Jen has finally started her new job at the same office that Paul works in! ...but we don't exactly work together. There are about 150 people in the "Office" and Jen is working with the #1, #2 and #3 (but I don't get their coffee, the other girl does that. Ha!) There are about 10 different offices with the Office, Paul is within one of them. So although Paul's desk is about 18 yards from Jen's they only see each other when Paul gets water (which he has been doing more frequently this week) or during their lunch dates we'll I'll mention later.
As Paul said after his first day of work - everyone here is sooo nice! They really are. Maybe it is because we are new, but they are nice. However, I feel like they will be less nice to Jen as time goes on... here is why:
Jen's job title has the word "PROTOCOL" - she is to uphold the Rule of Law (or Office Code), to be the friendly inter-office face and the gatekeeper for the big guys, to be the filter for all official documents, to make sure the bureaucratic processes move quickly. (I love efficiency so this is a great challenge for me as bureaucracies are notoriously and inherently slow and inefficient. Think of a democracy where everything is agreed upon vs. a dictatorship where decisions can be made on a dime.)
Back to my point - why people won't be so nice to Jen as time goes on - a big part of my job in simple terms is to look at the papers people submit to the big guys, scan for errors, find where they broke the rules, and tell them to fix it. Jen, the girl who has been here 2 days, who is 10 years younger than the next youngest person - besides Paul, is telling staff that has been here 10 years that what they did is not good enough, doesn't meet the standards and rules, and they need to do it again. Who does this girl think she is?!? But, alas - that is my job and I love it!
Working in the same office is great but it will take some getting used to. Jen and Paul both still blush and smile whenever they see each other and Jen giggles a bit at the prospect of referring to Paul as Mr. Vaca. It is a new experience to get to know your spouse at work. Paul and Jennifer - not Paulie and Jenny. And you can only talk about work stuff.. not "what would you like for dinner?," or "did you see the picture of Sean and Elizabeth's baby?" (Yes! We are going to be an aunt and an uncle! Paul's sister is pregnant!).
In other news - there is way too much chocolate and Turkish delight here and no coffee to be found (except for 10 shekels (~$2.25) in the next building). I'm thinking of ways to bring my coffee in...we have some great travel mugs on the
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