From the field, In the new neighborhood, Snapshots, Whatever

A week of Tuesdays

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Glass art on display at Hot Sand on the boardwalk at Asbury Park

I often have to walk off the workday on Tuesday. Tuesdays feel something like setting up your desk for the day on a subway platform in Manhattan; at midday I tried a few laps around the building in an effort to get my head straight… it didn’t help much, unfortunately. The end of every month tends to be crunch-time for me anyway, but whisper the word vacation and any facade of controlled chaos just falls away.

It feels almost wrong to vent about it here, but the first round of *bumping* that I’d mentioned in this post will take effect on the first of May. Sadly, a social worker with 24 years experience in my unit will be bumped to a downgraded position in another agency. We’ll have to train the person that’s taking her job, and a couple of us are consoling ourselves with thoughts of how we might best do that.

*insert evil grin*

She’s a nice-enough lady, but it’s been decades since she’s been expected to have any real client contact. People in my profession get promoted so they won’t have to deal with clients anymore, sort of like school teachers becoming administrators so they won’t be expected to actually teach. I imagine she’ll adjust soon enough, or maybe just retire a bit sooner than anticipated, but picture someone straight out of a Little House on the Prairie episode walking the streets of the South Bronx. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you need thick skin to do this job well and you also need to project a bit of an edge when you’re out there with clients and I have a hard time seeing anyone doing that in a twin-set and pearls and kitten heels. It should be amusing to watch, at least.

I’m working late more often the last couple months and today’s rain had turned to sun and then back to thick fog and drizzle by the time I found myself walking the boardwalk early this evening. The bit of color on display there was a welcome distraction from an otherwise dreary sort of day.

7 thoughts on “A week of Tuesdays”

  1. Laura–I know just what you mean about the effects of bumping.
    Some years ago, when I was in the PA Dpt of Health, we had a round of RIFfing. People got bumped into positions that had civil service titles but their actual job skills simply did not match up. It ruined them; it ruined the departments they were in. And it made me angry at a governor who wanted to cut jobs so he could claim political credit for having done so.

  3. It is a lovely photo and I can understand how it might cheer you. Offices everywhere seem to be having this sort of problem recently. It is so sad. We should truly enjoy what we do for a living! But it seems to become more difficult each year.

  4. Thin-skin-Lynne here!

    I wouldn’t last a minute in your field. Seniority should protect employees but nothing these days seems to be balanced with common sense.

    Next week please teach me how to photograph reflections like you do so wonderfully.

  5. If I had your job I my “I much prefer not working” wouldn’t be said in jest.

    Did you finish packing yet? (Start?)

    I’m n the midst of packing for the Delmarva Star Gaze this weekend, wish me clear skies!

    And nice image. I like the colors and the multi-level feel.

  7. I like feeling like I was walking with you, listening to you vent. That’s how this post made me feel, right down to the chilly fog and the view in the window.

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