Go you. :)

[rapier.livejournal.com]

It's nice to do that for the various service-industry folks you interact with. When the check comes at a restaurant, I'll stack the dishes, set the silverware all in one place, wipe up any spills, and stuff the paper napkins in a glass or in a bowl or something. I don't actually know if it's helpful for whoever busses the table, but I haven't heard any complaints.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a former food-service person, I can tell you it's helpful - but even more than that, it's considerate. I used to have a family come in once every two weeks on payday; they never tipped (I later heard through the grapevine that they were pretty stretched budget-wise), but I never minded because they always left the table cleared off like that, so I knew they weren't just being inconsiderate.

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

I often do those things as well! And I try to tip well, too.

[gracewanderer.livejournal.com]

You organize things for a living?

>.>

Are you single currently employed?

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

I'm an admin assistant. That's what we do - keep the paperwork flowing and the schedules and files and such organized so that the important people can do their jobs without getting bogged down.

I am currently employed, but am always looking for new opportunities. I warn you, though, my services don't come cheap. :)

[gracewanderer.livejournal.com]

Probably more than I can afford =( I have long considered hiring a part time... "administrative assistant" though. I just CANNOT keep my stuff organized - "absent-minded" is an understatement.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, there was a time when I couldn't, either. Eventually I got tired of not being able to find anything, and learned. But if I could've afforded an assistant of my own, I probably would have gone that route. Especially if she was cute. :)

[gracewanderer.livejournal.com]

I'm ashamed to admit this but if I were going to hire an assistant I think that being cute would influence my decision. Not to the extent that I'd hire someone incompetent, of course.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's human nature to express preference for attractiveness - study after study has shown that attractiveness gets you a pass in situations ranging from job interviews to court defenses.

One study I read recently tacked on a novel twist - it took the usual hiring scenario, and in addition to measuring the preferences expressed by the "employers", it also measured their performance expectations of attractive vs. unattractive candidates, as well as their eventual judgments of actual performance. You probably won't be at all surprised to hear that the employers had higher expectations for the more attractive candidates; however, they also judged them more harshly if they failed to live up to those expectations.

I wonder if that's why we have so many stereotypes in our culture about the bubbly bimbo or the empty-headed male model, but relatively few one way or the other about the intelligence of less attractive people?

[gracewanderer.livejournal.com]

I guess I expect people to realize that they have this preference and do their best to ignore it.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid that's an expectation that's going to lead to near-endless frustration on your part. (Which isn't to say you shouldn't be applauded for attempting to get past it.)

[gracewanderer.livejournal.com]

I'm generally surprised when anyone, myself included, meets my expectations for human behavior ;-)

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

I hear you there. Although I tend to refer to mine as "hopes" rather than expectations. I expect people to act like people. I hope that they'll occasionally find it within themselves to be better.

[gracewanderer.livejournal.com]

That may be a better outlook than mine, since I spend much of my time being frustrated and/or disappointed.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Perhaps. I just know that it works for me. I can't control the fact that other people are going to be shitty to each other, and occasionally to me. All I can do is decline to accept their abuse (as Siddhartha Guatama would have it (http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-10-best-comebacks-of-all-time/)) and try to lead by example. Or make a snarky remark, depending on how self-actualized I'm feeling at that particular moment. :)