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Mar 15, 2005
the worst runs of my life Each day at work, 2 lucky people at 10:30 and 2 lucky people at 3:30 get to go on runs. Runs involve potentialy 3 different things: 1. Delivering Stuff, 2. Picking Stuff Up, and 3. Getting stuff signed and bringing it back. Depending on the crew you work with, there may be a big fight over people who want to go, there may be a big fight over people not wanting to go, or with any luck there is only one person who wants to go. Typically on Mondays, I'm the only one who really wants to go. So, Monday is typically my day (although I usually get them on Wednesday as well.) I like doing runs. First of all, I like walking. It's one of my hobbies. And in this case, I get paid for it. Pretty awesome. Secondly, it gets me out of the office, and gets me out of setting up lunches, which I don't like. It's a pretty good deal for me. Well, yesterday was a bad day for runs. I had 5 stops. And on 4 of them, something went wrong. My first dropoff was at 5/3 bank. Well, I get there, check the envelop again, and there is no floor number. Just a maildrop number, which means nothing to anyone outside of the 5/3 mailroom. And, if you've ever been to the 5/3 center downtown, you know it's freaking huge. It's one really tall building attached to one really long building. Most buildings downtown have some type of directory in the lobby. This place does not. But, I notice that it is going to the trust department, and I know that I've been to the trust department within the last few weeks. For some reason, I think it's on the 12th floor. So, I try that. Turns out I was wrong. So, I try the 13th, and then the 14th floor. Still no luck. So, I go down to the second floor and to find out if maybe someone can point me into the right direction. So, I ask a teller. Tellers are great at looking up your account and counting your money. They are not so strong at knowing what's going on in the rest of the building. So, I try some more guessing. I try the 5th floor of the long part of the building. No luck, BUT there is actually a RECEPTIONIST (more on that in a second)!!!!!!! And she points me to the 17th floor of the tall side of the building. Which is correct. So, after 15 minutes of wandering 5/3, the package is delivered. So, off to my next delivery, which is across the street to some of the Key Bank offices. Anyway, so I get to the correct floor with no problem this time. However, there is a trend that is going around many downtown offices: to save money, receptionists are being replaced with a sign, phone, and phonelist. The sign says "Call your party at the extention listed." It is one of the most annoying things ever for an errand boy like me. And today was particularly problematic. There was a special number for people making deliveries. So, I call that number, and I get voicemail. I call again, voicemail again. I call a third time, voicemail again. This does me no good. So, I decided to go on to the next place and try again on the way back. So, my for my third stop, I go to empty out our PO box. Nothing goes wrong here, but it is important to note that I have added stuff to my stack. So, I go to my fourth stop, which is a place I know well, since we go there all the time. I make my dropoff to the overworked receptionist, who then stops me and says "Hold on, I have some files to go back with you." I wasn't excpeting a pickup here. And these are large files. I find out later that these were scheduled for the 3:30 run. So, I've now added more to my stack. Which is kinda bad, because the next stop is a good trek away, AND it is also a pickup. So, I go to my fifth stop, and start up the elevator and sheer panick comes over me. I notice that the package that I was supposed to drop off on my second stop is now missing. For those of you who have never worked in the errand running industry before, you will get fired for this. I grab my pickup, and start to retrace. I know have a large stack of stuff to carry around, and I had about 8 blocks to retrace. Well, I end up at the place where I had done my previous delivery, and there was the package on the reception desk. So, I head back to stop number 2, and finally I get someone on the other line. I make the dropoff, and head back the office with my job still intact. All of that took about an hour and 40 minutes. posted
by Unknown @ 10:55:00 AM |
