Well, hasn’t this weather just made everything delightful.
Being a very strong minded person when it comes to punctuality, I usually find
the morning and evening commutes to and from work stressful as it is, as one of
my biggest hates is to miss a train I promised myself I would catch.
Couple that with the worst rainfall this country has seen in
years, and it makes for a very grouchy young Social Media Apprentice indeed. Imagine
my panic when we had that rather intense snow flurry.
The job is going fantastically well so far, and I am
enjoying every second. I am busy all the time, my employers are allowing me to
flex my mind and come up with my own solutions to problems, and I get on with
everyone extremely well.
The thought of commuting to work was something I was
actually looking forward to – it makes me feel very adult-like and mature,
something my sense of humour lacks the ability to do, so getting on the train
in my shirt and trousers everyday made me feel like part of a well-knit (or
well-suited) community.
I say community – but the morning commute is very much a
free-for-all every man for himself situation. There’s me, using my manners as I
always do, allowing the professional looking guy in the seat opposite to
disembark before myself, and all I get in return is a non-committal grunt of
acknowledgement. This was then swiftly followed by a blow to the back of the
head (accidental I hope) as someone else decided to barge past, in a rush to get
to the already packed escalator that would halt their morning sprint anyway.
I find it quite sad that the pressure of getting to work on
time, and the emotional trauma of being on the way to work before dawn, has led
to a startling decrease in the impeccable manners us Brits stereotypically
have. I am a pretty old fashioned person when it comes to manners and
etiquette, so I generally tend to feel a pang of frustration when people forget
the simple “excuse me please, I’m in a rush to catch another train,” that I so
optimistically expect.
That said, this is something worth tolerating, purely
because everyday, I look forward to getting to work. In my previous work
placement, I wasn’t challenged in the slightest, and in fact, I barely did
anything the whole month I was there. So to be tasked with a few things
everyday is something I’m making the most of, much like one savours the taste
of Ben and Jerry’s as it slides nonchalantly down your throat.
I honestly expected a slow start to this job. I thought we would
be observing more than anything. I was proved wrong immediately. After the
initial induction, we were straight away asked to start brainstorming ideas for
various upcoming projects, and by Day 3, we had been given events that we would
be sent to cover, representing West Midlands Fire Service.
It feels like the Corporate Communications department we are
in WANTS us here. In fact, the Strategic Communications Manager has been asking
us questions, and been wanting to learn about social media from us, which is a
very uplifting feeling, as quite clearly they view us as having something
rather valuable to offer their organisation.
This is what makes me proud to be here. I am here for a
reason, not to fill up numbers. I’m here because I, and my fellow apprentice
Jess, have skills that this company both needs and desires. We can be the
future of their social media drive, and this makes being concussed on a regular
basis something I can look forward to if the reward is the enriching experience
we are already having.
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