I used to be a bill collector. 5 years of that shit is enough to drive anyone insane. Owners play favorites, co-workers fuck them to get ahead, managers and team leads break laws and company policy to fatten their own pockets, then advise you to do the same… and then sell you out when the hammer comes down to save their own ass.
And that is pretty much my story, I put up with 5 years of the shit, 4 from one company in particular. Then the company started cutting back… *think along the lines of greed for motivating factor* cutting commission, cutting resources, cutting insurance, cutting benefits. One day I decided to push back against a system that had been pushing me for to long.
Long story short my bosses advised, if not condoned a loophole I had found in the system that kept my hard earned money in my pocket, and not some outsourced branch of our company that were doing the same job but for much less, in a very unsophisticated area of our state. The reason this was condoned was due to the fact that it benefited my immediate supervisors.
The hammer came down, I got shit canned. Honestly I didn’t care besides the fact that I was doing quite well for myself. I assumed the company would be closing shortly thereafter anyways. And so far the downsizing is continuing. They even got rid of the entire Human Resources staff as well as a few individuals in the auditing department, and administration.
I left… went to another company. Same thing. Another collection agency. This was a mistake, but I assumed it would be… A serious “boys club” collection agency, didn’t matter if you had talent. You HAD to know someone to get decent business. In fact the only folks in the company that commissioned were a select few who happen to come from one specific company prior. Again I didn’t care… because this time I prepared. They knew I was an asset because when I left, my boss praticlly begged me to stay. Instead I thanked him for the position and tried to make the seperation as easy as possible. They realized I was slipping away days prior, and did what they could to keep me staffed. But my mind was made up.
I cashed out my rapidly decaying 401k and moved across country.
I now live in a city where the primary means of obtaining wealth consist of mainly food and service.
I managed to land a job within 3 weeks, at a very upscale restraunt. I was hired as hotel staff for the catering division, as well as during the slow portion of the season “some” food running shifts. Well after they hired like 4 other people they wanted to cut my hours down because I had the other stuff to fall back on.
The other stuff to fall back on consists of like 4 bucks an hour plus tips and the place is extremely slow. Now contrast this with the 14 an hour that I am making with the banquet portion.
Not to mention in the hiring portion of my interview, the manager advisedme that there were two rate of pays for starting. 12 or 14. He hired me at 14 I was happy, my girlfriend is working so it’s all good. Well later I found out that 3 people I help train in… that got hired after me are making 18 an hour. I like working with all of them don’t get me wrong. But I am a hard worker and I think I picked up on everything quite quickly. Especially for having 0 restraunt experience prior.
I am just quickly realizing that working for other people is just too frustrating. It’s way to hit or miss and contingent on other things to make a consistent stable work atmosphere. I will be back in school this spring, and starting a self-ran little operation… hopefully this gets me out of the cycle. Until then I just need to stay afloat.
Just as a side note about the first fuckhead boss that sold me up the fucking river and took about 10k outta my back pocket: He is cheating on his wife and I know about the whole thing and half the assholes address. I am justing waiting to drop the bomb until I don’t need company as a reference any longer.