Surviving My Life

The Workload

Well, it's 3am. Yay. Right now I should be at work, but I'm not.

So far this week I've been working the 3am to 11am shift. It's weird having the shift first of all, but Yesterday / This "morning" (if you can call 3am "morning") are really tossing my sleeping habits for a loop.

I worked my usual 3am to 11am shift yesterday. Then I got called back in at 3pm and worked until 9:30pm on a telethon we had going on.

We raised about $100,000 for cancer research. While it was fun and all, my sleeping habits have been flushed down the drain.

I simply cannot sleep. Thankfully I was informed that due to Union rules, I wasn't allowed to come in to work this "morning" at 3am because the gap between my overtime and my starting time "today" wasn't long enough. Something about a minimum time, I guess.

My boss is a cool guy, and told me to come in at 8am or 9am - whichever I preferred.

That's great.

Now if only I could actually sleep.

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In other news, I've started to form friendships with several people at the station that are more like me. In being there for six weeks now, I've learned that there are factions at work that constantly gossip/hate each other.

Most of the people in the newsroom dislike each other to a point that would suprise people. I'm told that that's the "news buisniness". I can't help but think that being nice to each other might actually make people have less stress.

Whatever.

In the time period, I've been working with pretty much everyone. I've learned who I get along with and who I don't.

My boss is awesome. So is the other production guy. The other directors are usually fun to work with - well. I can't lie. The two guys that we have are...."interesting". The Lead Director - Jake - is quitting.

Thank God.

The guy had a serious attitude problem. The other guy that directs doesn't want to be there - and it shows. In contrast, the two girls I work with are fun.

I think the graphics lady hates me. I'm not sure why, and my personality does fall into the type that wants everyone to like me. I can't help it. At least I'm smart enough to see some of my flaws. In any case, when I'm working with her I get the idea sometimes that she likes me - then she looks at me weird and then I think she dislikes me. I can't figure her out.

The weather guy is cool and so is the entire morning staff. (Who I'm working with now.) They're fun, funny, and generally interesting people that don't fight and who get along famously. The night crew...different story. The anchor is nice, and the evening reporter is funny, and the producer for our other station is extremely nice.

But everyone else seems to have an agenda. I don't know, and I can't figure them out. Half the staff comes in at all hours of the night to "work on their demo tape". While I understand that news is a transient buisness, (Weather people, News people, ect. are traded throughout the country all the time. It doesn't matter where you live right now. If there's a station in Phoenix, Arizona that's hiring, you go work there.) all most of these people talk about is how horrible the place is to work, how they want to quit, and how they want to move on to a larger market.

There was one girl that came in the other night during the 9pm hour - when all of the photographers are editing all the stories together that will be on the news that night - and she got mad and stormed out because all the editing machines were being used - for work purposes.

These people perplex me beyond words.

I've never worked anyplace like this. I'll come into a room and see a few people talking. One person will leave, and, as soon as they're out of earshot I hear the two people left agree that "He/she's a total f****** idiot."

Then the two of them will talk about the other person as being the scum of the earth. Then one of them will leave - At that time the remaining person will tell ME that the person that just left is also an "f****** idiot".

My first day there I was told by 7 different people about other employees that were "impossible" to work with, that "didn't know their job", and that "deserved to be fired."

Great first impression.

As for me, I have no idea where I stand. While the majority of the people there are my peers, it's my job to not only make things for the station to enhance image, but to direct these people - that all seem to hate each other.

Call me stupid but I just don't understand the problem.

As of right now, I do enjoy my job - sort of. And, oddly enough, I can only actually HOPE that I get to work on the morning shift. I like those people a lot. The morning producer is such a nice girl. Plus, she and I share many of the same frustrations with the current people there.

i.e. - "Why can't we get along?"

In any case, it's 3:15am now. I can hear my father's clock ticking out in my living room. I'm going to attempt to once again get some sleep.

I'm glad my pillows and blankets get along.

posted by Jeremiah @ 03:15