Working My Job

At the first part of January I became employed outside of the farm. It was a necessity since my husband was dismissed from his job in November just before Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, we both were busy looking for work.

I suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with anxiety being a major symptom and depression. I am afraid of people, and especially of doing the wrong action or saying a wrong word around people. I struggle with social skills due to my mind being wired a little differently, Asperger’s syndrome. So I have a few things going against me in working outside of the farm.

I was careful where I sent my resume, and I prayed a lot about the right place to work. I was hired by the little grocery store in the small town where I live. The automoshere in the store has always been friendly, and I was comfortable with the employees before I went to work there.

Now that I am working there, I am enjoying. I still have a challenge every once in awhile, but thankfully I have been able to handle and work through those challenges. The challenges are understanding and dealing with others. Part of the challenge is identifying when they are having an off day, and not to take it as a personal response.

I do not work in one area. I am all over the place. I do however work two days in the meat department as a meat wrapper. I love this part of the job. Each day I work in the meat department is a little different. I have been learning to wrap meat, grind different meats, season meats, and cleaning. The meat department supervisor and I think a lot alike, and we get along really well. When I work in the meat department, the first part is getting my orders on what to prepare, package and put out on the shelf. After that I am on my own. Today, was a special day. I filled a customer’s request. I also learned I am going to start cutting meat.

There are two days of the week I work on stocking the freezer section when the delivery truck arrives. This is a busy, time pushed day. It is work as fast as you can to get the frozen merchandise out of boxes and on the correct space, as well as rotating the items. We rotate the items that will expire first to the front, and those items that expire later to the back. As I am stocking the food items in the frozen, I am also checking expiration dates. When I am done with the frozen department, I move to the grocery department and start stocking the shelves with the merchandise, until all is done. There are several other employees who start with stocking merchandise in the grocery department. So when I am done, I am assisting them.

Then I work one day, that I never know what I am doing until I show up for work. I might be stocking that day, usually I start with the freezer then move to dairy. Or I might be a cashier all day. It changes.

I like the changing duties as I am not bored. If I were cashier for five days a week, I would quickly become bored with my job and task. With the variety I keep an interest in my job. My ability to change positions and department where I am needed is a big help to the manager. There are some employees who do not want to work in the cold parts of the store. Meat department is always cold at 40 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. Freezer department is even colder.

I know I am where I am supposed to be.

amtolle