My admin assistant gave birth on Monday, the first of this month.
And today she pinged me, since she wanted to complete some work that was pending on her side.
I didn’t ask her to obviously. I didn’t even know this was pending. But she took responsibility for the task and wanted to see it through.
She didn’t have to do it – she could have passed it on to a team member (and she should have). She chose instead to do it herself, because she also knew that the team was a bit stretched this week.
Goes to show that some people think of jobs as tasks, others think of it as responsibility. And the latter are the ones who manage to make something of their lives.
A few months back I had written on a similar topic, on how we tend to think that we work very hard, and then we see someone who works harder, for much lesser of a reward. Reproduced below is the said blogpost.
Nothing was ever achieved in isolation. I am honored to be working with a team that takes responsibility, and together, we deliver:)
See you tomorrow!
120 calls. 10 hours a day. 6 days a week. 3,000 dirhams. Stressful work, with irate people at the other end of the telephone. No job stability.
Would you do it?
Well, I don’t think the JD above even remotely qualifies as anyone’s dream job. So the rephrased question is – Would you be ABLE to do it?
We all think we work hard. We do, in our own ways. But some work harder than the others, and don’t get proportionally paid, or proportionally satisfied with their jobs.
We do think that we work the hardest though.
It’s when I come across such instances, when I realize that I, like most other people, tend to think that I work so hard and so I deserve some rest. The reality is that there is always someone out there who puts in more hours, more blood and sweat that you do. Being cognizant of this fact will help us – life is not as bad or as stressful as we make it out to be, when put into perspective.
It isn’t easy making 120 calls to people who don’t want to be called. It isn’t easy doing this day after day. It isn’t easy staying in a bed space, without a window. It isn’t easy traveling by public transport for hours everyday. it isn’t easy working six-seven days a week, with no proper breaks nor facilities. Yet, people do this and more, just to make a living.
Let’s be grateful for what we have:)