two big boxes can ruin a day

The doorman calls to tell me I have two big packages waiting for me in the lobby.  I love getting packages.  What can these be?  I try to think.  Have I ordered anything recently that would arrive in a big box?  No.  I remember I am not ordering things these days.  Could someone have sent me a gift?  I doubt it.  My birthday was almost a month ago.  I usually just tell the doormen that I’ll be down later, but I am so curious, I get the boxes right away.

The doorman is right.  The boxes are very big, and they are not pretty.  They are fraying everywhere; they must have been recycled many times before.  The tape looks like it was put on by a third grader.  These are not boxes from Tiffany’s.  Or even Amazon, for that matter.

I look for a return address.  The boxes have no labeling on them.  Ahhhh, then I find it on the packing slip.  US Census Bureau.  I want to cry.

I open the boxes.  The first box is filled with a laptop case, and lots of paper, including a booklet on Personal Security Self-Study.   What can that be?  I’m going to learn to lock my door when I leave the apartment?  Don’t enter strange apartments that look potentially dangerous? Don’t give out my social security number if someone asks?  How to use mace?  Is this a dangerous job, I now wonder?

The second box contains a laptop computer of some kind.  It’s not a new Apple. I don’t want another computer.  And I certainly don’t want to lug this heavy-looking one around while I knock on doors.  In fact,  

• I don’t want all this stuff in my house.
• I don’t want to eventually re-pack the computer according to the enclosed instructions.
• I don’t want to keep the box the computer came in, as I have absolutely no place for it.

All this for a near-minimum paying job. I REALLY REALLY DON”T WANT TO DO THIS!!!!  An MBA from a top-business school, years of high-level experience at top companies, and now I’m doing this?

When I worked for the Census in 2010 I didn’t: 

• Get boxes full of stuff.
• Receive a computer I’d have to carry around.
• Have my friends and neighbors called to verify and evaluate me.
• Have to visit the Census office downtown (a one-hour trip each way) two times without getting paid.
• Have three full, consecutive days of training, again downtown (starting next week).

 And I did get paid  $3/hour more.

I’m not unpacking the laptop.  I will look for something else.  I really don’t want this job, and I really really don’t want all this sh** messing up my living space.

Sorry for the rant.  

Today is sunny in the mid 70’s.  I’m healthy.  My son is healthy.  I have great friends and family.  I live in the best city in the world.  I am going to enjoy the day.