My box office position within the students' union has recently been extended to cover reception as well. As a result, I am a permanent fixture of the reception office on Monday mornings. Working reception always brings some interesting characters. I'm a little astounded at the sheer number of people who are willing to walk into a strange building, find a member of staff (that would be me), and ask "where am I? What is this building?" Aside from the fact that there is a big sign stating what the building is outside the door, I have to wonder - are these people in the habit of wandering through open doors? (And, if so, they may want to stay away from South Bridge - they're running a high risk of accidentally wandering into the Scientology HQ there. So many have walked through that door, never to be seen again...)
A note to customers calling the box office in order to make phone bookings: please don't yell at the person on the other end. 'S' and 'F' sound remarkably similar. Also, computers are funny things. Please understand that it is not my fault if the computer freezes/messes up/does something unexpected, and I have to ask you for your card number again - is it really so much effort to read out a 16 digit number? Does it really justify your huffing, puffing, and 'for-God's-sake'-ing? Additionally, please note that the computer does not allow me to see what I've typed in on the previous page. If you have an unusual surname, I may have to check with you how it's spelt a couple of times - I don't want to enter it incorrectly, and I have no means of checking. I have to enter your surname in a few times. Bear with me. Too much trouble? There are opportunities for you to come in and purchase your tickets in person, or buy online.
Really, just please be nice to staff members. They're trying their best. For all you know, they're currently juggling your telephone order (and dealing with slow/crappy computers in order to do so), plus a large queue of people waiting to make room bookings in person, plus other staff members needing to be let into the office when the door is locked. A little courtesy and patience can really go a long way because, really, have they done so much to offend you? They put your needs before their own. In dealing with your enquiry, they may be letting their lovely cup of coffee go cold. (I'm still mourning that cup of coffee. The first cup of the day is always the best.)
My slightly hectic morning at work was, however, balanced out by whichever lovely person stuffed a wad of coupons into the price tags in Tesco. Because of that coupon I found, I got £1 off a 6 pack of (much needed) energy drinks. So, whoever you are, you kind, wonderful person - thank you.
It's amazing how much I can write when it's not my dissertation. I'm currently living in dissertation hell (it's a real place, go and look it up), with 9 days until my deadline. By 4pm on Wednesday 14th March 2012, I will be free of my undergraduate thesis, one way or another. By 4.05pm, the majority of the Psychology class of 2012 will be gathering in the student union, ready to celebrate their freedom. I will be one of them. In the meantime, however, I have to continue with my content and discourse analysis of the construction of the identity 'chav'. My findings so far: no one admits to being a chav. No one likes chavs. No one wants to be a chav. Now, to stretch this into 8000 words...
One more thing before I go. I'm currently having a mental overhaul in terms of what I want to do in the future. I'm beginning to doubt my plan of going into clinical psychology. I now change my mind daily about what I'm going to do once I graduate in 4 months' time. Current ideas include, but are not limited to: clinical psychology (still), counselling psychology, psychotherapy, something to do with children, animal behaviour, something else to do with animals, police, forensic and criminal psychology... The list goes on. Suggestions for what I'm going to do with my life are VERY welcome and, in fact, encouraged.
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