My Job is Like Internet Dating

I inadvertently told a client today that "my job is like internet dating". Note to self: remember to engage brain BEFORE opening mouth.

I work for a company based in Illinois ("I-ain't-sick" if you ask my 4th grade geography teacher), but my home office is in California. I do my job from my home in Colorado. So a bad commute for me is when my black cat isn't readily visible in my dark hallway and I either trip over or kick her. Most days I don't comb my hair or get out of my PJs until I decide that I want to go outside for lunch or to work out. I can get up 15 minutes before a meeting and no one knows the difference. I can make faces at the phone when someone is annoying me and not risk my boss showing up to see my childish display. On the down side my work is ALWAYS here and I can get caught up in "one more thing" for work and suddenly it is 11pm. I actually have to set my alarm if I have something fun to do in the evening because I've worked through it more than once. In the office you get a clue because everyone else leaves or they turn the lights out!

But consider the similarities between working-from-home and on-line dating*:

• I never meet most of the people I talk to
• most of my conversations are via email or instant message
• if I want to meet someone it requires a pre-arranged meeting place (usually a public place)
• and I need to tell that person what I will be wearing/carrying and send them a photo (try meeting someone at the airport whose only recognizable feature is their voice)
• when I do meet this person they look nothing like my mental picture
• our relationship in person is nothing like our relationship via electronic communication (neither good nor bad, simply different)

Later today this client called me back (apparently the faux pas wasn't too bad...or they're attributing it to the 'quirkiness of rocket scientists'). I had asked them to test a change I made to their data. In this call my lovely client told me that it wasn't working. I swore it was! They insisted that I log in and see for myself. Ah, they were right (dangit). What do I say?

"Oh, I guess I have a commit issue." [Forgive me for this explanation, but in the database you can do all kinds of things when you have the auto-commit feature turned off, but until you type "commit" none of it is saved.]

So now the client thinks I have commitment issues - in addition to a job that's like on-line dating. (sigh)

* I'm not an expert. I don't even dabble anymore. But I did at one time try this. I think I failed the eHarmony personality test and it was all downhill from there. I'm not bitter (I swear) just disenchanted.