Job swap

THE SWITCHEROO: Brenda Morales, a maintenance worker, and Stephen Kmetz, a manager, at Equinox (900 N Michigan Ave)

From MOPPER to MANAGER
I normally spend my days cleaning the gym, but obviously I’d rather be telling people what to do. The best—and by that I mean the bossiest—job at Equinox is the general-manager position. I always thought it would be fun to wander around work in a nice suit and tell everyone to work harder. Of course, I always thought that washing the gym was harder than telling people to wash the gym.

You never know until you’re there, though. I have to sit in an empty office and look over revenue numbers, making sure that the gym is doing better today than it was a year ago.Then, I walk around the gym to check that everything is tidy. I spot problems—there are streaks on the mirrors and dust in areas where dust doesn’t belong. I can’t yell at my friends; that would be too hard. But they should have been yelled at a little bit that day.

You get tired physically when you clean—but you don’t have to look at numbers or tell everyone else what to do. Now I realize that the manager is only serious because he’s got so much stuff to think about—it’s not the dream job it seems to be. —As told to Danielle Braff

From MANAGER to MOPPER
Yes, I’m the jerk who yells at the maintenance workers to make the gym sparkling and shiny. I’m in my office all day making calls, and while I know that they work hard to clean the gym, I thought it would be a fun break to switch jobs with them.

But it turns out to be more gross than fun. I have to lift up treadmills, mop the floors, clean the studio mirrors and scrub the locker room. The whole time, it feels like I’m invisible. I’m wiping sweat off equipment, which is as disgusting as it sounds, and no one thanks me.

I know I didn’t do as good a job as the maintenance staff usually does, so I’m pretty embarrassed when Brenda comes over to check on my work. She’s sweet not to say anything. I would have. In fact, I was always making assumptions and being that annoying guy who would make a task list for the workers when I thought they were slacking. Now I know they were working their butts off, but some days there’s more to clean up than others. I’ll be a little easier on them in the future. Or at least I’ll try. We do have standards here, you know. —As told to Danielle Braff

THE SWITCHEROO: Steve Heisler, a desk-bound Time Out Chicago editor, and Christina Couch, a freelance writer

From CUBICLE to COUCH
TOC requires us editors to be at the office by 10am, and because I’m going to be running through a typical workday (plus tackling a few small projects for my stay-at-home journalist compatriot), I wake up at 9:59am. You know, so I get to the “office” on time.

A couple of coffee cups and levels on Super Mario Sunshine later, I’m jazzed up enough to finally get to it. I start with something seemingly simple: Couch has asked for help digging up sources for a column she’s pitching. I phone a long list of higher-education associations and, without a publication to say I’m affiliated with, flounder at the introduction. Needless to say, the responses are less than helpful, to the point where I can’t help but develop a new appreciation for freelancers. There’s so much that goes into simply pitching an article, before any actual writing occurs. —Steve Heisler

From COUCH to CUBICLE
Years of receiving assignments and checks from editors I’ve never met (which makes me feel a little bit like a spy) has me wondering what the people I work for are actually like. With this cube swap, I’d find out.

In my first 20 minutes at TOC, I accidentally interrupt an editor’s meeting, saunter out of the room and notice my fly is down, and am ushered to my cubicle, where I realize I have no idea what projects are going on. This feels like the worst first day of high school ever.

I get going on my work—edit a small section, input some corrections—but lose concentration when a fact-checker stops by to ask me a question, an editor IMs me about a future assignment, and a designer e-mails me to say an article needs to be looked over.

I’m overwhelmed by the sheer number of projects running through this office at once and of the deadlines and pressure that my desk-chained coworkers constantly work under. By 6pm, I’m on the El, exhausted, and looking forward to my real job—and home office. —Christina Couch

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