A win at work!

[WereBear]

I am in a dire situation with my employment, which over the last three years has shifted from IT/sitting at my desk being left alone to lots of interaction with a flood of visitors in our tourist information center. Last night I came home and was basically comatose, then woke up in the middle of the night having forgot something I had to do before we opened, and fortunately I was able to log in with my home computer, but it was not cooperating, as it sometimes does.

And I had a classic meltdown: lost my words, panic attack, etc.

My husband took me out to breakfast the next morning and told me I should tell my boss I am overwhelmed. Not because of my condition, which I am still keeping quiet about at work, but because this amount of work is overwhelming for anyone.

This was a difficult concept for me. I am supposed to do all the things. But one of the ways I am coping with my new (not even a week yet) understanding that I am an Aspie is that I am now free to re-examine every aspect of reality, as the Tao teaches.

• Things cannot go on as they are, or I will screw up, and that is not the time to tell my boss I am overwhelmed. Screwing up is worse than complaining.
• I work away from the main office, which helps me avoid the noise and large numbers of people, but this means my boss does not know what is going on in my office. I need to tell him.
• I am supposed to increase the visitors in my area, and I have. This is a good thing to tell him.

So I write him an email, with a chart showing that the peak of visitors is on the days I am there alone, and I cannot get my other work done. Which would be true for anyone!

And he moved my time in the visitor center to days when traffic is less, took away some of my work as not necessary, and moved some other work to other people.

He is a good boss. I am a good employee.

And I feel so much better.

 

[Kari Suttle]

Yay that's awesome!! I've always had a 'get 'er done' attitude about work. I take pride in doing a good job. In my opinion, I'm there to do my job and do it well and if I can't then they'll probably just fire me and find someone who can. SO I think you did the right thing. Complaining does look bad and I make a point not to complain. Every job has its cons, its downsides, things that don't quite work well, so I just do what I can and try to learn how to keep a positive attitude no matter what.

I work as a cashier at a busy grocery store so I somewhat get what you feel like. Even if there are other cashiers we aren't allowed to talk to each other and although there are supervisors, sometimes there aren't enough of them. Most of the small decisions are left up to us with the customers.

 

[Catlover614]

I'd be happy to have any job right now. I'm struggling hard in this area because I get too nervous and tongue-tied in the interview so I come off looking like an idiot. All I have is a G.E.D. education and not skilled in anything. I never had opportunity to take even a basic computer course, it wasn't on the curriculum. I'm class of '90.

 

[Warmheart]

You rock, WereBear!

 

[Mia]

Congrats WereBear! Sometimes the most obvious thing is the situation we don't consider as a possibility right away! It worked out well, and I'm happy for you.

 

[Kari Suttle]

I'd be happy to have any job right now. I'm struggling hard in this area because I get too nervous and tongue-tied in the interview so I come off looking like an idiot. All I have is a G.E.D. education and not skilled in anything. I never had opportunity to take even a basic computer course, it wasn't on the curriculum. I'm class of '90.

Walmart will hire just about anybody. Starting pay is 10 an hour now. Its rough if you're in a department that has to deal with customers all day, as an aspie, but its a job. And if you do well enough you have opportunity for promotion. Our old front end manager was a middle aged man that'd been working there since he was a cart pusher as a teenager.

Plenty of old/middle aged people work at the one I work at - door greeters, cashiers, electronics department. The guy from electronics looks about retirement age, he told me that he told them straight up he wasn't good with computers cause he never learned how to use 'em and they still hired him. Put him in electronics where you can stock, unlock stuff for customers, as well as occasionally ring up customers. If you got good supervisors they'll work with you. Its not all that great of a job but its a job, and at least at my store the supervisors are nice. Plus if you decide to go to like community college or online college or such, you may get a discount on tuition/fees working there. I do.

 

[WereBear]

I think the best way to "learn computers" is to just play with one, no pressure. Local libraries have them. Get a gmail account which comes with word processing and a spreadsheet. Play with those. There's a lot of videos on YouTube that demonstrate all kinds of things, I find those very helpful for visual learning.

Once a person has learned things on their own, a class is not so intimidating. And in my state, in the US, the Labor Department will find a place to train you AND pay half your salary while you do; which makes a person very attractive to employers. Which they also find for the person!

 

[WereBear]

Also, the best computer in the world is neither a computer nor a smart phone: it is a Chromebook.

$200 for a nice lightweight laptop, browser in a case, you can work offline on word processing, email, and spreadsheets, all kinds of cool things. It updates itself and is virus protected, both totally free!

I got them as gifts for my mom & brother, both NOT computer nerds and they are so happy with them.

 

[wanderer03]

I am in a dire situation with my employment, which over the last three years has shifted from IT/sitting at my desk being left alone to lots of interaction with a flood of visitors in our tourist information center. Last night I came home and was basically comatose, then woke up in the middle of the night having forgot something I had to do before we opened, and fortunately I was able to log in with my home computer, but it was not cooperating, as it sometimes does.

And I had a classic meltdown: lost my words, panic attack, etc.

My husband took me out to breakfast the next morning and told me I should tell my boss I am overwhelmed. Not because of my condition, which I am still keeping quiet about at work, but because this amount of work is overwhelming for anyone.

This was a difficult concept for me. I am supposed to do all the things. But one of the ways I am coping with my new (not even a week yet) understanding that I am an Aspie is that I am now free to re-examine every aspect of reality, as the Tao teaches.

• Things cannot go on as they are, or I will screw up, and that is not the time to tell my boss I am overwhelmed. Screwing up is worse than complaining.
• I work away from the main office, which helps me avoid the noise and large numbers of people, but this means my boss does not know what is going on in my office. I need to tell him.
• I am supposed to increase the visitors in my area, and I have. This is a good thing to tell him.

So I write him an email, with a chart showing that the peak of visitors is on the days I am there alone, and I cannot get my other work done. Which would be true for anyone!

And he moved my time in the visitor center to days when traffic is less, took away some of my work as not necessary, and moved some other work to other people.

He is a good boss. I am a good employee.

And I feel so much better.

Well handled!

 

[paloftoon]

I would highly recommend you write a thank you card to your boss or give him a small gift if you think appropriate. Not many people would do even try to accommodate your needs without knowledge of your conditions. I'm so glad to hear it worked out for you.