Things that make going to work OK.

[OrmIrian]

1. The coffee fairy. Who ensures there is always coffee, milk and sugar in the kitchen. I have never had to make a mad dash to the corner shop because we've run out.

1. The toilet paper fairy. Same as above. Also applies to paper towels and soap.

1. The cleaning fairy who ensure the toilets, kitchen and the office generally are 20x tidier and pleasanter than home.

1. Clean windows. Never had to stare pointlessly out of the window through smudges and streaks.

1. People are polite. No-one ever grunts at me, ignores me or says 'but it's not fair. X had some', or 'I don't want to do Y'. They might be cross about something but they confine themselves to mildly snotty e-mails copied to someone else. No-one tends to have tantrums and throw things.

1. If I make an effort to scrub up a little no-one says 'Mummy why are you wearing those funny shoes?'. They might think it but they don't say it.

1. People always say please and thankyou, and I never have to say 'what do you say?' when I fix a problem, or e-mail a report.

1. Most of all, whilst I am grateful for all these, I am most grateful of all that these things happen without me having to do anything about it! And it they don't, it's somebody else's fault.

I'm struggling I'd rather be at home I'm afraid ..

I find my professional demenour slips all the time and I am more interested in how people are and what they are doing than what they are working on..

i feel like I am keeping up appearances of professionalism and doing it badly ..

29. Being able to read actual books in silence on the commute to work. Bliss.

rebelmum - that was me until recently. Force of circumstances made me go back full-time. I really was dreading it. I ended up on citalopram for anxiety, partly because I was so worried about it. I am now having a great time. I can do my job properly for the first time in years. And I feel like a team member, not a spare part. I didn't realise hwow hard it was working part-time with half my brain worrying about what I had to do after school, and then fretting about whether I'd be late for the school run, and dealing with DC coming out of school stroppy/tired/fed up. And then all the little tasks that fell to my lot because I was home at 4.

I feel like someone has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. I wouldn't have beleived it if you'd told me,

33. nobody at work expects me to take a deep and enduring interest in planes and diggers.
34. i dont have to give half my lunch away to a small stickyfingered person who thinks whatever i'm having looks better than whatever they're having (even when we are having precisely the same thing)

35. everyone is so cheerful and they don't greet you as soon as you walk in the door by saying 'I've had a really bad day' nearly every day.

36. if you can't get something to work, or it breaks, there is someone to ask to mend it

or, to restate 36 a bit more elegantly

36. At work I have IT support. At home I am IT support.

I heart IT support. I miss IT support. I always make it a number one priority to make friends with IT.

Now I'm at home, DH gets his ear bent when I have problems instead, as I am useless.

Oh me too! I love every spotty socially-inadequate one of them! . And I work in IT, but development not support as I keep telling users . I don't understand services and servers and stuff like that. It makes me whimper with fear when my laptop at home stops working. DH tells the children to go and find mummy 'cos she knows all about computers. Makes me want to run and hide.

People to talk to.

People to flirt with.

I also had this most unlikely spin-off of my last in-house job, which was that DP and I used to go out for lunch together sometimes. Without any of that, you know, pressure to enjoy yourself/get value out of having paid for a babysitter/have sex when knackered which can also easily worry a person when you're having a Rare Evening Out.

And definitely, yes, the shoes. When I wore my fabby silver pointed brogues to my last job, &everyone^ liked them. Unlike Mr Inferior, who enquired if I were about to take up line-dancing.

goodness, orm. You obviously don't work in a school

Things that make going to work ok: Money, of course

Unlimited free tea and coffee
ogling the very fit It guy

IT support?!

Always hated the feckers. As unhelful as janitors.

37. Seeing the clothes that people wear. On the tube. At work. Not having to wonder what people are wearing these days. (see above for silver pointy brogues...)

38. Staying clean all day. Unless I spill something on me.

39. Wearing nice clothes, not jeans everyday.

Definately going to the loo alone, without anyone pointing out that you don't have a willy.

I am of people who have lots of these.

There are loads of pluses to working for myself at home, but lots of these listed are sadly missing.

that you have a very fit IT guy fangdom. We're lucky if ours can speak properly and have only one head.

I don't mean it really in case one of them is geeking about in cyber space and eaves-dropping in some magical way mere mortals don't understand.

I am very short of colleagues to flirt with. Most of them are very married and into football. And not that attractive. Actually I've been there for so long that most of them seem more like friends than potential flirtees. In fact the thought makes me feel vaguely uncomfortable.

The highlight of my day tends to be that no-one farts loudly within a three metre radius of me.

1. true.

1. true.

1. true - in theory (current cleaner is crap, but off sick anyway, temporary cleaner is even more crap).

1. Clean windows, ah but we have grills on too.

1. People are polite. hahahahaha.

1. If I make an effort to scrub up a little no-one says 'Mummy why are you wearing those funny shoes?'. They might think it but they don't say it. I get sarky comments at work if I scrub up a little...

1. People always say please and thankyou, usually.

1. Most of all, whilst I am grateful for all these, I am most grateful of all that these things happen without me having to do anything about it! And it they don't, it's somebody else's fault. No comment.

1. I order them! And I did once send out a slightly snotty (but mildly amusing) email about chewing pens.

10. If only.

11. Heating often too hot - have to put on the aircon occasionally (because of the setup of the heating).

12. Usually can.

13. Not colleagues but visitors, occasionally.

14. No, I've even been interrupted in there, although not as bad as colleague who has been known to take the phone in with him (he's stopped it now, thankfully).

14 (b) The money's mine all mine, mwahahahahaha (yeah rite).

15. Nope, shouldn't access t'internet at work, unless it's work-related

16. Occasionally...

17. I find things where I left them not redistributed - nope, we have nightstaff that seem to sabotage me.

18. I can be my natural completer-finisher-self. Rarely.

19. I can talk on the phone without elephant noises/ "mine Mummy mine"/ it being unplugged from the wall. Yes, but I'm still often interrupted.

20. DH has been known to visit me at work (and has contact with work in a professional capacity anyway).

21. I had similar, just the once.

22. I manage to escape for an hour, here and there, occasionally.

23. Occasionally.

24. Ah yes. Most welcome, winter too - see above.

25 and 26 - rare, but lovely when it does happen.

27. Hmm. DH does his best (and more than his fair share when he is around) alas I am PT and he is FT and shifts.

28. Much better when they offer to make me one though.

29. I drive to work.

30, Believe me, they ask for odder things.

31, Sometimes. Rarely HR though

32, No lunchbreak.

33. True.

34. Nightstaff will help themselves to whatever you leave around though.

35. Not in our place (although I am just as guilty).

36. I'm first port of call.

37, 38, 39 - not at our place.

I do like my job, lol.

Oops, another thread I killed.