Last Saturday. My intern calls at 9:30 am, when I am on my way out the door. Surprised, I fumble and drop my phone, and can't and don't pick up. She doesn't leave a message either, so I figure it isn't that important. At the station though, I decide I should check up on her. She picks up after a ring and a half, and frantically tells me she has rashes around her mouth and it hurts and that she has to go to the dermatologist but they are only open at odd hours so is it okay if she goes now and comes in at noon? Huh, well, sure, why not.
At 12:05 she calls, again, frantic, saying she is 5 minutes away from the office and is on her way over. Fine.
Ten minutes later she comes running in, out of breath, apologetic. Really, it's okay.
While making herself a cup of tea, I go ahead and brief her with developments on the project. She still nods and shakes and spills, but she seems a bit upset today, but I don't blame her. It does look painful around her mouth. It does look ugly. But I try not to look at it. We finish talking, and I give her some research material and get her to work.
"Oh." She suddenly turns around and looks at me with her unflinching eyes. "The rashes. I have herpes."
You... wha?? Her... wha?! I don't know what to say. So I ask the golden comfort question:
"Are... are you... is it... okay??"
"Oh, yes, the doctor told me it's something that could go away after a day. So I'm okay".
"Well, that's good to know. Very good to know. I, uh, appreciate you telling me."
Great. My intern has herpes.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
My Bobblehead
One of the first things she did on her first day was make herself a cup of tea.
She asked if she could, after seeing my cup of coffee. She picked out a tiny teacup and a sachet of green tea from the cupboard and poured hot water. She then stood with the cup in her hands and listened as I explained a few things about the office. She nodded along to my words. But she did so with so much enthusiasm that her whole entire body was nodding along, as well as the teacup in her hands, the tab hanging from the teabag fluttering with her move. And then tea was splashing in her little cup and dripping over her hands. I stopped talking and stared, and she realized her hands were wet.
"Oh!" She jumped. "I was nodding along so much that I spilled all over myself."
After she cleaned herself with tissue paper, and we decided to go to another room where I could continue filling her in with office rules. On the way, she continued to slosh her cup around and left a trail of water, even with a layer of tight saran wrap on top. I ran to the kitchen to grab some paper towels. When I came back she had already settled down at the table. She was looking around, trying to absorb her surroundings. And perched in her chair, she ceremoniously peeled off the drenched saran wrap, plopped that on the table and announced there wasn't much tea left. While balancing my own coffee and files, I quickly grabbed the wrap, wiped the table down and made sure she hadn't left any ugly tea rings under her cup.
The first day, the first hour...
She asked if she could, after seeing my cup of coffee. She picked out a tiny teacup and a sachet of green tea from the cupboard and poured hot water. She then stood with the cup in her hands and listened as I explained a few things about the office. She nodded along to my words. But she did so with so much enthusiasm that her whole entire body was nodding along, as well as the teacup in her hands, the tab hanging from the teabag fluttering with her move. And then tea was splashing in her little cup and dripping over her hands. I stopped talking and stared, and she realized her hands were wet.
"Oh!" She jumped. "I was nodding along so much that I spilled all over myself."
After she cleaned herself with tissue paper, and we decided to go to another room where I could continue filling her in with office rules. On the way, she continued to slosh her cup around and left a trail of water, even with a layer of tight saran wrap on top. I ran to the kitchen to grab some paper towels. When I came back she had already settled down at the table. She was looking around, trying to absorb her surroundings. And perched in her chair, she ceremoniously peeled off the drenched saran wrap, plopped that on the table and announced there wasn't much tea left. While balancing my own coffee and files, I quickly grabbed the wrap, wiped the table down and made sure she hadn't left any ugly tea rings under her cup.
The first day, the first hour...
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
My Intern
In college, I was an internship whore. Yes, I loved interning. I went through four different internships. My supervisors treated me well and let me go on fun errands. I got brownie points without having to try too hard and acquired skills that I still whip out once in a while. I still keep in touch with 3 out of 4 of my former supervisors. I loved interning so much, I thought I could intern for the rest of my life.
But no, there comes a point in life when you have to move on from being an intern and get yourself a real job. It sucks at first, doing the routine coffee runs and photocopying, which really isn't very different from what you do at the beginning of an internship, but the advantage is that you get paid. Paid to complete the same menial tasks. After a while, the boss starts sharing and delegating and giving you projects. And then you realize, I need another me.
This happened last month. So I asked around and found myself a mini-me. She's great. She's really into her job, asks the right questions, we chuckle at the same jokes and she even works outside her hours to complete assignments. A keeper, and I'm glad we get to pay her a bit to compensate for her labor. But she only gets to stay on for this project...
...Because my boss happened to hire another intern for my project around the same time I found my mini-me. Someone he found through an old acquaintance. She's a girl a plastic smile plastered on her face, and her head is perpetually cocked to one side. She has an affinity for the girly frills and ribbons: we have the same cell phone model, but hers is bright pink with a cute teddy bear phone strap that is bigger than the phone itself. She already has a day job, and can come only twice during the week from 6 to 8 (now who ever said I was staying that late) and Saturdays, but eager to get the feel of this industry. She seems sincere enough... maybe a little too.
I've had her for about two weeks now. That's not long. But she has already given me enough stories to make my stomach hurt from laughing so much. It saddens me that she's gone for the next week and a half. Meanwhile, I will recount her episodes, longing for her return. I am horrible. I know. But she is just too precious not to share....
But no, there comes a point in life when you have to move on from being an intern and get yourself a real job. It sucks at first, doing the routine coffee runs and photocopying, which really isn't very different from what you do at the beginning of an internship, but the advantage is that you get paid. Paid to complete the same menial tasks. After a while, the boss starts sharing and delegating and giving you projects. And then you realize, I need another me.
This happened last month. So I asked around and found myself a mini-me. She's great. She's really into her job, asks the right questions, we chuckle at the same jokes and she even works outside her hours to complete assignments. A keeper, and I'm glad we get to pay her a bit to compensate for her labor. But she only gets to stay on for this project...
...Because my boss happened to hire another intern for my project around the same time I found my mini-me. Someone he found through an old acquaintance. She's a girl a plastic smile plastered on her face, and her head is perpetually cocked to one side. She has an affinity for the girly frills and ribbons: we have the same cell phone model, but hers is bright pink with a cute teddy bear phone strap that is bigger than the phone itself. She already has a day job, and can come only twice during the week from 6 to 8 (now who ever said I was staying that late) and Saturdays, but eager to get the feel of this industry. She seems sincere enough... maybe a little too.
I've had her for about two weeks now. That's not long. But she has already given me enough stories to make my stomach hurt from laughing so much. It saddens me that she's gone for the next week and a half. Meanwhile, I will recount her episodes, longing for her return. I am horrible. I know. But she is just too precious not to share....
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