Ok, the title may be misleading at first, but once I explain I think you might agree that I have stupidly agreed to degrade myself in the name of a decent paycheck.
Let me start by saying that this shall remain completely anonymous, my intent is to vent and to reassure myself that I am competent, that I am a nice person, and my boss is the crazy one. It's been two weeks since I started this crazy new job and I'm starting to think I might be as bad as she tells me I am. Yet I'm still working here. So now who's crazy?
This job is one of those that you can only get through reccomendations and friends and lots of phone calls. I was thrilled to get it, and even more thrilled when I heard the salary. I was so eager to get the job that I said I would be available if she needed me overtime. This was not a lie, but I didn't realize how much she would abuse this. I haven't yet had to stay over, but I'm just waiting for the day when I end up sleeping on a chair outside her room because she's lonely.
I'm getting ahead of myself here. What exactly is it that I do? Hard to say really. I am the personal assistant of a woman who has passed her prime in every sense of the word but is still able to enjoy the finer things in life. Unfortunately, she enjoys nothing. Everything makes her sick, everything makes her ache, everything and everybody should know that she is not a well woman and it is ridiculous that she be put through such hardships.
What I do specifically is keep track of her schedule which is full of doctors's appointments, events, dinners, friends, etc. Also her long long phone list which is printed out because she has no idea how to use a computer. Not one clue. Which is excellent because I am at work right now writing this.
There are a number of other things to do during the day, most of which aren't a secretary's job, yet I am expected to know how to do everything that goes on around here. I should also say that I would love to know everything and be on top of it. I am the type of person who doesn't like making mistakes, but around here it is impossible not to make a "mistake." She will deliebrately tell me and have me write down exactly what to do, I will do it, and then two minutes later she will change her mind and yell at me for doing it wrong. And then out comes the verbal assault that no secretary worth her salt an any organization would last 2 minutes doing what I just did, and I should call so-and-so's secretary to see what SHE sounds like on the phone and why don't I just walk into an office and see how they run things there?
Well for starters, I doubt that any office she would want me modeling my practice after would let me just walk in without an appointment or someone to see. Security would throw me right out on my behind. Second, this isn't an office. She's walking around in a bathrobe all the time and I've already seen way more of her than I will ever need to. So don't talk to me about professionalism. I'm very professional. At least my shirt is buttoned.
To be fair, the job itself is very simple. Call some people, make some plans, write it down. Confirm. Repeat.
Except how it really goes is: She asks me to call, then takes the phone. Or she asks me to call and starts yelling instructions at me while I'm talking to someone. This makes it very hard to hear, it means I can't talk to the person and frankly makes me look very rude. If I ask them to hold for one moment she yells at me because I should just hand her the phone they don't need to know to hold.
Then she usually has a specific name of a person to talk to, so if I'm not talking to that person then I'm wrong, the new person is stupid and probably not even in the US, and no one is acceptable except that one person.
So if I finally get ahold of the right person, I can book tickets, I can get a reservation, etc. And make sure to get a confirmation number. They usually want an e-mail but NO NEVER USE THE E-MAIL.
Then I can hang up and put it on the calendar, which now needs to be re-printed. Four times. Forests are dying but she doesn't care.
I can't really describe this situation and do it justice - I just had to start getting some of this out. It's too ridiculous to really be happening, and she's breaking me down one day at a time.
Some days are really good - and I love to do things right and have her be happy. When she thinks I've done a good job, she tells me, and when she smiles she really looks quite friendly.
It's just she is so unreasonable and if I don't write this down in some sort of covert defiance I will go insane.
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