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Do you ever get that sense that you're doing A LOT, but when you try and put your finger on exactly what it is that made your workload so tremendous, the specifics elude you? Perception. I'll happily tell you I've done the work of three people today, but I can only really think of two or three things I did that were 'above and beyond' the general constant customer flow of a receptionist.

I took it upon myself to de-ice the milk dispenser as the first thing I did, which has to be just about the most pointless and unnoticeable job going, as the door only gets opened once a week or so when the box runs out. It's beyond my normal run-of-the-mill tasks, but I undertook it of my own volition, and I suppose if it were to be someones 'job' it would definitely be mine.

I think the only things I was 'made' to do was place an order with Rhoddas, the cream people, tidy the car park at the end of the day and take a couple of orders because there wasn't anyone about from the delivery department. This lack of people to put calls through to made me far more busy than I would normally be- instead of acting as a switchboard and being through with a call in about 30 seconds, I now had to deal with a plethora of complaints in issues I wasn't versed in for up to 20 minutes at a time.

And the other thing that sucked was one of my bloody co-workers specifically. Her tone told me that she consistently failed to understand that I had a queue of 6 people waiting for my services and that I cannot, for the love of God, remember the name of every customer I have to call her about.

But no, the vast majority of my difficulties today were self inflicted, right up to the final straw;- answering a phone call when it was gone five o'clock and I'd finished just out of masochism. Some motherfucker had lost a wallet, and I spend the next 10 minutes chasing that up only to have overzealous-coworker-woman not let me even look at the fucking thing to see if it had the guys customer card in it. I think when I left she must have turned to my supervisor and questioned my attitude as he came out of the office almost immediately after I left to ask me what was wrong.

"Everything!" Answers I. "I've had to do about eight extra things in the last half hour alone because we're so short staffed!"
"I know. It's getting beyond a joke how few people we have in. What were you made to do?"
"Uhhh... I tidied the carpark?"

In this instance perception just made me look and feel like a complete idiot.