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A lot of people thought that my job is easy – since my workplace is a place where the public seldom patronage. All I have to do is serve them when needed and sit around, doing nothing. The only down side is probably the shift work and the need to work on weekends. They are so damn wrong.

My job scope is all rounder. I play different roles every day, from supervisor to table cleaner. I also play the contractor, laborer, packer, balloon sculptor, mail distributor, waitress, entertainer, event organiser, personal assistant, clerk, social worker, just to name a few.

It is never the same at my workplace; every day is different roles. I definitely do not sit around and wait for time to pass. I always expect the unexpected; someone fell down, disputes, last minute assignments, etc.

Is my job interesting? At times. Is it tiring? No doubt about it.

I start work in the morning as early as 830am and end work as late as 3 or 4am. I work on weekends and sometimes, public holiday. Festive seasons are not appealing for people like us as that is when we have more work to do, with more OTs and less sleep. My job is considered service line; I serve the public. Therefore, I need to be polite at all times, even if the person is nasty to me. This is part of our job – venting machine.

I am definitely tired, and at times, the stress eats into me and I get very down. I can’t zzz or eat well; I always look tired (if you look closely) and I have (almost) no social life.

So whenever people commented that my job is easy, I always ask them to try taking over me for one month and tell me if it is easy. I get frustrated when people think that my job is a highly paid easy job, it is definitely not; nowhere near the description of “easy job”.

My colleagues face the same issue too and sometimes, they are so pissed with such comments, they left the job. They felt unappreciated as even people who have seen us working may sometimes comment the same thing, or worse, saying that we are paid staff, thus, it is justifiable for us to work long and irregular hours, to get scolding for no reason and to lose our personal time.

It is not justifiable; no job is worth the effort and time unless you are willing to do so, willing to go the extra mile to ensure your job is done properly. We can get the same pay and not do much; we can sit around and procrastinate. We did not. This is not because we are highly paid (which we are not), it is because we are responsible people who ensures that our work is done on time, properly and do our best at all times. All we need is appreciation, which is rare.

It is human nature to take things for granted. That is the downside of this job. We are often not being appreciated for what we have done, and sometimes, it takes a toll on some of the staff and they resign. As much as it is human nature to take things for granted, it is also human nature to crave for appreciation. Job satisfaction is often not monetary; it cannot be measured by the amount of pay you get. A simple thank you can make a person’s day. How often do we hear that?

So next time, if you are being served by a nice person, say thank you. It may keep a person in the job for another year.