I’ve been a ranger for three weeks now. When I first changed people would ask me what I was doing in a different area and I would surprise them when I said I was a ranger. Now they ask how do I like it. I tell them I like the variety. Most of the jobs I can do on the line. I have gained confidence in myself seeing how I respond to change. And I know my brain is still in good working condition. It just needed some exercise! I told my friend, John, I had to change to something new because my brain was getting flabby!

When I first learn a job I always get nervous. I try not to show this but it must be obvious anyway. Oh, well. I’ll just try my hardest to keep up and if I can’t they can easily remove me.
I’m also learning to calm myself down. New experiences make me nervous because I want to do them right and I don’t know if that will happen. So when I catch myself getting nervous, inside my head I tell myself to calm down. Then if I can, I look at the people all around me. In a way, they are calm for me because they may have a peaceful or even bored look on their face or they may be casually laughing or talking.
As I look around, in another way it’s comical. Just about everybody is doing the job that they’ve done hundreds of times. We all just keep basically, redoing the same thing we’ve done a gazillion times before. In fact, if I get behind most of the time people don’t mind helping me out because it will add a tiny bit of excitement. So, I come to this conclusion, it doesn’t bother them, then why do I force myself to go through the bad habit of unnecessary stress?
I like the people on our line. I like it when I meet them for the first time and they give me a positive response. This makes me want to learn their name and say hi to them later on. I want to be able to come back to their area and joke with them. For some reason, one of the big hang ups I’ve had in my life is fear of rejection. I want to be accepted and feel like a part of the group. Work gets fun, when something new, like a different model comes along and we’ve got to work together to survive and avoid pushing the hold button. For some reason, when people work together there is a bond of accomplishment there.
My new job also forces me to work in many different ways with my hands. I love to do things with my hands. Maybe, it’s the nervous side of my personality showing. My Dad was a nervous kind of person and he loved working with his hands to plant and prune and mow all different kinds of plantlife. In fact, he had a great talent for preparing beautifully, manicured lawns for his dedicated customers.
Being a ranger puts a little more wear on my body but the positve outweighs the negetive. First of all, I get more variety in what I do and some much needed mental challenge. Second of all, I get the opportunity to meet and learn about others. And third of all, I get the knowledge of how our ranges fit together with all their different parts to make a product that a customer could use for years to come.