i cancelled on happy hour? clearly it was a bad day

Work today was absolutely shiteous. I've been busy as of late because a couple of people in my office have turned in their notices and I've been asked to take over the tasks of one of the quitters. Her position, which is higher on the totem pole than mine, is something that I can easily do if I didn't already have other tasks (like my own job and the other responsibilities I have that are outside of my job description). However, the quitter's supervisor is someone I now consider a friend so I wanted to help her out.

The quitter can't properly explain a task to save her life. Each day this week so far, we've met so she can show me the various tasks she does with various computer programs. Unfortunately for me, quitter jumps around in her explanations rather frequently. For example, on explaining steps 1 through 10 of a task, on step 8 she said, "oh wait...I forgot step 2. Let's go back to step 2 and then I'll finish step 8." Ummm...ok.

Frankly, I'm not really learning anything new. I guess I'll just have to wing it when the quitter leaves. I think the worst part about learning her job is that it won't be my job when it's all said and done. Do I want it? Well...I only want the position for advancement purposes, but it's not what I ultimately want to do within the organization nor would it help me get there. But at least I wouldn't be at the lower end of the totem pole. Is that a good enough reason to want a job?

Additionally, I often feel like I've been downgraded to "boss' gopher" status. This is certainly not a position I want to be in. But it pains me to do the work that is under my job description when I really want to be doing all the out-of-job-description stuff that I do--full time. Now that's a position I'd be content with.

How many people out there are actually working the job that they envisioned themselves doing while in college? I was shocked to hear that my new work friend actually doesn't like her job. And what's truly shocking to me is that she's so good at what she does. But it's not what she wants to do. Wow. I'm trying to grasp that but I can't. At least I honestly feel as though I'm working towards what I want to do.

So, am I supposed to wait and be patient and hope that one day, the ideal position for me will open up within the organization? Could I be satisfied with doing the work I truly love on the side only? Or do we just never get to do the job that we thought we were meant to do?

Come on, Fate. Is this some kind of test? Because I think I'm failing.