A new job at work

There is a cartoon on my refrigerator of Ziggy in his robe in the middle of the night opening his refrigerator only to be met by a mouse eating cheese inside and asking Ziggy, “Couldn’t you at least knock first?”

Ziggy’s feelings at that point pretty much sum up my feelings the last year or more with my work situation. It has been a nightmare. I don’t want to go into detail. Just take my word for it that it was agonizing.

Only a few of my closest friends knew what was going on. Of those who did know, they were worried about me and now that I have come through the storm, they tell me they don’t know how I did it. Neither do I. I am especially grateful for a handful of friends who went all out to help me get through this. These are people who did little things, “Hey, Sherry, can you go for a bike ride on the canal tomorrow?” or “Let’s go for a hike in Black Creek Park.” Or, “Can you come over for dinner this weekend?” Then there were those who called or e-mailed “just to say hi.” When you have friends like this, you can get through any crisis.

My new job is an Administrative Assistant position in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology. Four secretaries will report to me.

I had five interviews for this job. The last one was with the four secretaries that will report to me and one other person. Half way through that interview, one of them asked, “Do you mind if I ask what your supervisory style is?”

I told them they were all long term employees in their job and they don’t need me to stand over them, watching every move they make, that I would respect each of them as individuals, that I would never yell at them or belittle them in any way. If there are problems, I would settle them behind closed doors and with dignity and that I would gather all the facts from every perspective before making a decision. Further, I told them I would be judged by how well that office is managed so it is in my best interests to see that they felt good about their job and looked forward to coming to work everyday. I spoke from my heart and I think my sincerity came across to them.

At that point, the woman that asked the question, pounded her fist on the table and screamed, “HIRE HER!”

While I laughed at her reaction, no one will ever know how hard I fought at that moment to hold back tears.

Yes, the last year and a half has been a struggle. . . make that a MAJOR struggle. To borrow a line from one of my all-time favorite movies, Animal House, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

I start this new job in mid-December.