There's a first for everything

Non-RA

Saturday.

9:03am

I was awakened by a ringing on my mobile. This mobile, was sponsored and bills totally paid for by Da Company. So any ringing on this mobile means bad news.

And I was right.

Apparently, I had forgotten to do something really important and the consequences were dire. In my haste to finish off other work in the office the night before(where I had stayed till 8 to complete), I had missed out on a very important task.

So there I was, panicking, with my stinking morning breath, calling my mentor and all other persons who would be in a good position to advise me on what I could do to salvage the situation. 800 metric tons of chemicals left on a vessel unable to discharge because of one person's error is no joke. The costs involved and the delay in subsequent shipments could very well get me fired.

For the first time, I screwed up really bad. At work.

But I am, after all, a person who's reaped good kharma, right?? So my mentor helped me tracked down some people, who were supposed not to be working on Saturdays, to sort things out for me. Of course, I felt bad that certain people had to rush back to their office and do extra things and rush the documents to the port when they didn't have to. And these are people I don't actually come into contact with and can't thank them for.

The issue was settled eventually, and all thanks to my lucky stars (and good kharma), there was no mentioning of this incident at work on Monday. I thought I was going to get a lot of tongue-lashing and such, but everyone was too busy to mention said matter again.

I am such a lucky person.

***************************

It was the Monday following the incident. Time for our month-end closing.

From morning all the way till 6pm, my phone never stopped ringing. I was getting calls by the seconds to chase me for documents, follow-ups and all loads of rubbish. Too many people were coming to me at the same time.


"Please arrange for LOI for this vessel. Vessel is arriving tomorrow. We must have the cargo discharged at vessel arrival."

Very Urgent.

"I just ran the report and the stock is still showing discrepancy. Please check and revert asap."

Urgent.

"Where is my order confirmation for tomorrow? I need to give to my transporter by today."

Very urgent.

"Can you please follow up with XXX for their product? They were supposed to lift it by end of Sept."

Very urgent.

"We must apply for CNB license by today. If not, there won't be enough time for them to process and we can't load the cargo."

Very very urgent.

How the hell am I supposed to do my work if everyone is calling me at the same bloody time telling me that what I need to do is URGENT??!!!

Everything was urgent. Or very urgent. Or very, very urgent. Fuck 'em all.

I didn't know how to prioritise. I was so lost on what to do next. In the midst of it all, I left my work station, went to the handicapped toilet, locked the door, and teared.

For the first time in my life, I cried about work.

I took a few minutes to re-collect myself and went back into the mad rush. And I worked, and worked and worked. My brain cells were burning at an accelerated rate. I packed up at 9.30pm, went home to bathe and eat, and continued working from home.

Da Company doesn't pay for my broadband service for nothing. I think I've sold my life, my energy and eventually my soul to them.

The pimples can't wait to pop. The wrinkles under my skin was dying to surface.

So, be prepared to hear more ranting. That is, if i get the chance to blog.

Arggghhhh.