How I Survived My Last Lonely Job

I found a way to survive the monotonous job

I was desperate for a job. The work area seemed high-tech, and there was an opportunity to learn a new skill, so I took it.

A week into the job, I learned that we were only three people: a boss, an HR personnel, and me, the one responsible for all technical work!

The boss came occasionally. The HR lady and I had different personalities, so we did not interact much.

It was a very lonely job.

Some days were super-busy, no opportunity to eat my meal.

Some days were about sitting and waiting.

On those leisure days, I arranged the inventory, or analyzed data. I read on different relevant topics and wrote review articles. But still, time seemed to go at a turtle’s pace.

Quitting the job on such a frivolous reason of being alone, was not my thing. So, I would do other creative, constructive things to stay in the job.

I would print some important medical papers, go outside and sit in the sun, reading the article. Underlining, highlighting, and soaking it in.

In between, I would appreciate the flowers and succulents. Watching the bees buzz around the Indian hawthorn flowers was relaxing. Smelling the white roses was pleasant.

One day, I saw a dead bird outside the glass door. I knew, it got exposed to the fertilizer/pesticide spray, felt dizzy, and died by colliding with the glass. It was a poor dark-eyed junco.

I would check if the Santa Ana mountain behind the office building had got snow.

I would eat my lunch under the umbrella, beneath the Cassia tree, watching the yellow fallen flowers around me. I would spot a beehive on the tree. I would see mothers bring their children for therapy sessions to the nearby autism care clinic.

In the afternoon, I would see the crows fly westward to their night shelter. Sensing dusk, cottontail rabbits would appear from the thickets to forage on the dandelions and grass, Some days, the sunset would be spectacular. One day, I even saw the contrail of a SpaceX satellite launch.

I survived in the job for a year and a few months. I might have lasted longer, if I had not felt the need to visit my old parents in India and to spend quality and quantity time with them.

The other day, I saw a humorous reel on Instagram, where a nurse was struggling to start the day at work. The reel was labeled ‘a dream job is still a job’.

Isn’t it true? A job pays, but it's hardly fun.

We have to find ways to survive it, as bills have to be paid.

That’s my tale of surviving a monotonous, lonely job.