Privilege of going to the mall while working!
By laniekins
@laniekins (4579)
Philippines
March 14, 2011 8:41pm CST
I am working as Admin Assistant in a very small and new office of Designing Consultancy. Since it's so small that I have 4 co-employees including the owner, I do multi-tasking jobs. I do secretarial job, purchaser of office supplies, Liason officer, cleaning comfort room and office and deliver blueprints and plans while commuting at a very low salary. What I just love about my job is that I can use internet in my personal use while working, we don't have Saturday work but we cannot go home at exactly 5:00 pm because our boss says it's too early and I can go to the mall and shop a bit while purchasing office supplies. Now, I will go to the mall to pay for our internet and phone bill and since it's in the mall I can shop a little and buy food. Ofcourse I didn't abuse my time, I just take a few mins. of buying personal stuff like tops or foods. Do you have the same privilege?
2 people like this
14 responses
@cansasct (39)
• United States
16 Mar 11
I wish that I could say that I was allowed to do this, since a couple of my previous jobs were near the mall. We were allowed, however, to take an extra fifteen minutes for lunch at times when we had a stressful morning, but only when the whole department went out to lunch together.
I feel this compensated for the rates of pay that some companies paid us. Maybe it was there way of compensating, through this form of shall I say, "fringe benefit?" However, the employees liked this idea and it worked for our company, so the bosses's said, "why not, as long as it isn't abused, which no one ever really did!"
I think that sometimes a boss should allow an employee who is a good worker to do a few errands if nearby their work errands, it boosts morale! It is a win-win situation for both!
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
16 Mar 11
Employee who benefits much is the messenger and Liason officer, they can have time to go to the mall or somewhere else when they have field work. Since I cover both of the job, I have time to buy for my personal use. But the problem is I don't have official meal allowance so what I do is when I go far from the office, what I do is I collaborate it in the transporation fee.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
16 Mar 11
Our office is located in the second floor of our owner's mall.
We too can buy our stuffs at the mall provided that we do them during breaktimes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We could also do that during our one hour lunch break. Most of all we can readily do that after our dismissal since we are already at the mall.
Just take care not to abuse your office time. It might be taken against you when your boss will learn about it. However, i think your company is lenient on those things. 
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
16 Mar 11
It's great when you are working at the mall's office but no as crew in the mall cause you can't have time roaming at the mall. I ofcourse do not abuse my time cause I need to get back at the office. I also have lots of things to do and I keep the key to the office so when the boss is out, I take care of closing the office.
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
16 Mar 11
Well, atleast you can surf the net freely. I hate when I purchase ream of bond papers, it's to heavy for me to carry.
@wongchoiyee (7413)
• Malaysia
15 Mar 11
No, but I am a freelancer now so it is very flexible for me to do everything in a day provided there is money to spend.
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
16 Mar 11
Yeah, money is the only problem. Most of the time I don't have money to spend.
@jaiho2009 (39141)
• Philippines
15 Mar 11
That's well paid for having a low salary and doing multi-tasking job.
As long as you are not abusing it and you are doing your job well,i guess it's fine.
lucky you are to have those privileges (which i don't)
I work in graveyard shift and stay home sleeping during daytime.
The only good thing is,i work 4 days a week and have 3 days day off to spend with my kids and other stuffs.
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
16 Mar 11
Sort of but I only go out few times a week, it's frustrating when the sun is out and the temperature is hot, I only commute so it's hard for me. I actually think my job abuse me, cause when I ask for errands, I carry such heavy blueprints that sometimes I really don't know how I carry it.
@aeiou78 (3445)
• Malaysia
15 Mar 11
You are really a boss lady in the office.
No one is monitoring you.
You have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want.
As long as the company is paying you the overtime wages, it is acceptable to work a bit longer daily.
I do not have the same freedom as you.
Different levels have different tasks to accomplish.
Hope you enjoy your secretary lob forever.
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
15 Mar 11
No, not really, this is just the things I enjoy. When I am at the office and my boss is there, I am busy. He always ask me to do anything, he ask me to call this person and give me task that is not relevant to my position, I even deliver heavy blueprints at the clients. I just can't spend much time outside, my boss send me sms on where I am.
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
15 Mar 11
Not exactly, but like you, I too enjoy doing small shoppings during office hours. I usually go out during lunch break…that’s the time when the streets are crowded with vendors of every kind, so I usually get what I’m looking for at one go. I sometimes buy lunch for myself, any snack items from my son’s tiffin at school, fruits, any household requirements or anything else that catches my fancy.
@mermaidivy (15394)
• United States
15 Mar 11
I used to be a secretary and it is exactly what I did for work. I could access the internet and check all of my personalemail and stuff; my boss and the managers didn't always stay at work because they were often out for the meetings so I was kind of free, I had to watch out for a senior secretary though because she was always noisy of what I was doing at work, pretending to be a"senior" and kept and eye on me... I made sure I finish what I had to do for the day though while I did my personal stuff.
@shia88 (4571)
• Malaysia
15 Mar 11
Hi,
I really miss my working life. Although I don't have
such privilege of walking in the mall to do some office settlements and
same time do bit of shopping for myself,but I really like
my previous job.
I worked in the bank and the surrounding is near to shopping mall and hawker
food centre.
After work, I like to walk around and see what things I can shop around,
since I have the earning power, I can spent on whatever thing that I like.
But now, I have to fully depend on my husband for any spending and
I do feel not convenience of always getting money from him.
How I wish I can go back to work again after my son has grown up.
I wish to contribute myself to this society rather than staying at home.
@Professor2010 (20162)
• India
15 Mar 11
Glad to know, you enjoy this previledge, normally this is not allowed duing working hours.My sons are Senior managers, they are not permitted to go mall, but during lunch hours only.
I have worked for 44 hours in colleges, teaching is the best job.
Thanks for sharing
Cheers.
God bless you, have a nice day ahead.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
@yspmyl (3435)
• Malaysia
15 Mar 11
I do not have such a privilege, but my colleague who work as a sales can go in and out of the company without any restriction, what he need to do is just inform his boss that he want to go out for a while without needed to give any reason. That is the privilege as a salesperson. And sometime when a person have too much of such a privilege, he will probably abuse it and do his personal stuff like paying bill, go to bank or even go home to do some own business...
@gloryacam (5540)
• Philippines
15 Mar 11
I've tried working at a mall management office, so everyday, I was at the mall. Every break time, we'd go up (we were located out of sight, near the carpark) to the mall area. It was fun, but, oh-so-tempting! 
We knew which store was on sale, and always got freebies from the supermarket. It was a very short stint, but I had some fun, I guess. Now, I do not have such privilege. The mall is too far from the office, so malling is reserved to after office hours and the weekends.
We knew which store was on sale, and always got freebies from the supermarket. It was a very short stint, but I had some fun, I guess. Now, I do not have such privilege. The mall is too far from the office, so malling is reserved to after office hours and the weekends.@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
15 Mar 11
Wow, that's truly a privilege, lol. I wonder working at the office mall, but never got the chance. I rarely go to mall at my rest day. I usually spend time at home and sleeping that's why I take the chance while working.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
15 Mar 11
I use to and although convenient it also was a bit inconvenient for my purse. LOL, I use to be tempted to want almost everything I saw and made up several excuses to shop during my breaks just so I could admire and buy things I really did not need.
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
15 Mar 11
That's my problem whenever I don't have extra money, I saw many discounted items but can't buy it. I just do some window shopping. 
@sweet_pea (3322)
• Philippines
15 Mar 11
I used to on my previous job. I was on sales, and sometimes I am required to go to the mall to buy things for our promos like give-aways and special prizes. I usually spent half of the day just going over the mall. Fortunately, I wasn't tempted to buy things that I don't need.
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
15 Mar 11
That's lovely, I can't spent much time outside. My boss send me sms on where I am. I do commute, we don't have a company car.
