I realize that it has been three almost months since my last post where I dropped the bomb about my eminent change in jobs. I am frequently asked how the new job is doing, so I figure it is time for me to sit down and let those of my peeps who are not fortunate enough to have semi-regular contact with me in "real" life know how it goes.
It goes well. Very well.
The first week, especially the first couple of days, can only be described with the phrase "culture shock." Having worked in a law firm environment for 25 years, going to a corporate world where even the language spoken was different - well, it took some getting used to. In the law firm, everything has to do with the law - either lawsuits or avoiding lawsuits. Clients come to the law firm because they, well they don't necessary want to, but they need us. Therefore, they listen to what we tell them. In the corporate world, the legal department is only one of many spokes in the wheel, and it seems to be more of an inconvenience than anything - making the sales people (and others) do what they can only see to be totally unnecessary things in order to do their job.
At the firm, the daily ins and outs of life were controlled by an (un-)Holy Trinity of managing partners - keeping their fingers in all manners of pie. In the corporate world, there's the alphabet soup of VIP's - the CEO, the CFO, the AFL-CIO.. no wait. See, I don't even know who! And then there is this vast ocean of division P's and VP's and EVP's!? Other than the "Big" guy and the "big" guys in my personal sphere, I have no clue who is who. All of this is only made worse by my genetic weakness for faces.
And the vocabulary... What the hell are "metrics!?" Why not just say statistics?
Additionally, there was just the sheer size of the place. The law firm was a big law firm, for this geographic area. But yikes, if you walk around the outside of the Berry building/compound, you've walked over a mile! There's like almost 2,000 people working at Berry in Evansville. Finding a parking space that isn't two blocks away is a daily challenge.
Initially, the legal department was in what I like to refer to as the "big house." On the corner of First Avenue and Franklin Street, there's this bright shiny new 3 floor building. Due to growing pains, various departments had people scattered around within other departments. The legal department was one such department. The bulk of the others were in an area on the southwestern part of the building. Me? I was put in a cube farm on the, relatively, opposite corner with Accounts Payable.
There might be those who would not like that situation. Being the introvert that I am, however, I enjoyed it to no end. People had to go out of their way to come talk to me, and I was able to learn at my own speed without the fear of a trainer or boss breathing down my neck. Midway through the first week, I realized that the Accounts Payable people had accepted me as one of their own when I was offered a portion of one of their native food dishes. I think it was called a brownie. It was good.
As I think I've mentioned, in my previous posting, I know that the Lord provided this opportunity for me to move into the next stage of my life. Although there are some people at my old firm who I miss, there was no real doubt that it was the right move. So as I began to settle into my new life, the devil began to do what he could to make me start doubting. A co-worker, let's call her Betty - not to be confused with the Betty from previous postings - was the instrument he chose to use. Again, I am an introvert, and shy to boot! As an aside, if you've only known me for the last 15 years or so, you only know the Paxil version of Rosemary. Praise God for Paxil! Before that ... well, I was the type of person in high school who walked down the hallways with my head down. Ostensibly, I was doing it to look for change... and found some, too. But.. Betty. Now Betty is and extrovert. I've always said that my niece Natalie could talk to a brick wall. Betty makes Natalie look shy.
In addition to being on opposite ends of the intro/extrovert scale, Betty is also one to tell you like it is. If you screw up, she tells you you screwed up! Me, well, I'll tell you that, too, but I try to phrase it a wee more delicate like. Remember my personal motto, no, not the one about always using the restroom when you have the chance.. the other one... not to ick other people's ooh, and it's inherent corollary of always trying to consider the other person's feelings first. Ok, there may be those out there who are saying, "well, she was snotty to me back on...." I said "trying" to consider the other person's feelings. You probably caught me in a mood. Step off!
Part of the reasoning behind my motto is my tender feels. I am very sensitive and get my feels hurts easily. So, during the first month or so, Betty was Betty and Rose was Rose and the devil was stirring the pot and adding in my natural insecurities and fears about the new job, new people, etc., and the resulting dish (nice metaphor, eh?) was a steaming bowl of Rose beginning to doubt, with a side of Rose beginning to hate Betty. All of which was tarnishing the shine on what I knew God had arranged.
About of month in, the legal department was told that it would be moving into what used to be the old cigar factory in Evansville - I didn't realize there was one - next door to the Big House, but a 100-ish year old building. We'd be on the third floor in an area where we could all be together and still have room to grow - there being three more attorneys soon to be hired as well as a paralegal transferring in from North Carolina! Yeah....I was going to lose my safe existence away from the rest of the crowd, AND we were going to be in a building with no elevator. Did I mention it being on the third floor? In the big house, we had elevators, and ice machines that made that really good crushed ice like you get at Sonic?, and the restrooms had toilets that flushed by themselves, and the water and soap dispensers were automatic. It was like working at NASA! (Or what I would think working at NASA would be like.)
Anyway, the day that we were packing to move, I must have allowed my burgeoning dislike of Betty show in my tone during a phone call because she asked to speak to me privately. She asked if she'd said or done something because she was getting a tone from me. As she spoke, and this all happened almost instantaneously, it hit me like a lightning bolt. She was right, of course, I'd had a tone. But she'd done nothing wrong, nothing to deserve it. She is what she is and I am what I am. And odds are that we're never going to be close, mostly because I have no way of understanding her, just like I'm probably a foreign object to her. During this epiphany, I knew that it has all in my head and the devil was at work to make me hate my new life. At some point, Betty stopped talking and it was one of those things where you know you're supposed to say something and you're just hoping that she hadn't been waiting too long! I did the only thing I could do. I apologized and told her that no it had totally been me, not her, and that I was sorry and it wouldn't happen again. I felt very adult.... and embarrassed, so I made like a tree and leafed that room as soon as I could! I thank God that Betty is the direct type of person to have confronted me with it. Otherwise I (not a confronter) would have stewed and hated.
Long story short, we are all happily stashed away on the third floor of "Oakley," Betty and I are getting along fine. She is a perfectly nice, hard-working co-worker who, due to her extrovertedness, probably isn't as clam happy as I am because she only has so many people to talk to.
I am learning my job and enjoying life at Berry. The other day I was informed that Betty and I are "Safety Wardens" of the third floor. This means that in the event of fire or tornado (or more likely fire or tornado drills), we don very fashionable orange vests and "sweep" the floor to get all personnel to the appropriate muster site. I pointed out that one time, at the law firm, there'd been a tornado warning and we were all told to go to the basement of the building. I got up and promptly trotted down the stairs to the basement. About ten minutes later, Boss Man came down. He'd been on his phone and didn't realize there was a tornado and even though I had to walk past the door to his office, it never occurred to Rose to say anything to him! Oops! Anyway, Fire Marshall Rose will attempt to do her best. Although I'd feel better about it if I got to wear hard hat.
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