Happy days

Almost 2 years ago, they changed our hours, and I said I'll ride it out until they come to their senses.

A year ago I was still in misery but we needed the insurance.

6 months ago, we were very close to buying a house so I stayed because 14 1/2 years at a job looks better than a month.

Monday, I started a new job and even after the 2 days I've put in so far, I can already tell it was for the best. I knew it was going to be better when I heard my hours were 6-2. I knew it was going to be better when the people at my new job were doing all they could to get the paperwork through quickly so I could start as soon as possible. Hell, I knew it was going to be better when I saw the water and ice machine in the break room and it was free.

So what happened at my previous job?  Nothing good for a start. 2 years ago, the company was up for sale, unknown to most everyone. They started by changing our hours to 12 hour days, 4 shifts, in order to make us look like we were busier than we were. It apparently worked because a few months later, we were sold.

To make a long story short, they took away our bonus, froze salary personal’s wages, plant manager was a dick, cut our 401k share, made more work for us with no appreciation, basically sucked the life out of all the employees.  I probably could have survived all that, I’m pretty laid back and just roll with the punches but what I couldn’t get past were the stupid hours.  Because of them, I could no longer coach my kids teams.  I had to take time off work to go to school functions, in the evening.  I had to work every other weekend, 4 of my Saturday hours were straight pay and all of Sunday was.  In short, I absolutely hated working there anymore.  I liked my job, I liked what I did, I hated the company.  I felt like it betrayed me.  It used to be a good place to work but it has changed.  2 years ago, I had told myself that I was happy that I knew where I was going to retire.  2 weeks ago, all I wanted was to get the hell out.  I wasn’t sure how I’d feel leaving somewhere that I had been for that long, but when my cellphone rang and I knew it was my possible new employer, I grabbed it and sprinted outside so I could answer it.  That reaction told me everything that I needed to know.

It wasn’t an easy decision to walk away from a job that I had so much seniority in.  It wasn’t easy to walk away from doing something I liked.  It wasn’t easy to walk away from the few friendships I had there.

But…

It was easy to give myself more quality time at home.  It was easy to give my feet a chance at not being sore.  It was easy to leave a place that didn’t care about me.

It was easier than I thought.

                       

I’m feeling pretty good about the decision (in case you hadn’t noticed).