Second Day

Today was my second day back at work after having had three weeks off. For those who are keeping track, there were two weeks of vacation time and one week of being sick.

After this much time off, I would have thought my desk would have been buried in paper. It was covered but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I think that is because the rest of the company was pretty much shut down over the holidays and, last week, the Manufacturing Department was only on half staff and one of those staff people was thinking about going skiing (which is where he is this week).

Anyway, I am back at it…processing paperwork, handling the minor crisis’ that come up during the day and making myself useful so I can actually earn my paycheck. I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t make it all the way through the day yesterday being as I was so sick and am not fully recovered. But I made it through the day. I was wicked tired last night, which is why I didn’t post about my day. I am relieved that I didn’t make myself sicker and develop a fever again.

I felt a little better today and people commented on the phone that I sounded better. Hopefully things will continue to progress and I will fully recover.

After all this time off and missing a few things because I was gone, only one person was rude about it. There were some bills that should have been paid but, when I called to explain why they were late and that they would be paid this week, people were very understanding and said to take my time. Another person, a customer, called to check on their order and completely understood why it was late and appreciated that we would try to get them their stuff as quickly as possible.

The one person who was rude had e-mailed me last Wednesday. I didn’t reply to him because I figured I would handle it on Monday. He re-e-mailed on Friday, which I also figured I would just reply to on Monday. He CALLED yesterday, from overseas, to ask why I didn’t respond.

Before I explain my response to his e-mails and calls, let me explain something about this guy. He is ALWAYS trying to get us to lower our prices for him. We go back and forth and back and forth for a couple of weeks until he finally relents and agrees to our pricing. (We don’t give discounts for small quantities – we just don’t, who would?). So when I decided not to reply to him, I figured it was just the start of a huge number of e-mails and why should I deal with that while I am sick?

So, on the phone, I explain to him (which was hard to do because the connection was terrible) that I had been out sick and I am sorry I didn’t respond but I would send him an e-mail later that day. Then, here is the rude part, he very gruffly told me (sounded like an command) that when I am out, I should forward my e-mails so people will respond to him. Well, thank you for that suggestion. Except no one would have responded to you because you don’t order much and aren’t worth the effort! This is what I would have liked to have said but didn’t. Instead I apologized again and finally did e-mail him what he needed. And he replied asking for better pricing and we are off and running once again!

That was the only negative thing I have faced after not working for three weeks. Not bad, I think. In the past, I have come back from having taken only one week off and my desk is in much worse condition and it takes me at least a week or so to feel like I am caught up. It is the end of the second day and I feel like I have a handle on things and am getting back into the routine. Gives me hope for taking time off in the future, it does!