Glorified Janitor

Lately at work I've been feeling like nothing more than a glorified janitor. Business was unusually slow in February, but March has been an improvement, somewhat. During the last half of February, we had very few calls, so I spent a good deal of time keeping the funeral home clean. Even when business started picking up, either my boss or the owner would make the arrangements. I started thinking that one day the owner would realize I'm just an overpaid custodian and wonder why he was paying me good money to do work anybody would do for half the wages.

However, now that the owner has acquired another funeral home, it looks like everyone will have to step up to the plate, so to speak, to get the new place running as well as the original. To that end, my boss spent his day at the new acquisition, leaving me to deal with the call we received last night. I contacted the family, set up the appointment, made the arrangements, wrote the obituary, generated the paperwork, and even delivered the death certificate to the doctor's office. Our other employees were also at the new place, starting the long, laborious process of getting it clean. Takes A Day Off was wondering if they had brooms over there, and Returning Employee said, "yeah, but I'll bet they've never been used." If this pattern continues, it looks like I'll be handling things at the original location while my boss puts in his time at the new place.

I will confess that making arrangements is not one my favorite things to do. I much prefer working in the prep room, embalming and preparing the bodies. Depending on how things work out with the new place, I might find myself doing more of that, as well, which would suit me just fine.