"Working"

I had my shift in the Small Claims Advisory office for one of my regular shifts this morning. When I had my training on Tuesday, the tiny office held the regular afternoon guy (RAG for short), another first year (who already had his day of training), and me. Since there are only 2 desks and 2 phones, I got to sit and listen in and watch that day. Today was just the normal morning shift guy (for Thurdays anyway- NMSG for short) and me, so I got to take a desk and phone and take a few clients.

At first, I was feeling pretty nervous, because there is such a range of questions you can get asked, and there is NO way I know how to answer more than just the basic stuff. Luckily, my first couple calls were so basic ("what do I do to get a security deposit back?" and "when can I come to the office to have help filling out my forms?") that I was able to sound like I have been doing this for years. One lady even wanted to make sure she saw me when she came in this afternoon, and was disappointed when I told her my shift ended at noon. I did reassure her that RAG has been here many years and would be very helpful. Of course, nothing like someone wanting ME to help them to give me a shot of confidence.

NMSG is really nice and made it really easy for me to feel comfortable. I'm glad I will be working with him on Thursdays and hope he will still be there for awhile. (He's already done this for over a year.)

It felt weird to drive to "work" this morning in rush hour traffic.....something I haven't done in over 10 years. The traffic really wasn't all that bad. It took me about 10 minutes to get to the freeway, 10 minutes on the freeway, and another 10 minutes from the freeway to get parked and up to the office. The worst part is just finding a parking spot! At least now I know of some spots in which I can park.

I think I'm really going to like this. Even answering basic questions made me feel good that I could help someone. And believe it or not, I think I'm actually a very compassionate listener (not sure I believe it most of the time). The people mostly just want someone to hear their story, and even if I don't know all the answers, I'm always happy to listen (and find out what they need to know for them).