Many of you are off-page aware of the many reasons that I left my job as a shipboard librarian. And it wasn’t just because the position ultimately ended up being phased out. I was angling to leave long before they sent out the papers stating that we weren’t going to have a choice.
The primary reason was the shift to becoming less librarian and more internet manager. Y’see the shipboard internet is not an easy beast to deal with. It’s slow, it’s cumbersome and it generates a great deal of frustration and anger for all involved. Granted, it’s far far better than having no internet at all. But getting people to listen to that? The amount of abuse that the librarians took was painful. Those are not good memories. Being tasked with dealing with the those queries on more than a casual basis (which is expected of all crew members, if someone needs your help you are supposed to give it if possible after all), throws me right back into days when I would come home exhausted and, often as not, in tears. Or too exhausted to even be in tears.
I thought I had left all of that behind when I moved to my current position. We were specifically told that beyond general assistance, the internet wasn’t our job.
Then, this week, they rolled out an initiative that enlisted people from all departments to help with the front office for a few hours on embark day. No problem, I thought, helping people with where to go for dinner reservations, how to phone their rooms, which end of the ship is which, while at the same time promoting classes? Sounds easy enough.
Then I went to the main office to get the briefing on what my duties were going to be specifically, and the gist of the conversation went as follows:
So we’re going to set up the internet inquiry desk over there on the other side of the lobby
Wait, so I’m just going to be manning an internet set up desk?
Yes. Basically.
Oh god…
So here’s the deal, I want to help guest relations. I really do, they work super hard and embark day is the worst for them and the lightest for me. I have no problem with that, none whatsoever. But please, please anything but this…
Right, where did I leave my power-up playlist…
I got this…I’m sure I’ve got this…
Don’t I?
I got this….I got this…