How you can escape an office that feels like a trap
Iwould have laughed if you’d told me in high school that I would willingly take on an office job. I wanted to be an exercise instructor. When a friendly neighbor helped me land an entry-level position in a medical billing office, I was nervous about whether I’d be able to handle the change in pace. But I was also excited about working normal hours with other frum women and receiving a regular paycheck. I knew that the job market was rough out there, and this was clearly a gift from Hashem.
On my first day, I got there 15 minutes early, full of enthusiasm. My manager, Leah, showed me around. The office looked so nice: an open space with pictures on the walls, and a pretty kitchen area. Leah quickly walked me around the different rooms, pointing out the main features and teams without stopping to introduce me to anyone. Soon, I was sitting down at my new computer and looking at the unfamiliar icons on the screen. Leah handed me a training booklet and told me that if I had any questions, I could email her. Then, as she turned to leave, she added, “Oh, one more thing you should be aware of. Your computer has a program installed that will send me a screenshot every ten minutes and notify me if there’s been no activity for a while.”
That sounded pretty invasive. But maybe it was normal? She’d said it so casually. How would I know what was normal there? So I sat down to get started. Big Brother would be watching me.
There was a long list of emails and a template to personalize and send to each one. Easy enough. So easy, in fact, that I got restless after approximately six minutes. But no break — Leah would know that I was giving up already, and how embarrassing would that be? So I kept going and waited impatiently for lunchtime.
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