Grammy Got Hitched and she's Mackay Bound!

In 2011 I left Air New Zealand at 50 years of age not knowing what to do or where to go next.  After almost four years in the company, I decided to resign from my job because I was convinced it had nothing to do with my life's purpose!  Some thought I was crazy to chuck away a job a few of the people I knew could only dream about!  The truth is it was never my plan to work behind a computer while tied -down the whole day on a phone.  From the moment you get in, to the moment you get out except for the brief times spent for a very quick dash to attend nature's call or tea break or lunch, the line between that headpiece and that phone basically became my lifeline!

I know I lasted that long only because of the perks that came with the job.   After leaving my marriage, I decided it was time for me to travel the globe.  But while planning for my trip I happened to stop at a job expo happening not far from where I lived and having just finished Certificate in Travel &Tourism, I gave my details when I was approached by an Air NZ staff while browsing at their stall.

Life went on for at least almost a month and I forgot about the job expo.  Then a week later I received a call followed by a letter (invitation) to apply.  I sat on it for a few days weighing the pros and cons.  All my life I have longed to travel the world.  It felt it was the right time.  I had the time, I had the money and a burning desire to walk the beaten tracks of the world. And reading about the perks of this role, what better way for me to see the world than with staff travel?

As a psychologically battered wife of more than 10 years; there was a longing inside me that wanted to find out if I have what it takes.  Suddenly the appeal to work for one of the best if not the best company in NZ became too strong to resist!  I soon was hearing myself saying "Woman, you don't need to take the job; you just need to get the offer.  It will boost your confidence a hundred times if you get it!"  So I did!

Soon the hardest interview of my life loomed before me.  While working for the New Zealand Post one of my workmates told me a previous employee (a pakeha, meaning Caucasian ) applied but failed the phone interview. That gave me an even slimmer hope of succeeding;  if a pakeha fails, what were my chances?

From preliminary eliminations to hiring I experienced several weeks of constant apprehension.  The interview process as far as I can remember was first a one on one interview, followed by a panel interview after a few days.  Then from the panel interview (of 6-7 people) you go through a simulated phone interview.  They basically throw questions passengers would ask staff, I wasn't prepared at all. I survived that but there was also a written test which I find pretty good as most are general questions but I must say having just finished a travel tourism course did help too.  From this another phone interview a week or two later and this time they called while I wasn't expecting it and I could have been ill-prepared.

That process lasted almost two months and I didn't hear from them for some time.  In the middle of my holiday in my home country in early February; my phone rang and the voice said " Georgine, this is so and so  from Air NZ; you have been successful in your application!  We'd like to know if you're still interested?"   Somehow I said yes instead of NO!  I was back home exploring my country for the first time and the plan was to go see the rest of the world starting from there!  But I said "Yes,  of course I'm still interested."

Almost four years later, I was burnt out!  I learnt that it doesn't matter how good the job is; it doesn't matter how great the perks are, it doesn't matter how awesome the company is, it doesn't matter how good the pay is (my manager told me I could never find another job in NZ that will pay me as much as they did); it doesn't matter if the people around you are cool (there's less racism I coped in NZ compared to Mackay and the people in my team were all awesome ladies).  At the end of the day, if you are not doing what your heart is crying for, everyday is like going into a slaughterhouse!

The best part of that job was the positive, uplifting conversations I had with clients all over the world and I must not forget to mention staff travel.  In one day I could be talking to a student in Sweden, a PA in the UK, a religious leader in NZ, a business owner in the US, a young person volunteering in some remote places or the wop wop in Australia, or a family from Asia or Polynesia!  Some of those conversations I really enjoyed, others especially those flying locally I'm sad to say made me feel like shit...please excuse my French!  Most of the shitty conversations came from NZ and AU callers.  From "go back to f......ng India where you came from you f....ng bitch" (and no, I'm not Indian and matter how I try, I don't sound like an Indian) to "put your f---ng boss on so I can f---ng tell him what a f---ng asshole he is!"   Other times I was told "do you know who  you're f===king talking to?"  to which  I would usually say "in deed hence I advised you at the beginning of this call that our conversation is being recorded"; that sometimes usually works.

Not wanting to be rude and always trying to go the extra mile, I did put up with all that.  But we can only absorb so much shit in our lives.  It took me almost a year to learn to diffuse volatile conversations.  A couple of tricks that worked well was 1. reminding them their call is recorded   2. if they don't settle down I am putting the phone down  (suddenly they remember it took them almost half an hour to get connected and no way do they want to be sent at the back of the line and wait another half an hour).   A third one was a tip given to me by one of the older ladies in our team.   "create a picture in your head that the person at the other line is you diminutive niece or nephew and you are telling them what you want them to do because they haven't got a clue".

There were also issues between airlines, between agents, with passengers, with the weather, with European volcanoes, with international baggage, with accommodation, with  etc etc!  Some calls could last a few hours, others could last a few days and never got resolved.  The pressure  or stress associated with the job would be just right for a normal human being.  Unfortunately I was not normal at that time.  I was a highly strung woman just out of a difficult divorce and going through the process of healing from 12 years of psychological battering while dealing with a freshly dug-up skeletons of child sexual abuse.

On the days I had these two monsters in my head, my desk was the last place on earth I wanted to be. Talking to anyone was the last thing I wanted to do.  There were days during winter when I get to work (parking lot) early but will freeze the moment I turn off the ignition.  I'd feel dizzy and my heart would race as if I was on my ascend up Mt Ruapehu!  My hands, clammy, would shake so wildly I use to sit on them to stop them from shaking!  I would eventually manage to calm myself down through prayers, breathing exercises and positive mantras!  I'll get out of my car, wear a fake smile on, confident strides, a friendly but determined look and I'd wear that mask all day, each day!  "Fake it 'til you make-it" became my daily mantra! Most of winter I would feel this way.  Winter is when planes are grounded due to wind, rain, frost, snow or ice ...and we must deal with every frosted or frozen airport locally and internationally which means thousands of 'frustrated travelers.'  I'll get home after work and would crash like a limp vegetable, microwave food, eat my food, sleep or try to sleep, get up and back to the same routine again...

One day I was talking to a very nice and very rich guy in the US inquiring about an island holiday package for his family. We looked at options and he chose a couple of them to discuss with his wife and children.  Somewhere in the conversation he said "Thank you so much for your time, I can actually do all these myself online but it's just nice to get some tips from a local".  After that day; those words played in my head as I drove to work or on my way home.  A few times I heard myself saying 'he didn't really need me'; meaning I was helping the wrong people.  The following weeks and months I heard myself saying ' I just need to make an extra 5 - 10k/year to make sure I can still travel. Those words played in my head all the time until I decided to submit my resignation.  I had issues with my manager about how she dealt with my medical condition and my EAP entitlement... but will save that for another blog...

From there I went and studied Diploma in Beauty and Body Spa Therapy and TESOL certification, just to keep me busy.  One more time the call to wander to places I haven't been came back.  Hence the thought of studying TESOL hoping I could use it as I travel.  But before I could start re-planning my trip again I got pretty close to a poet I met online.  I liked his poems, he liked mine and somehow we clicked.  We knew each other over a year then romance happened eventually!   At Christmas a year later, he came to meet my family and we got married.  For the second time, my dream to travel got pushed back!  I put him and the possibility of building a future with him before my dreams, before my family, before the slice of paradise I've learnt to love so much!

I moved to Mackay in January 2013 and apart from a few trips back home to visit my family; I have lived here since.  I wasn't sure what was waiting for me here.  My husband was a stranger to me as I was to him and I came with an open mind.  If I am treated well it was my intention to stay.  If not, I had no intentions of wasting another 12 years like I did in my previous marriage.

This month, I have been in Mackay for four years and five months and I have learnt to like the place and started calling it 'home'!  It has taken me that long to finally start posting.

Most of my posts will be reflections of those four years spent in Mackay. As I am writing this, I still call this place home.  For how long?  For as long as I am happy!