Another Job Bites the Dust

If you remember my earlier blog about the job situation, there has been a series of events since that day. I would give you the short version, but it basically goes like, “I quit my job today.” The long version goes more like this. After I wrote the District Manager about my disgruntledness (is that word?) and told him I was disappointed that I hadn’t heard from him after 5 days, in which he was not on vacation and I was told by another superior that he received my correspondence, he kindly replied to my second attempt. He then said he would be in on Monday to meet with me at noon. I was scheduled off at one. He arrived at 12:15 and went straight to the office where he chit chatted with the manager. At 12:40, I still had not heard a peep, so I politely went to the office and firmly reminded him that I leave in twenty minutes. He told me to have a seat and we started discussing the issues. I basically told him that I desired what every other shift supervisor was already getting, which is accrued vacation time most importantly, and guaranteed hours. I gave him a short lesson on how poverty works, just in case he never had the pleasure of experiencing it. And he was nice, pleasant even, but so were the last two managers that lied to my face. He told me he would rectify the situation and would open up a new position to get me full time status and he would text me or call me the following day with the requisition number to apply and get the ball rolling. I thanked him and clocked out to go home. The meeting was about 30 minutes long. So I stayed 15 minutes past my quitting time, which I had no intention of doing, but shit happens and like I said, he was pleasant and solving my problems or so I thought. The following day, I was off. I waited all day. I didn’t wait twiddling my thumbs, but I waited for the call or text as a sign.

I’m a huge believer in signs. I look for them in all parts of my life. With people, I always let the Universe decide who should and shouldn’t be in my life. I’ve actually stopped seeing men because my car broke down or because I couldn’t pay a bill or I had a small run of bad luck. I’m a firm believer that if life is looking a little more like shit and a little less like happiness, it is directly associated with the people in my life or the actions I have done. Not just with lovers either. I believe this about friends, too. If I have a friend that I’m around a lot and negative things start happening, I will immediately back off and see if things change. If they do, then I know. If they don’t, then I know it’s something else. The same goes for jobs. I look for signs. The day before the big meeting, I was offered another job. I was hesitant to take it because it’s out of my realm of expertise and it requires me to have to depend on people which I’m not very good at, so I left it in the hands of the universe. The thought of the job excited me because, for starters, it was something new and I had been waking up irritated at the thought of this impossible battle I had been fighting every day at work, but it also scared me to death because change is really hard for me. My anxiety is a daily battle that I seem to have full control over lately, but a lot of that has to do with comfort and it’s hard to step out of my comfort zone into the unknown, but like I said, I believe in everything happening for a reason. So I told myself if the District Manager does what he says he is going to do the following day, then I will take that as a sign that I am supposed to stay there and continue that path. If he does not do what he says he is going to do, I will take that as a sign that I am supposed to take the other path. Maybe I am a spoiled brat who thinks she deserves more than she does, but I’m ok with that because as long as I believe I deserve it and it is not anything ridiculous, then I will expect to be treated fairly and with professionalism and respect just as I have treated others. So as the clock ticked to 5pm, I penned my resignation letter effective immediately and had it delivered with my keys to the job. Ex Job. And wouldn’t you know it, at 6:30, I get the call I had waited on all day. Coincidence? I think not, but it was too little, too late.

I’ve quit lots of jobs. I’ve actually quit every job I’ve ever had. I’ve never been fired or asked to resign, but it’s very rare that I quit a job without notice. I’ve done it a time or two when I was filled with passion about a particular situation that I didn’t agree with, but today I did it mostly on principal and basically just wanting to be an asshole. I knew that it would put them in a jam. Although there are two people there who I would never want to do that to, there is definitely one who I couldn’t care less about inconveniencing even if that means she has to work 100 hours in a week. Or if it means the DM will have to lower himself to pitching in until a replacement can be found. The way I see it, if I have to put on my uniform every day, put on my happy face, get to work on time, do the job laid out before me, make sure I clock in and out, and be held accountable for my duties and actions, it doesn’t seem like too much of an inconvenience to expect the person who sets those standards for me to be held to the same kind of standards and to be expected to do what he says he’s going to do when he says he’s going to do it. I would love to say that I was important enough to make a difference in the way he treats people in the future, but it’s retail, we are all replaceable. By this time next year, he won’t even remember me to give a reference without looking me up in the computer.

But on a brighter note, I am happy and excited to be starting something new that may, in fact, hold my attention for more than five minutes. I guess July 5th was my Independence Day.