So, as I near the end of my tenure at my workplace and prepare to go back to college, I wanted to just share some things about my experiences while working at an animal care facility.
Some of the things that I will miss:
The people. I made some friends while working and they aren't people that I am likely to ever see again. I also never exchanged contact information with them so we probably wont keep in touch either. But I think I will miss their kindness, the jokes, and the strange would you rather questions that went on for hours.
The animals. The animals weren't always nice, and I didn't often work directly with them. Nut I enjoyed watching them while I was waiting for a quarantine to be cleared. Especially the rabbits. They're like big balls of floof that make the cutest expressions.
The work itself. Just that feeling of accomplishment when you got one task done and were able to move onto the next. Or when you are part of an assembly line of switching out animal cages and you manage to not only keep up with what you are given, but also overflow the next person in line. And also the idea that there is always something else to do.
Some of the things I wont miss:
The early mornings. Waking up at 4:30 am to be the first one in the shower. Getting to work at 6:30 am to change into scrubs and read emails before the 7:00 am meeting. Forgetting to go to sleep at 8 pm so that I get a full eight hours of sleep because it's still super early in the evening.
The long workdays. I was only part time, working 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. But that almost never happened unless I actually pushed to get out at that time. It's really a product of always having work to do and always knowing that it is just going to pile up after you leave. But I normally worked 5 1/2 or 6 hour days, switching in the occasional 8 hour day once a week as well as a 5 hour day every other week. 8 hour days are awful, by the way. Especially because if I am working an 8 hour shift, the full time people were working 10 - 12 hour shifts. So everyone gets really grumpy.
That ridiculous picture of Nicolas Cage that has been laminated and taped to the side of the cage wash machine. I asked around about it, because it is disturbing, but either it has been there since any of my coworkers got there or the few people that might know about its origins are keeping quiet. Either way, I was told that I can't take it down. I've kind of gotten used to it though.
Some tidbits and stories:
This morning, during the meeting, we decided that as a whole we needed a bit of a pick-me-up. So a few people shared their best "Dad" jokes. They were all really awful. But the best one was when this one girl told her joke and without letting a breath get past, a guy from the other side of the room said the answer and he looked like he just hated himself for it. Just like, head in his hands, face scrunched up, everything. And the girl was so upset that he had stolen her thunder. I can't even remember the joke, I only remember how funny their interaction was.
At one point a rabbit, a big, white, fluffy rabbit, managed to escape the room it was in and got loose in the hallway. Most of the hallway was just one big loop with doors going off into different rooms or other hallways, and this rabbit got stuck in the loop. But it caused quite the commotion because people started to chase down this rabbit, running after it in the hallway. I was in a separate hallway going into the looped hall. I wasn't really paying attention but as I was reaching for the door I heard someone yell "Don't open that door!" and when I looked up through the windows I saw the flash of a white bunny rabbit being followed by 6 or 7 animal techs, all running. It took five or six minutes for them to chase it into a corner and catch it.
I was invited to work on the large animal side for a weekend, and I took up the offer so they showed me how to do all the work on their side, because I had been working on the small animal side before. I worked with dogs, cattle, and sheep but I really didn't want to work with the pigs. The tech training me in laughed at me because both cattle and sheep were bigger than pigs, and dogs were more aggressive so pigs were really no problem. In response I told her that I was used to dogs because I had trained my cousin's dogs before. Cattle were really calm and didn't care about anything you did to them. And sheep were too scared of you to really be dangerous, and even if they did run into you they were giant woolen pillows. Besides that, the smell of pig is something that will stick to your clothes, your hair, your skin and you will never get rid of it. In response I was told to go bottle feed the piglets to see if that would change my mind. They were cute, but I still don't like working with pigs.
Some of the things that I will miss:
The people. I made some friends while working and they aren't people that I am likely to ever see again. I also never exchanged contact information with them so we probably wont keep in touch either. But I think I will miss their kindness, the jokes, and the strange would you rather questions that went on for hours.
The animals. The animals weren't always nice, and I didn't often work directly with them. Nut I enjoyed watching them while I was waiting for a quarantine to be cleared. Especially the rabbits. They're like big balls of floof that make the cutest expressions.
The work itself. Just that feeling of accomplishment when you got one task done and were able to move onto the next. Or when you are part of an assembly line of switching out animal cages and you manage to not only keep up with what you are given, but also overflow the next person in line. And also the idea that there is always something else to do.
Some of the things I wont miss:
The early mornings. Waking up at 4:30 am to be the first one in the shower. Getting to work at 6:30 am to change into scrubs and read emails before the 7:00 am meeting. Forgetting to go to sleep at 8 pm so that I get a full eight hours of sleep because it's still super early in the evening.
The long workdays. I was only part time, working 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. But that almost never happened unless I actually pushed to get out at that time. It's really a product of always having work to do and always knowing that it is just going to pile up after you leave. But I normally worked 5 1/2 or 6 hour days, switching in the occasional 8 hour day once a week as well as a 5 hour day every other week. 8 hour days are awful, by the way. Especially because if I am working an 8 hour shift, the full time people were working 10 - 12 hour shifts. So everyone gets really grumpy.
That ridiculous picture of Nicolas Cage that has been laminated and taped to the side of the cage wash machine. I asked around about it, because it is disturbing, but either it has been there since any of my coworkers got there or the few people that might know about its origins are keeping quiet. Either way, I was told that I can't take it down. I've kind of gotten used to it though.
Some tidbits and stories:
This morning, during the meeting, we decided that as a whole we needed a bit of a pick-me-up. So a few people shared their best "Dad" jokes. They were all really awful. But the best one was when this one girl told her joke and without letting a breath get past, a guy from the other side of the room said the answer and he looked like he just hated himself for it. Just like, head in his hands, face scrunched up, everything. And the girl was so upset that he had stolen her thunder. I can't even remember the joke, I only remember how funny their interaction was.
At one point a rabbit, a big, white, fluffy rabbit, managed to escape the room it was in and got loose in the hallway. Most of the hallway was just one big loop with doors going off into different rooms or other hallways, and this rabbit got stuck in the loop. But it caused quite the commotion because people started to chase down this rabbit, running after it in the hallway. I was in a separate hallway going into the looped hall. I wasn't really paying attention but as I was reaching for the door I heard someone yell "Don't open that door!" and when I looked up through the windows I saw the flash of a white bunny rabbit being followed by 6 or 7 animal techs, all running. It took five or six minutes for them to chase it into a corner and catch it.
I was invited to work on the large animal side for a weekend, and I took up the offer so they showed me how to do all the work on their side, because I had been working on the small animal side before. I worked with dogs, cattle, and sheep but I really didn't want to work with the pigs. The tech training me in laughed at me because both cattle and sheep were bigger than pigs, and dogs were more aggressive so pigs were really no problem. In response I told her that I was used to dogs because I had trained my cousin's dogs before. Cattle were really calm and didn't care about anything you did to them. And sheep were too scared of you to really be dangerous, and even if they did run into you they were giant woolen pillows. Besides that, the smell of pig is something that will stick to your clothes, your hair, your skin and you will never get rid of it. In response I was told to go bottle feed the piglets to see if that would change my mind. They were cute, but I still don't like working with pigs.
Comments
Post a Comment