Adventures in Temping (true story)

[EleCivil]

Yesterday was supposed to be one of those few days when I don?t have to go to work or school. In preparation, I spent the previous night doing what anyone would do ? staying out until four in the morning, losing and then subsequently winning back my shirt in high-stakes games of Super Mario Brothers. Alright, so maybe it wasn?t what anyone would do, but it seemed smart at the time.

Cut to about six this morning. I get a call from work, saying ?Hey, we know you?ve never gotten any training in it, but we need you to be a trucking dispatcher for the rest of the day.? Now, my usual job has nothing to do with trucking and less to do with dispatching, but I was stuck ? I was the only one available to take over.

They hand me a two radios, a phone, an intercom, and a sheet of instructions written in a bunch of trucking jargon that I still haven?t deciphered. My ?training? lasted about five minutes, and consisted of someone who doesn?t work there attempting to tell me what the people who do work there want me to do. He didn?t do a very good job of it. The main thing, though, was that I had to speak in code. ?Code? What code?? I ask. ?I don't know. Figure it out, college boy.? He replies. Luckilly, there were some (slightly out-dated) code books hidden in a drawer under a few old copies of Guns & Ammo, Feild & Stream, and such.

So I try to get going, not really knowing what the hell is going on. Now I?m talking into two different radios, using two separate, but similar code languages. Like, ?10-7? in one radio means ?I?m going off duty?, while ?10-7? in the other radio means ?You?re talking too loud, please lower your voice?, so if I get them mixed up, I could completely screw things over. Then I overhear this exchange on the radio:

Girl: Who the hell?s on dispatch?

Guy: ?I dunno, some new young guy.?

Girl: ?Well, he?s sending trucks to the wrong side of the state.?

Guy: ?Oh, for god?s sake??

Other Girl: ?Pick it up, guys ? we can?t slow down just because the new guy doesn?t know what he?s doing.?

Me: ?Uh?10-4??

So?long story short, if anyone ordered something through UPS, FedEx, Wal-Mart?or, well, pretty much any of the big trucking companies in Ohio and it?s getting in late, it?s probably my fault. Sorry, guys.

[Naiilo]

So?long story short, if anyone ordered something through UPS, FedEx, Wal-Mart?or, well, pretty much any of the big trucking companies in Ohio and it?s getting in late, it?s probably my fault. Sorry, guys.

My dad works as a broker for a large truking company and keeps trying to get me to be a dispatcher for some place here in town. I bet I know which books you are talking about. Ugh, too many codes, no?

-N

[Codey]

If they're dumb enough to let you dispatch again, how about sending a wide screen tv my way? LMAO

Codey

[blue]

Good thinking, Codey!

EleCivil, just think of it as a "juggling" challenge.