A Good Girlscout

I don’t know if it’s the Girl Scout in me or if I’m just “this way,” but I find that I respect people more if they are prepared. And I don’t mean prepared for any situation, like a natural disaster. After all, there isn’t a purse on the market that could hold “everything” needed to survive (although the idea is intriguing…will research this further). What I mean is that if you are in charge of anything, from your cash register to your office space, I think it’s important to be prepared.

I go to work prepared. And I expect the people who are higher up on the ladder to come to work prepared as well, but…well… That isn’t happening.

I let the first year go by, making all sorts of excuses, and I imagined that this year would be different. After all, how could it get worse?

Only the stupid person will ever ask such a question.

It got worse. I used to worry about not knowing what would happen from week to week. This year, I’m lucky if I know what will happen from hour to hour. It’s complete chaos. Of course, the Girl Scout in me will make it work. I always do. I have to. I’m just built that way. Girl scouts do not live or function in chaos. We thrive in order.

Example: One of my first jobs was as a stock person for Kmart. I loved it. The back room was a disaster area just waiting for someone like me. Bikes were assembled near the batteries and hula hoops. Ice cream makers were crowding the shelves with blankets. It was clear that the storeroom needed me.

So, I organized all the Halloween candy and put it in one aisle, alphabetically by brand, of course. I worked my way from back to front, labeling all the aisles according to department, and placing the goods in order. By the time the Christmas season arrived, I’d made it all the way to the first aisle and was working on organizing the batteries and film. My supervisor even gave me a label maker for the task and secretly put me in for a promotion to the office.

Of course, I got the office job, but wasn’t as happy as I was in the storeroom (only I didn’t know it at the time).

Since it’s too late to make a long story short, I’ll just tell you that I’m still prepared. Every day I go to work (different job-I haven’t worked at Kmart for many, many years) knowing what to expect. I research ways to do my job more efficiently and effectively. I believe that whatever I do is important. I care. And I come to work prepared, ensuring that the people I work with know that I care and that I don’t simply leave things to chance.

And it’s really DIFFICULT to work with people who simply shrug their shoulders and say “I guess it will all work out somehow.”

Here’s a clue—all your shoulder shruggers out there—”it” only works out because of people like me.