Office facelift...

Last Friday, we all spent the day painting the walls of the building I work in. Today we are rearranging the cubicles and there is much crashing, pounding and bashing going on. Everyone was dreading this day because of the interruption it would cause to their work and because they were afraid they would lose precious space. Turns out, they are gaining space and some privacy so the overall atmosphere in here today is cheery!

I've told you before that I work for a small not for profit social service agency. We are a rag tag bunch to be sure. At first sight, we don't look like your average social work types and, more often than not, people mistake that for a lack of professionalism. The bottom line is that here at KHDS we believe, first and foremost, in the people we serve. We work with alcoholics, mentally ill, developmentally disabled, drug addicted, homeless, unemployed, uninsured people. They don't always look clean or smell good or speak clearly and, sometimes, they are beliggerant and ornery. They hang out outside our building, come in and mess up our rest rooms and, once in a while, walk out with someone's purse or jacket. Other agencies put limits on the amount of time their clients can be in their buildings or when they can show up at all. Other agencies have nice carpeting and furniture and real plants in their lobbies bathed in track lighting. We have a fake ficus on a used end table. We believe that any funds we recieve is best used in programs that help those we serve and not in the interior design of our building. We also believe that if you are wearing a suit it's likely you haven't done much hands on social work in a while.

That's why this recent coat of paint and the moving about of some cublicle walls has been so invigorating. The physical participation in doing it has brought us closer together as a team and the actual visualization of our handy work made us proud.

At the end of the day, we may not look like much but we'll charm you with our personable natures and wow you with our skill. We're here to help and that's not just a saying. We really do. So don't mind that there is a tear in the seat of the chair you may sit on...it doesn't matter. What matters are the people who come through our door each day who leave just a little healthier, a little calmer, a little less lonely and a whole lot more confident that they really do have a purpose.

My office or, as I like to call it, my own personal piece of heaven....

This is where it all happens. This is the "think tank" where great minds meet to make even greater decisions. This the heart of the agency where ALL the hardest work is done. This is where I spend hours playing Text Twist and looking for weird stuff on Craigslist! Haha! Seriously, this is my office...love it or leave it.




It's important to have many Dum Dum Lollipops when working in Social Work. Sometimes it's all that gets us through the day. Well, that and the vodka...



Having the right kitschy stuff staring at you from your computer is essential. In this case, the Beanie Babies were my idea. I have no idea who's teeth those are. They just showed up one day.



I call this thing the "Intruder". It can mess up the best of days.



Sponge Bob is my co-pilot.



I find I can't have enough pens in my desk at any given time. That's because I rarely take the time to actually check which ones work or not so it's always a crap shoot going in there for one.



My tiny little Rolodex. Honestly, I don't know why I have this. I never use it. All my contacts are kept on the computer.



Miscellaneous crap. A true professional cannot have enough of it. Office supplies you will never use but will fill your desk drawers nicely and make it look all official and stuff.

What comes around goes around...

There's this lady at work, someone I supervise, who always feels that everyone is out to get her. She is eternally suspicious of everyone and doesn't believe that people sometimes can do nice things just to be nice. It's frustrating and one of her character flaws that can be very annoying. However, that being said, she can also be extremely funny and personable at times which endears her to me in spite of her paranoia. She often seeks out people to "take sides" and likes to hole up behind closed office doors to "chat" even though there's really nothing to "chat" about. At one time, there was another case manager there who fed right into all of her fears. Together they created a tiny world of paranoid delusions and caused all manner of distress for their co-workers.

Her cohort up and quit one day. Despite her personality, she was treated very well by me and the upper management but when she quite she chose to walk out without notice which, I'm sure, she felt "taught" us a lesson, though we are hard pressed to know what that might be. Her departure, naturally, left the other one high and dry without a cohort and office collaborator. For a time, she came and went from work in a huff as though we had all been responsible for the other's leaving. Then she started to calm down and started to actually interact with the others and found out they really weren't all that bad and no one was really out to get her. She kept in touch with her former co-worker and, occasionally, I would overhear phone conversations between them where, at least for the one side I could hear, I and the other were being fairly trashed. I shrugged it off because that stuff just doesn't bother me.

Lo and behold, today the worm has turned. Apparently, the other one - the one that left - was now calling Ms. Paranoid Case Manager and asking - no, demanding - certain business related favors that would benefit her new employer. Though paranoid, she's not stupid, and she quickly reminded her former co-worker that it was hugely unprofessional to even ask. This led to a quick exchange of nasty words which completely shocked her. She was completely thrown that her former co-worker, commiserator, and friend had not only laid into her but then hung up abruptly.

She came to me to tell me this had happened. She was upset and very hurt but she was also very pragmatic and good about the whole thing. After our talk, she turned to me as she left my office and said "Well, you could have told me what a snake she was!!" I just laughed and reminded her, "It wouldn't have made any difference if I had!"

Stacking them up like so much firewood...

I've told you about where I work...the small not for profit human service agency. Well, this time the operative word is small. In the past 15 months, we have experienced a growth spurt that we've never seen before. We've had to hire may new employees for various new programs we've started. The problem is that this building just isn't big enough for all of us.

When we started the hiring frenzy, we initially had to "double up" in our already space challenged offices. Once those were all full, we had to create what we affectionately call "cubicle row". Have successfully filled any available hall space with temporary walls and adorning them with hanging computer and telephone cords, we then had to go back the offices to see if there were one or two that could possible hold a third person. Now the building is a maze of wall, offices, people, file cabinets and Xerox machines. When guests enter our space they are always amazed at just how many bodies we've managed to cram in here!

Today, I interviewed two new hires. I have no idea where they'll end up in here. It kind of reminds me of that old Marx Brother's movie - the one where they are on the ocean liner and they're in the tiniest state room ever. Then, in comes the maid, the plumber, the masseuse, the manicurist, the maintenance man, room service and someone looking for her Aunt Minnie. As I recall, the room didn't hold up in the end and they all came violently spilling out into the hallway.

I'm pretty sure that's what's going to happen here. Either that or the ceiling is gonna blow!