Right now, I am working as a porter for a staffing company. I get sent around to different properties, and do whatever needs to be done. It's not a mentally hard job, but I do end up walking a lot of miles during the day.
Today was a strange day at work. I was sent to a property I had never been to. When I got there in the morning I noticed another staffer had showed up. This has happened before when I did a clean out of an apartment. Back then, it took a couple of us to clean it out.
Well, things got off to a crazy start. The apartment manager sent this other staffer home. She said that she looked for him all day yesterday, and couldn't find him. She also couldn't see any work that he had done. She basically accused him of hiding out, and skipping work. She said she called the office and told them she didn't want him back. She didn't know why they didn't tell him yesterday not to show up today.
He didn't take that too well. He left the office, came back with his paperwork, and she signed it. He left, and then came back again. I was worried that he might do something violent. He yelled at her, "You know what? I "like" your management style!" He did say that very sarcastically. He then left.
So I didn't know what to expect. I thought I might diffuse any situation like that by giving her my cell phone number. Therefore if she wanted to know where I was at any time, I was only a phone call away.
I started on trash cans and garbage. I ended up meeting up with the maintenance supervisor. I helped him with some garbage and cleaning out an apartment that was being refurbished. I also took a leaf blower around the property to clean up all the leaves that were everywhere. The supervisor, Eric, told me he liked my work ethic.
After lunch I started the tedious task of taking apart the lights around the complex, and cleaning them out. I had to do all three floors, so I was dragging this fifty pound ladder all over the place. That's when something strange happened. Every time Eric saw me he was surprised at my pace. He was shocked that I had made it as far as I did. By the end of the day I had cleaned every single light cover in the complex. I managed to do that in four hours.
Let me tell you my shoulder was hurting from dragging that ladder all over the place. I made sure I took some Aleeve when I got home. I was glad to put that ladder up at the end of the day.
So when it came time for me to sign out, Eric and Elsa, the property manager were ecstatic. Eric said in all the years he had been doing that, I was the best worker he ever had. Honestly, I was just aiming for "pretty good" or a "B+." I wasn't expecting that. Elsa even gave me a high five despite me being pretty dirty. She was so happy with me, that she asked to come work at the complex on Saturday, in addition to the Friday I was also scheduled to work. They already had a few things lined up on both days to knock out.
I've always known my family had a good work ethic. What I didn't know was just how bad some other people were. Eric was telling me how some guys were so slow. He didn't want to ride anyone hard, but most of the guys who came through there were just damn lazy. He was so happy with me, he was trying to see about finding some full time work for me within the company. I should mention that the company that owned the property I worked at that day also owned a number of other properties.
So I will head back there for the next two days. It will be good to get a bit of work in, and some money in my bank account. When I look back at today, the funny thing I will remember is that, I don't think I worked that hard. I mean, I've had other days where I worked much harder than that. I guess I'm just an elite work guy.
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