Thursday 13: Things I have learned at work.

If you click on the picture above it will link you to the page where others participate in Thursday 13.

One of the hosts of the site is getting married and so lots of the posts this week are about marriage. I was racking my brain trying to think of things relating to marriage that I found interesting and it might just be too late at night because I can't think of anything I feel would be very interesting to write about in that area.

Instead, and only because I HAVE been thinking about it a lot with everything happening at work right now, here are 13 things I have learned in life, things I have learned at work.

1. You are replaceable. No matter how likeable you are, how thorough or how dedicated, someone else CAN do the job you are doing. I learned this working at University when I stayed too long at a job I hated. I should have left when I didn't want to be there anymore. No-one appreciated me staying longer and I resented that they didn't appreciate me more.

2. It's not personal. People can yell at you, swear at you, throw things at you, even call you names, but it isn't about YOU. No matter what they say, they don't know WHO you are and it's about work!

3. It will be there when you get back. Unless it burns to the ground, in which case something else will be there.

4. People move on. No mater how wonderful (or how terrible) a situation is, people move on. I worked with a team of people I absolutely loved. I can never go back and recapture that time. It is past, but I can keep those people in my life if I choose. I have worked in situations I have hated and either I left, or others left. Nothing stays the same.

5. There will ALWAYS be someone who has a bad attitude. Sometimes that person has power over you, sometimes they don't, but there will be one, always at least one. Try NOT to be that person! There was a secretary I worked with after college who was absolutely horrible. I don't think she knew how to start a sentence if it didn't have the words "You can't....."

6. People WILL remember small kindnesses. You may think no-one will ever care if you smile at them or treat them politely, but they will. Sometimes people will remember you when you have long forgotten them, or what you did for them. At the same token, they will also remember if you were ignorant to them. It doesn't take any more energy to be rude to someone than it takes to be nice.

7. Your actions speak louder than your words. You can TELL me something, but show me something completely different in your actions. I am going to believe what you DO.

8. The only thing constant in EVERY job, in EVERY place I have ever worked is CHANGE. If you can't handle change you need to learn some coping methods because when change happens, and it will, if you can't handle it, you make life difficult for everyone around you. This goes back to #7. If you SAY you handle change well, but then you are a wreck of a human being when change happens, I am likely to believe you don't handle change well.

9. You can get away with some things some of the time, but not all things all of the time. Bosses are like parents. They know more than you think they know. This can be very bad, or very good - depending on if what you are doing is bad or good, and if you are the boss or not!If you think you are being sneaky, you MAY be, but you won't always be. Working with kids in college has taught me this. They get together and do something and think they are getting away with murder, but I will hear about it. Sometimes I will even hear about it at Kentucky Fried Chicken when I am standing in line with my two year old, or when I am at the post office, but I WILL hear about it. I even hear about things people have done when they think they are alone. That can be embarrassing - for them, not so much for me.

10. There is really no good way for ice cream bike riders (like dickie dee) to keep the ice cream solid all day in the summer. Even dry ice melts.

11. Getting drunk and calling your boss to say you want to commit suicide can wreck a working relationship.

12. Sometimes it feels great to quit a job on the spot. The feeling won't put gas in your car though. I learned this at UPS - and I would do it again in a heartbeat, but I think I might try to sue someone first and at least get some money out of it.

13. You are never done learning. There is ALWAYS something to learn from someone. No matter who you are or how long you have been in a position. I learned the MOST in my employment years from the people I have worked FOR (kids, students etc) than from my bosses or the companies I was employed by or even through training or schooling. There is always something to learn.