Temporary Insanity

Today at 9:00 AM I met our temp. She was an older woman, semi-retired, probably about sixty. I showed her my organizational system, I gave her a small job to do, I explained the computer and the phone and anything else I could think of. She nodded along and asked questions and seemed interested.

She left at 12:30, and I went to run errands and eat lunch.

At 1:30 I came back to the office. "You aren't going to believe this," my boss said. "The temp quit."

She quit. She left the office, went home, and called her agency to tell them that she 1) didn't like the office atmosphere, 2) there was nothing for her to do. At least those are the reasons I got third-hand.

I felt really bad about this. Did I do something? Had I said things I shouldn't have? I made a couple of comments, but said nothing too negative. The job isn't bad . . . certainly not for a temp to do for a month. And there's more than enough work to fill the time she'd put in.

So, tomorrow we get Baby Temp. She's fresh out of her freshman year at a Very Conservative Christian college. She was homeschooled from age five up until she left for said VCC college. Her jobs have been a) working for her dad's contracting company, and b) working in the VCC college library. Right now, I picture Laura Ingalls. Braids and all. Only quieter.

Tomorrow, I will say only good things about the job. I will promote the fun, the flexibility, the new skills one can learn.

I will not say anything about lack of office organization, conflict, ditzy people, or the soul-crushing loneliness that comes with working by oneself.