soc_puppet | (no subject)

Time to play a game! It's called "Puzzle out why the fuck new job is exhausting when it amounts to being paid to sit and read/crochet/draw/write/whatever while occasionally greeting people".

I have a few working theories already:

- I'm working again after ~~two~~ four months of basically not working (aside from AnimeIowa, which was planned for and not a very heavy load itself)
- It's technically a new job, which means my brain is still learning how to do it and get used to it, even if it doesn't seem like there's a lot to learn
- I'm checking if people have the plague, if that's not stressful I don't know what is
- I don't actually know how I'm supposed to take breaks, and since I go for two three-hour hour shifts in a row, this is a bit much (Note: I am planning on fixing this ASAP)
- Hungry; since the shifts I'm signing up for are 11am to 5pm, that leaves me eating at around 10:30am and then usually not again until 5:15 at the earliest; that's over six hours without food (Note: I'm hoping to include "time to scarf down a granola bar or something" in my requested break time) Fixed! "Sneaking away for a bit when things seem quiet" is official policy.
- I'm putting on my best happy-to-be-here customer-service-ish interaction personality for whenever someone approaches the building, which is emotional labor, even if I only have to interact with about thirty people a day, give or take; I mostly genuinely enjoy this, but it's still work!
-- Seriously, it's basically waiting for the opportunity to hopefully make a good first impression on people
--- On a related note, it's more exhausting to do this sort of thing now than it was working Registration for AI (a more constant stream of 'customers' for shifts at least as long) because I'm doing it multiple days in a row instead of just three, and don't have the extra Convention Excitement energy boost to keep me going
---- Also, masks good, but I'm already kinda crap at recognizing people because Eye Contact Uncomfortable, which compounds things a bit, and I can't really recognize most of my coworkers yet, especially since I work in such a remote location compared to them and we don't really have socialization time
- Probably around half the people I have to check are non-native speakers, so I'm putting energy into making sure I'm communicating clearly
- The constant worry that someone will object to wearing a mask and What Then
- The constant worry that someone will have a temperature that stays above the maximum threshold even after a few minutes wait in the shade and I'll have to turn them away
- The constant worry that I'll have to turn someone away in general for Covid safety reasons

Edited to add:
- If I'm working the front doors (Mon thru Thurs, minus emergencies), they're generally locked; I have to keep looking up and be ready to let people in if they approach (Plus side: easier to sneak away for a break if I don't have to worry that people will be able to get in without me checking them, though Boss(?) just confirmed that it's okay if I miss a few due to being on break)
- If I'm working the back doors (Friday only, plus emergencies), I'm more worried about being able to slip away, since the back doors are generally busier and also are left unlocked during open hours (though there are people who are nice and close that I can potentially ask to take over for a few minutes)

...Okay, I think it's reasonable that I'm pretty tired after six hours of that, even if it adds up to less than two hours of actual human interaction and at least four hours of reading/crocheting/writing/drawing/whatever on any given day.