Enjoy it while it lasts
An outgoing MP’s tip for newbies: Do not confuse your Manuels or Muhammads in the Beehive restaurant.
On entering Parliament, there were things that struck me as similar – yet different – to any other job. Many of you know that the most important people in your business are your administration staff. They can make or break you by making your life easy or impossible; it’s best to keep them all onside. The difference in Parliament is that they know you before you know them. They know you by name from the first minute you step onto the marble floors, while also smiling and assisting your every move. As I moved around Parliament for the last time wishing everyone happiness and good fortune there were selfies, hugs and even a few tears. The enormity of the job they have all done for me and my colleagues became clear. I am full of admiration. We certainly cannot be an easy bunch to please. So as I cleaned out my office this week, I thought about some tips for the newbies.
LESSON 1:
Don’t take administrators for granted, learn their names quickly and always show gratitude, never demand and mind your Ps and Qs. Now that I have to book my own cars, flights and hotel rooms I quickly need to remember how ... Missing them already. Then there is the cafe where breakfast, lunch and dinner is cooked hot every day along with an assortment of drinks and snacks. The difference is you can book up your meals and call room service to have your food delivered to your office. On departing I am left with my bill to settle and the adventure of having to cook for myself and family again. I do miss meal times with the whanau but, with 19 bodies now bustling through my home in Wairarapa, the prospect of cooking again (which once was cathartic) is becoming more daunting by the minute.
SO ... LESSON 2:
Aim to cook at least one meal a week for others, no matter how busy you get.
LESSON 3:
Pay as you go – avoid ticking up your meals if you can. Big families beware, big bills follow.
I recall sitting in a cross-parliamentary meeting, reviewing the catering options, listening as people bemoaned the menu and service thinking to myself, ‘‘anything that I have not had to slave over to feed and please 100 or more hungry mouths is gourmet in my book’’.
A comment from one customer – ‘‘Manuel is really nice’’ – summed up the blindness of parliamentarians. His name was Muhammad. So I’ve packed up my office, organised to pay for my phone (that now contains an invaluable contact list), arranged to pay my tick bills and given notice on my flat.
I no longer need to qualify my rants to friends by whispering ‘‘If you’re listening GCSB ... I’m joking’’. I’ve come out the other end relatively unscathed having only completed one term as an MP.
It started with me just about bringing down the government, accidentally voting the wrong way, and finishes with a burning desire to return … There’s so much to do. #Ma¯oriParty4Life #Rangatiratanga
LESSON 4:
Enjoy it while it lasts. The world’s still turning and I’m about to get back on remembering my mum’s words: We are all the same, none of us is greater or lesser than the other. And, busy doesn’t mean important – it just means busy. So be nice to each other!