Me. 29 years later

It was 29 years ago today ( no not Sgt Pepper) but a 28 year old me started work in Branch Library Services.  I was an "in -lieu" Administrative Assistant ( I was still a Junior Administrative Assistant at the time)  I was nervous, but happy.  I was going "home" to the Library Department.  I was mightily unhappy at the Department of Transportation, where the Old Boy Network thwarted my professional development at every turn. I was told to make coffee and answer the phones -this by my supervisor who did not like conflict and when I complained about my treatment basically told me to shut up.  I told him to write me a good review and I would transfer.  I reminded him that a bad review would keep me in his unit, but a good one would get rid of me.  He saw the logic of my reasoning and wrote me a decent review. The song "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel was my "theme"song at that time.  About making choices and sticking to them and going "home" in the process.  To me, the Library was and is home.  At one point in time, I wanted to be a Librarian, but I worked for a woman who was so vile, I did not pursue that, left the Department and became a Management Analyst.  The job is a good fit for me and it has been a wonderful adventure.  Most of the time, I love what I do. It can be maddening and frustrating, but the job of getting repairs made to branches impacts a lot of people in this city.  I have been doing it for so long, I know who to call for what without thinking. I am fortunate to have good working relationships with other departments, which has been a long road.  When I first started there, the department that handles our repair work was , shall we say "resistant"?to helping us.  Thankfully, those who were like that have long since retired and the people I worked with in the early days have moved up to supervisory positions and understand where we are coming from in out requests.   I remember one supervisor who would routinely deny my emergency requests, telling me he had already had one nervous breakdown on the job he wasn't going to have another  one so no he would NOT send an electrician out to my branch today to fix anything.  When he retired, I had a party- he wasn't invited!

So today, I celebrate what has become my career.  I never think of it in those terms and I suppose I should.  This is not just a job, it's an adventure, as the old Army commercial goes, and I pity the person who comes after me.  They tell me I should write a manual, but I am not sure that would help much.  When I took this job, my predecessor left me three phone numbers and a note that said "good luck"  I am not sure that a manual would be much better than that.