Tuesday, July 26, 2011

THE One Time Giving a Notice Worked Against Me

I have had a lot of jobs. Unless there were some extreme circumstances involved I always gave a notice. When I first took my job as Fruth I had no intention of staying there and it wasn't long before I found a job in a boarding kennel. After the owner heard of my experience with greyhounds she couldn't resist offering me a job and the pay was much better than what it was at Fruth - even though it was less than I was used to making. I knew it wouldn't take me long to get a raise once the woman saw how I worked so I took the job. I told her I would have to give Fruth a 2 week notice. She agreed and I gave them their notice.

I showed up for work 2 weeks later. I had been told I was being hired to run the boarding kennel. By the time I started to work, I was informed that she had give the postition to someone else but she would still like for me to work at the same rate of pay she had offered. I went to work thinking that she had promised me a permanent positon. Again, I knew that I could work my way into running the kennel - it was a piece of cake as far as I was concerned.

I quickly learned that something was up. Nothing I did was right. The owner rode my ass. The manager (who had taken my job) rode my ass. Also the other kennel helper rode my ass and the groomer ignored me completely. There was even a part time high school kid who gave me a hard time. None of it made sense to me and I worked at my usual hard pace. It didn't take me long to start turning my coworkers around. However the woman who owned the place continued to ride me long and hard every chance she got.

I worked all summer long. I did all the crap jobs and I had all the crap hours. Still I was under the impression that I was to be the one she kept permanently when the summer rush was over and she didn't need all those people. I did go back to work at Fruth parttime when I was offered the chance because I wanted a safety net with all that was going on at that kennel.

It was a good thing.

The weekend before Labor Day the owner called me over to her house. She informed me that she would be keeping the other manager (after she tried to get me to take a pay cut to stay. It turned out that the other woman who took my job did it for less money than I was making). She told me that my last day would be the Wednesday after Labor Day. Of course I was mad but I didn't let the owner know because I didn't want to give her the satisfaction.

Then I went back to the kennel. The other workers were there pretending to be sorry that I was leaving. I knew the intercom to the house was on (the owner liked to eavesdrop on conversations in the kennel) I told them I would be sorry to leave them and I told them that my last day was on Saturday. (Labor Day was on Monday - hehe)

The manager objected saying she needed me to work through Wednesday because of the holiday and she said she would speak to the owner. I told her that wasn't necessary. I had decided my last day was Saturday - even though the owner told me I would work through Wednesday. I told her I was going to have a nice relaxing holiday before I started working fulltime at Fruth again.

Again the manager objected, telling me how bad she needed me over the holiday. (which I knew anyway, I just didn't care) That is exactly what I told her too.

She was fuming as the phone rang and the owner was on the other line exploding as well. They knew I had them over a barrel. I knew I had nothing to lose.

That's when I told the manager that I had been working at Fruth parttime for over a month and would be going back full time after I enjoyed my lovely Labor Day holiday. I ALSO TOLD HER HOW MUCH MONEY I HAD BEEN MAKING OVER THE SUMMER! I thought she was going to shit her pants when she heard that I had been making more than she was. She thought she had screwed me royally and I had turned everything around on her in a matter of minutes.

It was very satisfying.

No comments: