A TWIT ~ A silly person - a creep - a just plain nutty person! It's a word you can use in "polite" company ~ because it can mean just about anything you want it to mean. I love this word!WHERE I WORK ~ is soooo unusual, that I decided to do a complete page about it. Might even need more! I'm going to describe this "workplace" in different categories. I think it would be easier to understand that way ... bit by bit!
FIRST IMPRESSION ~ When you drive into the parking lot, you have to be careful. Several cats will be running in front of your car. To the left of the Corporate front door are two large dog houses, one big tub of water, large bowl of cat kibble, and several plates of canned food. There may, or may not be a cat or two lounging on top of the dog houses. Welcome to my place of employment!
DOGS ~ The owners' daughter brings her dog to work each day. The dog stays pretty much in the owners' office ~ until lunch time! Then she makes the rounds, so to speak, and checks out what people are eating. Of course, all of us share with her.
The supervisor in Accounts Payable has her own small office. She shares it with her two Pomerians.
If you work in that department, you help to take the dogs for a walk. They also "escape" once in awhile, and run around the various departments saying hello! Being at work is second nature to them ~ been there since they were little guys. It's not unusual to find one of them napping on someone's desk. Because of the dog toys, you always watch where you are walking!
Once in awhile, the owners' son drops in to say hello .. with his Rottweiler! She loves running full speed down the hall ~ which is okay ~ if you're not trying to walk down the same hallway! Better move ... she won't!
Even our customers bring their dogs in while picking up their orders at the front desk!
CHILDREN ~ If your babysitter cancels at the last minute ~ no problem. You bring child to work! On a school holiday, it is not strange to see several kids sitting around coloring,or playing near their mothers Looks a little like Romper Room! Babies are always welcome. We all watch them, and take turns holding them when they are fussy. You talk on the phone with a customer while "baby talk" goes on around you! Demanding money from an overdue customer with a baby giggling on your lap isn't easy!
Nap time is no problem. Set the porta-crib up in the warehouse - right outside our door -and they sleep amongst the file cabinets.
Sometimes strange things go over our paging system .. one when of the kids hits the wrong button on the phone! The whole building hears what they have to say!!
If we have a little one crawling on the floor with a bunch of toys scattered around, we close the door and post a sign "Beware of Small Child". This warns everyone!
The whole company enjoys watching these little people grow up. Part of the family!
CAKES ~ The supervisor in my department loves to bake and cook. She bakes a cake for everyone's birthday. We aren't talking cake mix - these are from scratch! Cheese cakes are asked for the most. This lady whips up one "mean" cheese cake.
When your birthday comes up, you are given several big books of gorgeous cakes from which to pick the one you would like. Several people have birthdays in October ~ so one cake is made for the group at the beginning of the month, and another is made for the end of the month. The rest of us get our "own" cake. Everyone gathers around, and sings Happy Birthday.
When the controller has his birthday, we have a potluck breakfast buffet! Everyone brings something for it. We have eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, potatoes, ham, fruit, juice, waffles, and what ever else someone thinks of bringing. Quite a spread! We have his cake later in the day.
FOOD ~ Eating is a "full-time" thing here. There is a large printer in our room, and its enclosed within a cabinet to keep the noise down. It also makes a wonderful "buffet" table! Most of the time there are jars of candy, boxes of crackers, and a pot of coffee on here. There used to be alot of "junk food" around the office.
Now ~ we've all decided to eat "healthy"!!
Each desk has carrots, celery, dip, and whatever other veggie that person decided to bring that day. You just munch and crunch your way down the room and back.
It is real easy to gain twenty pounds when you first start working here. New people have to learn to "pace" themselves! Now we are being careful and watching the calories!
There was a time when someone would make a "run" to the local ice cream store, and come back with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. Then we would all be busy making hot fudge sundaes! Tasted good on a hot day!
New people are told on their first day ~ a plate, fork, spoon, coffee mug, and knife are "job" requirements here. Oh yeah ~ tea is served by the controller each day around 3 o'clock. Someone usually bakes cookies to go along with it!!
DRESS CODE ~ Now don't forget - we are talking Corporate office here! The dress code is "relaxed" to say the least. People wear everything from shorts and tank tops in the summer ~ to jeans and sweatshirts in the winter. If you should wear a dress or skirt, everyone asks where the job interview is taking place!
This is a family owned business with warehouses and offices across the country. We are not talking about a small company here!
The owners also wear jeans and tee shirts to work. Always makes me laugh to see the various company representatives come in for meetings ~ looking uncomfortable in their three piece suits and ties!
CATS ~ I mentioned at the beginning about the cats. Well, they are a very important part of this company. We care for several feral cats. I believe there are at least 3 generations in our parking lot! From what I understand, they tried to catch them for years, and had no luck! Right after I started working here, they tried again with a humane cat trap, but what they caught was a SKUNK~ a very unhappy skunk! It took Animal Control quite some time to set it free. Meanwhile, the building had a very strong aroma drifting through it every time someone opened the front door!
All the cats we care for are females, and we have kittens on a regular basis. These kittens are caught as soon as possible. We send one of the younger employees out with a long handled net!
Kitten "roundup" time is always exciting. There is someone standing by with towels to wrap kittens in, and bandages if needed for the "catchers"!
Sometimes we can sneak up on them, but most of the time they have to leap the fence, and be extremely swift with the net.
The owner has a large cage in her office made for cats. This is the "kitty condo". When kittens are caught, they are put in there with a teddy bear to sleep and cuddle with, litter box, food, and more toys.
When they settle down a little, we all take turns bottle feeding them (if they are really little), holding,
and cuddling them. You can always find a kitten cuddled on someone's lap.
These kittens are extremely well socialized before they are given to their new homes.
One time the owner called me into her office to help bottle feed kittens. She was sitting behind her desk on a conference call - while feeding the other kitten. All of a sudden she starts yelling that the kitten bit the end of the nipple off the bottle. There was dead silence on the speaker phone! Three people waited while she checked this little kitten to make sure she was okay!
All these kittens are checked by our vet, and given any medical treatment necessary.
While they are still too young to be placed in their new homes, someone takes them home each night to make sure they are warm and fed. Then they return the next day, and play in the "condo". This continues until they are old enough to go home with their new owners.
The owner pays all the vet bills for the first year, and we bring our kitten to work each day so they aren't left home alone. This way
the socializing continues, and they have litter mates to play with during the day. Sometimes we take them out of the condo, and they play in one of the smaller offices. They put a flat box across the doorway, and kittens are pouncing and running around the room. Hard to work with a kitten chasing your pencil!!
I have two kittens from work. They are the sweetest ones I own. At this company, cats come first! I have walked into the owner's office to visit my kitten, and there will be five others in there holding their kittens ~ called bonding!
All the owner asks in return when you decide to take a kitten ~ is that you love it and give it a comfortable home. She questions people at length before they are allowed to own one of these "special" kittens. She must have liked my answers -- I have two!
When its time for shots, and for them to be spayed or neutered ~ we bring them to work, and someone makes a "vet run". This vet has several large files on just the cats from this company! He could probably retire on just the income from us!!
As you can see, our cats are very important to everyone working here ~ and very loved. To find cat prints on your windshield when you leave work ~ is considered an "honor"!
TWITS ~ Just like the cats, this company seems to attract "people strays". We have quite a collection of personalities working here. Most of us get along just fine, but there are a few twits. But we learn to work around them!
All in all - working here has been quite an experience! I can work in a million companies ~ and NEVER find one like this!
Well, I just had to share Twitsville with you. Right now all is well ~ as we await the arrival of our new litter of kittens. Noticed one of the mommas was getting rather round around the middle!!
This was given to the company I work for. In recognition of all they do to help strays. On their behalf ~ thank you very much.
Twitsville Update
