table tennis troubles

i'm stressed... and it is because I'm new at the job, with many challenges and arrows thrown at my face, all whilst I am trying to grasp a hold of things here at 3 Sig Bn...

being a QM is beneficial in some ways. For one, you have men to look after, and it makes thing so much more complicated, yet so much more people-oriented and interesting.. unlike a DyS4... I have to contend with a platoon of people who find life honestly boring and unmotivating, I have to try and inspire them, try and help them in their lives, and also try to sieve out those truly in need of help from those who are just eyeing for offs...

I get to mix around with regulars, in fact be their superior, which makes the situation even more wierd and difficult to handle as I have to keep asking questions. (and yeah to some people, that is very demeaning of officers)

I want to build good relationships with everyone, yet I need to stand firm and say 'NO' at times, or force people to do things they do not like... I need to be disciplinarian and yet mentor and helper...

then comes the whole other aspect of dealing with crap handled over by my upperstudy, viz, the table tennis competition... -_-

i'm honestly sitting at the edge of my seat due to this, and really praying to God every single day about this event, hoping that the event closes without much trouble.. This is especially so with the inclusion of a female player into the team. as demanded by the competition rules.. you see, our team isn't weak, but we are simply disadvantaged by the fact that we do not have a veteran, nor do we have a female. Hence, if we face teams with both, we already lose 2 rounds straight due to walkovers, and would have to win all the rest of the 3...

so I was desperately trying to contact all the feamles in 3 Sig Bn, trying to get a female to play.. but honestly, with such a limited pool of females in SAF, how possible is it to get a female player that knows how to play table tennis?

so I thought that was it, not realising the ruckus I caused back at camp by calling so many people over the matter. And yeah, finally one female sergeant called me back and said she wouldn't mind playing, even though she didn't know anything about table tennis...

which honestly.. I feel terribly bad...

It must feel terrible to her if she goes up and plays against some pretty good player, and plays hopelessly... It must be like a complete waste of time, plus a big embarassment... and I'm sure she will be pissed cos she must have gotten arrowed by her superiors.. so honestly, I don't feel too good... I don't want to unwittingly piss off her without even really knowing her...

I really hope she will either not play tommorow (due to the other side not having female players), or that she will find herself surprisingly good and agile at table tennis and yeah, finds the overall experience fun...

but that would be really lucky for me..

I really hope things will turn well, that we would do moderately well and yeah, I can answer to my superiors.. and then go back to my normal work...

life's tough... i'm counting the minutes...
hope things will get better soon...

frAnk