Good Morning KiwiRail

I'm a temp. I started out when I lived in London and found that I really quite liked the lifestyle. It gives me a lot of freedom to go on holiday, or take days off when the weather was good, and I got do try things I otherwise wouldn't have tried, and go places I wouldn't have bothered to go. I haven't done it in a while, because the russian roulette of rent paying was a little stressful, but when I lost my job recently I signed up again, just until I could find a real job.

I'd half forgotten about it when I had a phone call, as all temping-related phone calls are, on Monday morning after a weekend of hiking, camping, very little sleep and several Sunday night drinks.

Me: Uhhh?
Recruitment Agent: *overly cheerful for 8am* Hi Hannah it's Rochelle here from Madison!! I was just wondering if you were interested in temping for us today!
Me: Uh-huh.
Recruitment Agent: Great!! It's at Kiwirail, their receptionist is off sick and they need someone in there as soon as possible!! Would you like me to email you the details, or will I just tell you?!
Me: Uhh...both...?
Recruitment Agent: Excellent!!! The office is...
(At this point I may have gone back to sleep a bit - she was going to email me the details so I didn't really need to listen...)
Me: Uh-huh... M'on my way...
Recruitment Agent: Great!! Good luck and just let me know if you have any questions!!

(I did have a question, but since it was "how the hell do you use exclaimation marks in conversation??" I decided to keep quiet.)

I impressed myself by making it from bed to desk, including getting lost, in 74 minutes and was set up with the phone system, a pile of mail to open and all the stationery my little heart could desire.

One of the great things about temping is the variety, but no matter where your assignment is, there will always be some elements of every temp job which are exactly the same.

There are some great elements: people are always really grateful that you made it in on such short notice; no one ever bothers to teach you the complicated tasks because it's easier to leave them for the full timer; and you have the 'get out of responsibility free' card "I'm so sorry, I don't know - I'm just a temp!"

There are negative elements too, of course: it's virtually impossible to learn thirty new names five days a week; people look at you strangely when you can't fulfil basic tasks like finding a stamp; and the look of disappointment on people's faces when you aren't who they expect to be sitting at the reception desk is quite a crushing blow to the self-esteem.

On balance though, it's a pretty sweet deal, and it's assignments like my current one that make me enjoy temping - all the other staff are really friendly, there's a coffee machine in the kitchen and some people have even learnt my name!

Now if only I could avoid the 8am phone calls this would be the perfect job.