Don't Judge a Book by Its Bright Blonde Hair!

Temping was definitely interesting—as was working in the shop. They both made me realise that I didn’t actually hate client-facing jobs. In fact, I actually quite enjoyed them! After spending almost ten years working in a factory, I’d figured that dealing with the public would be completely outside my comfort zone. But I gradually grew to like interacting with people. My next temp assignment was quite different from anything I’d done before—it was working reception at a private tennis club. Now, in my mind, a private tennis club was full of rich, stuck-up folk who would look down on me like I was a poor servant. I was quite wrong… but I won’t get ahead of myself! In the first few days, there was a lot to learn—mainly how to answer the phone. The club had a ridiculously long name, and it took me a while to get the greeting out smoothly and understandably. I also struggled with transferring calls to different departments and, honestly, I reckon I dropped about 98% of them in my first few weeks!

There seemed to be a bit of a shake-up happening in the front desk/admin area when I started. I was working with two permanent girls and two other temps. The front desk supervisor was blonde, beautiful, and when I first met her, I thought: There’s no way I can work with her—we’re from two different worlds. I temped there for about a month, while still juggling the shop and any other assignments I could get through the agency. It was tiring, but doable. After a few weeks, we (the temps) were told the club was hiring one permanent receptionist. It was between the three of us. We’d all have to go through a proper interview process and apply for the job. I wasn’t sure where I stood. One of the other candidates was bubbly, confident, and great with admin. The other was cripplingly shy and made a fair few mistakes. I was somewhere in the middle—not shy to the point of shaking, but quiet enough. My computer skills weren’t amazing, but I could get by. I didn’t hold out much hope, but I did what I could in the interview and hoped to make an impression. One thing that was working against me was that I’d already told the agency I’d be unavailable for most of September because my parents were coming to visit. I figured that might count against me, but I tried to stay positive. I did the interview just before my parents arrived, and then I was on holiday, slightly in the dark about what was happening. After 3 weeks of hearing nothing, my hopes started to fade. I was getting frustrated and sent an email to the supervisor basically saying that if they weren’t interested, they could at least let me know. The email wasn’t overly friendly—I wanted to let my frustration show. My opinion of the supervisor wasn’t improving, and I had a gut feeling that my first impression might’ve been right. But then—surprise. That very afternoon, my phone rang. It was her. She sounded slightly put out by my email, saying she’d had a lot on her plate and was planning to get back to me soon. Then she said, “If you’re still interested, the job is yours.” I was over the moon. I was walking across a bridge with my parents at the time and the three of us had a little group hug—and maybe even a celebratory jump!It was the day before my parents left again for Ireland. Needless to say, it really put their minds at ease going back home, knowing I had a full time job starting! But I was nervous about working with this model-like supervisor. I slightly regretted sending that passive-aggressive email and figured I’d have to make up for it by being extra nice… maybe even suck up a little.

Turns out, I was very wrong about her. Yes, she was blonde. Yes, she was beautiful. But she was also one of the most down-to-earth, goofiest, funniest people I’d ever met. And once again, another star player enters the field… Meet Mo.