Courageous or stupid?

Could it be possible that working is not good for your health? I have been on the job for just one week, and I have already caught a cold - the first one since moving to Switzerland, so indeed the conclusion is obvious!

Yes, I started work last Monday, November 1. I can't decide whether I am courageous or stupid to stick with it. It is quite the job from hell. The only redeeming factor is the colleagues, all extremely nice. So far most of my workdays have been from 8am to 7pm, five days a week, for a total of 45 hours per week. When I was offered the job, I called the bakers' guild and was told that the legal working week is 42 hours. Before signing the contract I asked the owner of the bakery about the 45 hours week - and he explained that the business was structured like that. Period. End of conversation. Take it or leave it.

The 9 daily hours of work are not consecutive. If I start at 8am, I work until 11:30 - no break. At that time I eat lunch. It's provided by the bakery (which also is a restaurant). It's not optional, and its cost is deducted from our salary. There is no choice, definitely not cafeteria style: you eat the dish that's waiting for you on the table. Fortunately I am not a picky eater and the food is rather good. A lot of meat thought, and although I am not a big meat eater, I do eat it, figuring I need the protein to make it through the afternoon. After lunch I have a long break, until 1:30pm. I have rented a room in the bakery's building and that's where I spend part of the break, putting my feet up, away from people, enjoying a cup of coffee. I have to buy the coffee at the restaurant, because there isn't anywhere in the whole house (5 floors) where the employees can help themselves to a hot beverage, or make one. I then make a point of going for a walk - after all this is St. Moritz, and there are many great options to catch some fresh air and get a bit of exercise.

I am back on the job at 1:30pm and work until 7pm with one 15' break. In the store there is no place to sit - meaning I am on my feet during all this time. There's a twist to the above schedule: the work day actually starts at 7:55am but finishes at 7pm - meaning that we actually work another 25 minutes per week without additional pay.

The business is owned by two brothers. One has a small office next to the store. He keeps a very sharp eye on the store, making sure that all the many rules and best practices are rigorously observed. When we are understaffed he helps out and therefore has a good sense of life in the store. The other brother is responsible for the business side of the enterprise. His office is basically inaccessible, at the back of the hall on the third floor. Once in a while he glides through the store. He takes no notice of us. We must be invisible for he never talks to us, other than remark when there are mistakes with the cash register. No hello, no how are you doing, no small talk of any kind, no thank you - great job. It blows my mind. If I were the owner of a business like this I'd want to know my employees, I'd want to take an interest in them, I'd want to make sure that we are a well functioning team, I'd want to motivate them to do their best. He depends on us to make money, but he doesn't seem to see us as an important component of his establishment.

There's so much to tell about my new life that it can't possibly fit into one post that my friends would read to the end. So I'll leave it at this for now. Next week I'll write about our uniforms, about my colleagues, about how I was assigned to pick up the phone, and about the clients.

All this being said, I did have 2 days off last week, and fortunately the weather was gorgeous and very mild. On the first day I just went for a walk in the afternoon after having done my chores in the morning. On the 2nd day, however, I went downhill skiing to the only area that's open. You take a sky tram up to 9,000 feet and then you ski up there using one relatively short chair lift. Not very exciting per se, but the scenery was stunning, it was very mild, not a cloud in the sky, perfect powder and no people. It couldn't have been any better. Since I bought the season's pass, I didn't feel bad about quitting after just 90 minutes of skiing. There was only one run, which I did some 6-7 times, gaining some more confidence each time. Then my bad knee started complaining, and besides, the one lonely run was getting boring. Although short, this day definitely lifted my spirits. I am determined to push myself to do fun activities on my days off, despite my exhaustion!

Pictures:

1. A new sight: Irene at work.
2. My lovely room in St. Moritz. The living conditions at the lodge in South Africa were better.
3. Walking along Lake St. Moritz last week.
4. Walking along Lake St. Moritz today (we got over a foot of snow in the last 24 hours).
5. Downhill skiing at Diavolezza. Note the spray of powder behind the skiers.