The past few months of ride sharing have been a roller coaster. All rides are indeed unique. Whether it’s taking someone as far as California from the northern border or taking an executive to the airport, or some sloshed puppy chundering in your office. All journeys have been different. But I want to revisit my passion, my first love. Archaeology.
Doing the customer service job has certainly made me realise the importance of customer service. The necessity of being on time, having bonuses in your vehicle like sweets and water to be being able to hold a conversation. How has this helped my archaeology experience? The more you talk about your passion and failures, the more you reflect on how you can be better. May of this year I lost my job as an archaeologist for going over budget and poor writing skills. Now did I have help? No. It was me alone as the senior archaeologist. Yes I had a team, but I had to run it efficiently and effectively. My last project I tried to do too much, when really I didn’t need to. My mistake was going into the field, when I only needed to go out there for the survey. Buildings of over 50 years were right there to be recorded. I should have worried about that, whilst my team could have excavated the shovel probes. Thus making me the reporter and researcher back in the office. My two capable field hands could have dug as many probes as required. I love the fieldwork like any archaeologist, but it was my time to let go of the reigns. I couldn’t. My mistake cost me my career. There were other aspects that came up out of my control, like a bad template, more time needed to establish significance of the structures and of course help. I was afraid to speak up. I wrote a report that was sub par and I just didn’t leave myself enough time. Additionally in most cases if we find something a budget increase is always a possibility.
The blame game can happen, but good managers can blame themselves for screwing up. I did, but my foresight was weak at the time. I’m better for it now. The more I have discussed my final failure with my riders, the more I could have done. Another issue was reading the final copy one last time. I didn’t. As a result I was humiliated and 10 years of my career slipped from my hands falling from the cliff shattering into a million pieces. It has certainly been the hardest thing to get over. However, if there are pieces, it can almost be whole again. As archaeologists we try to piece together history and sometimes the people too involved in a project don’t always see the bigger picture. Going away from something and looking at it from a different perspective can help achieve the ultimate goal. Sometimes we don’t have time for that. On the other hand we should. The break I have had since leaving my career has been 6 months, apart from three projects from another company, which is barely worth mentioning.
A new company threw me an opportunity, which I’m now enjoying again. It has reinvigorated my interest, my passion, and my will to discover. As a whole I can be thankful for being able to meet over 800 people in that six month period. They have helped me reignite my passion and ultimately unlocked who I am. I’m most likely a found Australian, who had lost his way due to stress and toxic working environments, but an archaeologist with much work to be accomplished. Uber and Lyft is not over, but will certainly be there until I’m a permanent fixture for a company once more.
The Lost Australian will continue…I’m still kind of lost. Learning every day. Fruitful Fridays is next leading up to Thanksgiving.
