Brenna Saves Millions of Elderly from Burning Building

Yesterday and today I temped at this organization called "Help the Old". Ifso facto I have personally helped the aging of Scotland and I am a hero. I might get to see those pearly gates afterall.

At first I was fussy about being assigned to an area 20 minutes outside of the city, Granton Square, because I had specifically requested jobs inside of city centre (like they say, once a city girl...never a commuter). I was afraid I would get lost, be outside of cellphone reception *gasp* but it was more than alright. I had a new book, new scenery on the top of a double decker bus- where all the rowdy kids sit. The area is past Leith which rolls into the ocean- so close you almost forget it's there.

The "Fufillment Team" (the assembley of workers) as they are called, were comprised of 4 adorable old Scots- Ethel, Bob, Betsey, and Ellen and 4 other temps my age.

New School vs. Old School.

The older ones were volunteers and they were as sweet as the day is long...or dark in Scotlands case. Every 15 minutes or so they asked if they couldn't get us spotta tea and biscuit. Free food and I have a long standing, passionate relationship-I left heavier than I came, having tried every variety and wearing a necklace of crumbs on my sweater. They entertained us with stories of a younger Edinburgh.

The younger generation, I don't have to tell you, was hand selected form the temp company as the highest caliber, the best Scotland has to offer. We were assigned tasks that were intellectually challenging that most small minded people wouldn't be able to comprehend its importance and the hours of training and preparation put into this.

All day we stuffed envelopes full of raffle tickets off of a long list of contributors.

Step 1: Match raffle ticket to name
Step 2: Double check ticket number to name
Step 3: Put into envelop
Step 4: Seal Envelop
Step 5: Put envelope in stack of twenty.
Repeat 400x

Funny names included:

Mr. Downer
Ms. Lady
Mr. Large
Mr. Gay
Mrs. Easter Mccalden (can we get any more old lady scottish than that??)

What we had to do was so meanial that you couldn't even be bothered to think about the task even if you tried. Some of the temps let their minds wonder out loud speaking about current events, weekend plans, etc. We joked that our agency had CCTV and was placing bets on which one of us was going to crack first or whether there was a Willy Wonka ticket in one of the envelopes (there wasn't).

What kept me going was imagining that with the same movements I was doing another more adventurous task such as playing the drums in cuba, a florist arranging a bouqet, or a world renowned chef hand selecting spices in a Moraccan market. Maybe the people who are stuck in those jobs were pretending they were stuffing envelopes for a charity in a basement.

Hah! And they say a liberal arts background doesn't amount to anything in the real world.

Let me tell you...the letter stuffing industry is cut throat...or cut finger as in paper cut- it's a dog eat dog...girl drink tea and stare out window kind of world in there.

At night I worked a night shift at my new resteraunt where the tips are nothing to be complaining about. It felt good to be earning rather than burning moo lah. I'll have to try make a habit of it one day.