Thursday, July 8, 2010

They Don't Know That I Know, They Think They Know That I Don't Know

I hate not knowing what I'm doing. I think it's more because of my arrogance and pride than anything else, but I like being the expert on stuff. I like when people can say, "That's a good question. I have no idea. But I bet Taylor knows." Usually people say this in reference to dessert questions, but you get the point. I like to know what I'm talking about. So the new job has been difficult so far in that I don’t have a clue about most stuff. And I'm really afraid of asking stupid questions.

Yesterday, in my ever-increasing desire to be in the know, I explored the office a little bit to learn at least a few things and satisfy that need to be informed. So I found the employee information file on the network drive and updated it with my information. And I did the same thing with the phone extension list. Then I went to the break room and familiarized myself with the cabinets that hold all the coffee stuff and office supplies. And I figured out how the coffee-maker works. So then today, someone asked me for my contact information so she could update the employee information file. And I didn't want to seem like a jerk, so I pretended that I hadn't updated it already and answered all her questions. Then I ran into someone in the break room and they "taught" me how to make coffee and showed me where all the stuff was. And it's not a big deal or anything. I'm glad that people are so helpful. But if they found out that I was pretending, it would be pretty awkward (think of Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents when he tried to explain to Robert De Niro about milking a cat).

So I found out that one of the surprisingly difficult things I've had to learn how to do at a new job is to act ignorant. And I'm aware that that sounds weird (as weird as it felt to type "that that" just now). But that’s exactly what I had to do today with the coffee thing and the employee file. So maybe I should stop worrying about feeling informed and start actually learning my job. There's a thought.

5 comments:

Jennifer said...

If acting ignorant is what gets you through, then you do what you gotta do.

About asking stupid questions, however, remember the old saying: There's no such thing as stupid questions, only stupid people.

I hope that helps. =]

-lisa- said...

I can empathize with what you are saying...I totally like to be the "go to person" and it's frustrating when you want to be that person and you can't get there fast enough. I avoid the "that that" usage. It creeps me out.

Unknown said...

As a picky writer, here is my unofficial rule about "that that." Your sentence has to be just the right length so there is one on each line.

Unknown said...

Yeah. Now that bugs me.

-lisa- said...

Jeska - that sounded like a totally cool fix for the "that that" issue.