Saturday, January 17, 2009

Content with Boredom.

So I got a job.

Not a teaching job. But a job nonetheless.

Whatever helps me sleep at night, right? Right.

Anyways so I got this job like two weeks ago at a Physical Therapy clinic/home health care office. It's owned by two physical therapists---a Pakistani couple.

I'm basically the receptionist and secretary (I'm really not sure what the difference is between the two, but those are my job titles). I do anything and everything that they need me to do. I answer the phone, take messages, fix their printer, and file their paperwork for them. I also vacuum when needed, water the office plant, and make certificates for their masjid/mosque. It's like I'm their personal AND professional secretary.

It's going okay so far. Can't really complain. It's something to do while I apply and interview for actual teaching positions.

The only downfall of this job: It's SO boring. SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO boring.

I only interact with four people. For forty hours a week.

There's me;the couple who own it; the medical biller, Minnie (she doesn't really like me...but more on that later) and a cute Muslim girl who's known as the miscellaneous employee, Ena...

That's it. No one comes in. And no one really leaves. (Okay the physical therapists leave to see patients. But it feels like they're always there though. Breathing down my neck.)

So anywho, like any other day, one day I was extremely bored.I kept complaining to Ena about my boredom and she was quick to sympathize and agree with me.

(By the way Ena and I used to sit in the same room and talk all the time.. which made the time go by SO fast , but our boss didnt like that and said we were talking way too much and not getting enough work done. So basically she split us up into two separate rooms. Elementary school. I know. But I'm the new girl, I really can't complain and throw a tantrum)

(Not that I would complain, because I'm such a passive person and a pushover. A passive pushover)

I also didn't have my car with me that day and no food. So not only was I bored, but I was also carless and hungry. But Ena came to the rescue and insisted that she would take me to Subway to get food. I was too scared to ask my bosses if we could go (passive pushover, remember?). Ena asked instead. They were fine with it, and we were on our merry little way to Subway.

We were stopped at a red light when Ena asked me whether she should be turning right or left. It didn't really matter because we were on a one way street and everyone at that red light had to turn right. But I didn't think Ena understood that and for some odd reason I didnt tell her either. But she decided she wanted to go to the right lane. And instead of waiting for the cars on the right lane to pass, she decided it would be easier to just reverse. At the intersection. So she did just that. She was reversing and all of sudden, you hear WHAM!!!

Ena: OMG! Did I just hit something.

Me: Uhhh yeah, I think you just hit a car.

Both of us: OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

Ena: Should I go out there?

Me: I think so. I think that's what people do.

(Obviously this is the first time this has happened to the both of us.)

So Ena puts her blinkers on and puts her car in park, in the middle of the intersection, and we both get out of the car. She walks up to the person she hit. And I just kinda stand next to Ena's minivan and a HUGE semi truck, wondering what the heck I'm supposed to be doing. Eventually I get back into the car because the truck driver told me that if I didnt move he was gonna run me over because he had to merge into my lane.

I sat in the car and watched poor Ena flailing her arms back and forth and could read her lips and make out the words "I'm sooooooooooooo sorry" about fifty million times. And trying to calm the lady down as much as she possibly could.

After what seems like forever for me (I felt SO guilty), Ena comes back into the car, and the other lady drives away.

Me: OMG. What happened?

Ena: She took down my name and number.

Me: That's it?

Ena:Yeah, there wasn't any damage. Dude, I just bumped her car. No big deal. No damage.

Me: I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry

Ena: Why you sorry. You didn't hit her. It was my fault.

Me: I'm soooooooooooooooooooooo sorry (I was starting to sound like her) If I didnt want to go to Subway and if I wasnt complaining about being bored this wouldnt have happened.

Ena: Constructive Attitude, I'm the retard who decided to reverse in the middle of an intersection. So stop worrying. And plus there was no damage.

But I couldn't help but feel guilty. I couldn't even eat my sub or cookies. When we got back to the office we told our bosses about it, and their response was: "I'm so glad that I decided not to tell you to fill up the gas in my car, because I was so close to asking you to take mine instead of yours."

Ena was calm and chill and joking about it too.

Until she got a missed voicemail that is.

*After listening to missed voicemail*

Ena: Dude, I'm about to get sued!!!

ME: What?!?!?!?!??!?!??!

Ena: The lady just called me and said that if I dont call her back in half an hour, shes going to report me to the police as a hit and run.

Me: So call them back?

Ena: Should I? What do I say.

Me: Umm I'm not really sure. But just call them.

So she did. She talked to them for a while, and to make a long story short, they wanted $200 for damages.


Ena wanted to pay them the money so they would leave her alone. The bosses said NO way in hell. (Even I know, you don't do that)

But this is where I got stuck and our bosses jumped in. We had to figure out whether Ena had insurance or not. This took all of ten minutes because Ena didnt want to call her mom.

But she had to. Her mom was fine. Her dad? He told her he would be there in five minutes.

When he came, he couldn't stop yelling at her in Urdu. Poor thing. I felt so bad for her because she just stood there and took it ( I mean I do realize she had no choice. But I wanted to jump in there and say "It was all MY fault, Uncle. Please don't yell at her". Of course, I didnt, I just stood there) I don't understand the language, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he was livid.

The people that Ena hit were not the nicest people either (And yes they had every right to be upset but not to the extent that they took it). When the uncle spoke to the "victims" they belligerently said that Ena was ignorant and that people like us-"ragheads" need to learn how to speak English and watch where the hell we're going(This I agree with). But some of the other stuff was too rude and too profane for me to share with you all. In my opinion, though, they sounded like the ignorant ones.

In the end though, Ena's father told her that if the people called back to tell them to either call the insurance company OR call him. That's it. And for Ena not to worry anymore.

It was a crazy day.

From this point on, I will pack a lunch for myself. And eat that lunch without complaining.

And never ever will I complain about being bored. (Or at least at this job)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I could, I'd kill off all racist people, but then that'd be like 90% of the world, so I guess I won't be doing that- but seriously, the woman sounds like a real bitch, and I would have totally walked her to the minority protection court and sued her for something worth while.

I hope your day was good otherwise!

MarjnHomer said...

that's crazy and makes me remember the day "elmo" hit that lady's car. She wanted money that same day, 500 freaking dollars. Later on abba took care of it and he ended up payin 200 every 2 weeks for 6 weeks total. Its crazy but its made him realize just slow down and quit rushing. Hey when you're wallet is hit, you remember your lesson. But also never ever pay upfront if you hit someone else's car. Discuss and agree to something on paper where you both sign, otherwise, they'll be like you didnt' pay and the money should be documented through personal checks or money orders where you have a copy just in case they take you to court or something. Boy was this long.

Sana said...

WTH?? There was no damage. She gave her name and number etc. And now she's being accused of hit and run. WTH. $200 in what damages? Is that legal?

Ugh. I'm so pissed now. I can't stand people like that. And she told her to learn English? Ignorant. Where in MI is this? {you can tell me later if you dont want to disclose th city}

provoking invoking said...

wow dude.. crazy day and crazy story. is it bad of me that i kinda laughed when i read that she decided to REVERSE?

thats just an insane thing to decide to do unless the road is like deserted.. crazy crazy girls.

but i'm sorry for her. it sucks that she happened to hit some bigoted angry white chick. khair inshAllah (it'll go well, God-willing)

provoking invoking said...

and i agree with falling up. alhamdulillah i'm glad i haven't been in this situation. only time i ever hit someone was at a school parking lot and it was my friend's car that i hit. no damage to hers, only to mine! hgyuck it was stupid. fender benders usually are :(

Artistic Logic said...

*Sigh*
what an idiot (that lady)
im sure she was alright and so was her car but because she was technically the "victim" she probably got some idea or someone provoked her to take the threatening route...I-D-I-O-T
thank god i haven't been in that situation and i really hope i never will be, God- willing... sometimes when weather is bad i wonder if i get in an accident, what do i do? i don't even know what to do lol....*sigh*
also, im just really mad that she immediately jumped to the racist terminology and connected the dots back to "you're not a typical american face, therefore this accident was caused by the fact that you probably speak a foreign language"
how IDIOTIC

Sana said...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but did CA disclose the race of Crazy Lady?
If she didn't then I think we should watch ourselves before we do the same stereotyping.:)

Anonymous said...

Oh man i think this is the most interesting post you have ever wrote.
Hahahah that was realllly funny/ spooky. Same thing happened tome once, but it wasn't my fault. It was Najida's.lol

Mrs. Cullen said...

i hope this is a lesson for u, in case (God forbid) something like this ever happens to any of you and don't know what to do. You can call the police, ITS OK. Its the legal way. You don't want anyone to scam you or later decide they want to say it was a hit and run. If either party is in a rush, you can always take the license plate number AND the name of the person AND their license number. Don't forget those! Its ok, especially if you have insurance, don't worry about it. I'm glad you guys told adults who could handle it well (eheheh hohoho hahaha). ok bye.

Mrs. Cullen said...

ok and i have a confession, i quit reading right before you started talking about the accident. its better in person when its exaggerated and stuff holla!

MarjnHomer said...

i've hit so many cars so many times but now that i think about it, they were all funny times to me but not when i was going thru them.. lmao and hey you learn from these experiences.

Unknown said...

That WAS an interesting post. I love reading vignettes in people's lives even though I wasn't invited. And your job was so boring. I'll have to try to post on my ThePowerOfBoredom.com some ways to make a boring job more interesting because you can't have a distraction like that every day.

Letitia, motivation coach
ThePowerOfBoredom.com

Unknown said...

Me again. I just wrote a post about what to do in a boring job when you are being watched, so you can't do most boredom busters. Let me know if this works for you!

Letitia at ThePowerOfBoredom.com

*mary* said...

Wow, sorry that happened. The worst part is the crazy racist lady trying to extort money from your coworker. It's like she went home, discussed it with her husband or someone and THEN decided to call with threats of legal action.
Ughhh, I don't understand people.

fuelMybrain said...

How'd I miss this fun story? Well, I see everyone has already said my thoughts.

Falling Up: you made a good point about that shows we all stereotype, sad but true.

When I smashed into a car, thankfully someone called the cops, they kept us seperated and I never had to met the guy. But it was just one whitey hittin up another whitey (wink)... but I'm sure he'd of said something about me being a crazy female driver. LOL.