I left on my own terms, which was very important to me. If you haven't been following this blog for the past several years, the last job I left was not on my terms -- that company decided they needed to downsize just before selling themselves to one of their vendors / strategic partners / competitors.
I went through a really rough time personally in the months and couple years that followed. And my family went through it with me. And we're still alive and together. And, with The Lord's blessings and guidance, we are stronger now than we were then.
Anyway, the job I just left was indeed a blessing from The Lord when it came, and that I was able to give my notice to that employer and move on to a new employer with better compensation, hours, and professional advancement is also a great blessing from The Lord.
I've learned a lot about myself, and about how to really wait upon The Lord and have faith in Him and His timing in answering prayers and granting blessings for righteous desires.
So, now that I am done with any sort of work-for-hire relationship with this former employer, let me just share some of the things I won't be missing in not being there anymore...
- Bad dreams about having to work with or even interact with the psycho manager from hell that made my life (and it turned out everyone else's lives at the location we were at) miserable for the first 11 months I was with the firm.
- Daily fear of being disciplined over the littlest mistake by said psycho manager from hell whose management style is that of a loud-mouthed playground bully and worry if I would lose my job as a result.
- Not knowing if I would get sufficient hours each week to earn money to support my family.
- Having the knowledge that as far as the company was concerned, my schedule was extremely flexible, meaning I could work any shift, 7 x 24 x 365, and that I was amenable to being scheduled for working at other locations without consulting me first.
- Broken promises about providing required training and advancement potential.
- Seeing from the front line the dysfunctional culture at work from the corporate level. As an MBA, I could see in everything that came from corporate, the company is basically in a coma and so the way they make sure they show a profit for the shareholders is to (at a minimum) annually cut the weekly hours (e.g. payroll) to the front line where the money is actually being made to keep the company running and provide dividends to the shareholders. Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face! Essentially it is like they're saying 'You aren't making the arbitrary metrics we have set for you, so you will be penalized!' And yet, the reason the metrics aren't being met and that the customers are upset is because there is not enough staff to do all the work as well as service the customers efficiently.
There are probably some others as well, but its not worth the time thinking about them. The ones above are the "professional" things I won't miss...
Now, for some of the more "human" things I won't miss, in no particular order except as they come to mind...
- The sideshow freaks that make up so much of the customer base in the evening on through the night...
- Every other customer having pierced nose, chin, lip, cheek, ear(s), and/or multiple tattoos. For crying out loud, I seriously felt like I was in the middle of some Lamanite civilization, because a lot of these people would also complain about how society had done them wrong and they weren't getting what they were entitled to, and yet at the same time they are paying for junk food with the food stamp card the government has provided them...
- The poor, unfortunate souls who aren't all there in the head that you just hope aren't going to come in while you are in charge... and if they do come in, that they won't stick around and around and around...
- The people who don't seem to remember what soap is, laundry detergent, or mouthwash...
- The people who are clearly perpetrating retail fraud by "returning" stuff they have stolen off the shelf here or at one of the other locations, but to whom we can do nothing because we can't prove it at the moment...
- The people who shoplift and just walk out, and again to whom we can do nothing because we did not see them do it at the moment, despite their beeping due to security tags on the products they have stuffed in their baggy pants, coats, bags, etc. ...
- Having to deal with the people who think we're a liquor store or a smoke shop simply because the company sells wine, beer, a limited selection of liquor (by location), and tobacco products...
- For that matter, having to handle the filthy liquor, wine, beer, and tobacco products...
- Having to work on Sundays because people are too messed up in their thinking and habits to do their shopping on other days...
- Having to perform stock, cleaning, and warehouse type tasks wearing a dress shirt, slacks, and a tie...
- Hearing the foul language of people who use it...
- Cleaning up the trash people left on the floor, including such fun things like used facial tissues, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, stuff they have stolen out of its respective packaging, register receipts, old lottery tickets, etc.
- Changing the bins in the bottle return machine. The only thing nastier than doing that or cleaning the machine or the mess on the floor in front of it is possibly cleaning the bathrooms, which were supposed to be employee only, but policy prevented us from "inconveniencing" the customers by denying them use thereof (except in very, very special exceptions)...
- Going days without seeing my kids because of the work schedule I am given and their school schedule...
- Either one or both my wife and I being too tired to do anything but grunt our acknowledgement of each other being in the room when we're both home (she still works at that employer, but a different location and in a far different role than I did)...
I'm sure there are probably a couple things besides some of the people I worked with that I will miss, but not for very long.
