HAPPY New Year!!!!!!!

2010 has arrived, It’s a new decade beginning with a leap year and our first black president (must we be politically correct with “African American”, lord knows at the end of the day none of us can truly be defined by just our melanin alone…). The first day ended in a “blue moon” and for those of you who are not familiar with the term, don’t feel bad I always thought it was slang too! This term simply means that there was an extra full moon in the year, it was a real gorgeous sight even though I thought aliens were going to jump right out of it since its approach was so sudden and huge -– literally!

With all of these changes occurring at one time, it makes sense that folks would want to follow tradition and make “New Year resolutions”. Personally I ended this little game which breeds procrastination some years ago because I realized that I made a lot of false promises to myself and I never seemed to follow through on anything. Having a strong belief in numerology certainly doesn’t help but I’ve learned to counter this. Now, as soon as I realize that I’d like to make a change with something in my life I start taking action to make it happen.

Prime example:

 Last year I was becoming increasingly unhappy with my job. For the record I’d like to say that it was not the company that I disliked but many of the people that I worked “under” and quite a few that I worked with for various reasons, all of them stemming from a lack of respect either just by me or mutually.

Being the emotional person that I am it was very hard for me to hide my feelings, and relationships were getting harder for me to maintain. I don’t lie well and I felt that was a character trait that they were trying to force upon me, on top of them encouraging me to be innovative only for them to waste my time organizing my ideas for them just to get the run around and no follow through from them on their part.

I’m very loyal and had been with the company since I moved to GA, I even helped them establish themselves in their new location. For 3yrs I went through various dramatic and traumatic situations that involved many employees from the bottom to the top of the corporate rankings. I knew that it was just a matter of time before my number would arrive and decided that my next job would have to be a work-from-home gig.

The decision was made and now it was time to act on it. I already have a space in my home which is a second bedroom that I have called my office from the time that I moved in. With my income taxes I purchased my first PC and gradually I brought my computer desk, chair, and printer.

Throughout the year I looked on & off for new employment. During this time my company was making decisions to change how they reached their customers, this included involving social media, mainly twitter. Their employees had full “dibs” on this opportunity. Honestly, a friend already had me addicted and probably saved my sanity through it. Immediately upon the announcement of this opportunity I jumped on it since I was already sneaking on through my mobile app (cell phone) throughout the day. I had the time of my life and was enjoying my job even more. I remember sitting at my desk and saying that I wished that I could get paid to do it all day because I would! This is when I caught the most crap from my superiors… I even had one tell me that all I knew how to do was “twitter”, though my numbers proved differently! Back to the drawing board…

My personal health was also getting pretty bad, between the emotional stress and the sometimes 2-3hr train ride back and forth to work I was barely able to hold it together. My doctor approved intermittent FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) was denied. Despite this, even when I was sick I came in and covered my department. Around this time one girl quit and my other 2 coworkers transferred to the same department so it just left me. I had sick time but when I tried to use it my superiors denied it and FIRED me! I don’t regret it, as a stroke survivor myself my health will always come first…

I could’ve fought their decision and won but I was literally and genuinely SICK of working with people who showed no respect for my work ethic though it affected theirs positively. Unbeknownst to me, my family which our relationship has been extremely strained for the past 2.5yrs actually worked together to keep me off of the streets. My rent was paid, fridge & cabinets were stocked better than when I was working! My bills only suffered slightly as I looked for a new job.

When I first moved to GA I got caught up in a money laundering scheme through a job offer on MONSTER so I was skeptical about using this sites services. Some years ago, one of my good friends told me about her job with the psychic network which she found through Craigslist. Well, I certainly wanted to have a fun job like that so Craigslist would be my main hunting ground! My family wasn’t harping over me finding a job but as a 28yr old woman who lives a full life in another state I knew that it was my responsibility and NOT theirs… especially since they were paying double when they had their own lives to live!

Even though it became frustrating, I went hard and applied for EVERYTHING I was interested in, even if I didn’t meet the “qualifications” for it nor had the “experience” to do it. This also includes the job that I have now, which I found 3 weeks after being fired (which was actually a complete liberation in my opinion). I found it in the Marketing/Public Relations section, there was a short on line test to figure out if I had the adequate knowledge needed to perform the job which I knew I would pass. This job is in Social Media and as an avid user of Twitter and Facebook, I knew I was good for it! I did pass and I was asked to provide my information so they could get back to me, which of course I did. Within the next day or so I was able to set up an interview through email for the following week. The interview process was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and those that interviewed me could have won Oscars for the poker faces that they gave me! A few days later I was called and told that I had the job, I felt like I won the lottery!

It is not to go without say that we haven’t met any obstacles in our professional relationship as they are expected since there is nothing perfect in life. I do work at home, I have more control of my time, and learning who you work with though your contact with them is minimal is a process like any other.

On a personal note, the emotional stress that I endured last year I am certainly uninterested in repeating ever again. I don’t expect much if anything from my friends, quite a few if not many of whom have endured some trying times with me regardless of the miles between us. If I call you my friend there is a mutual responsibility for us to nurture, accept, and support who we are completely within our species. If at any point one of us breaks this non verbal contract on a habitual basis we are up for question and possible elimination from the others life. Explanation is not required because most lessons in life lack verbal direction anyway….

STOP RESOLVING TO CREATE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE!! DECIDE IT, PLAN IT, DO IT!!!!!

AT WILL

 

Being from California, a democratic equal employment opportunity state – when I moved to (THE “DURTY” SOUTH) Georgia, I found myself not only living under a different “rule of thumb” but also living in the midst of a completely different culture than what I was used to.

Recently my employers went through a week long process of trying to figure out if they were going to keep me employed due to some attendance issues that stem from my health problems. Also during that time 2 employees switched departments while another one committed “job abandonment”. There were only 4 of us in the department to begin with, so I’m sure that your math skills aren’t too shabby…. Yeah, that just left me to work the department! Amazingly, my position lacks respect company wide as it is mostly considered that “all I do” is answer the phones and browse the internet. I will be blunt: My job title is new to the company, is unestablished, and does not come with a job description so my job duties are left up to management’s discretion. This leaves a lot of room for disrespect as those in my position are delegated multiple task all while expecting to know everything about our company right down to the finest detail but not being financially compensated for the work that we do. I can say that I decided to turn this negative into a positive not just for myself but my fellow employees as well, I was able to teach my company about sharing our department successes through email and I summarized a monthly financial report that led other departments to follow suit. I was able to show the value of the position in the company and helped us gain the respect of our peers. Eventually, due to the lack of support that we receive a massive email was sent as an outcry and of course I responded and interacted with those who wished to stay in contact and some who didn’t. This was a bittersweet interaction as people accused me of being the one who if not ignited the fire, fanned the flames to keep it going. I actually received an apology email from one coworker when I informed her that the tone of her emails came from an overworked individual who needed a vacation in which she replied that it was true and had one planned for the next week! Essentially, I took it upon myself to be a pioneer for others who would be in my role so that they felt that it was worthwhile to sit in the same seat as me. Honestly, I really love my job and as a writer by nature I didn’t think that it was possible but tis’ true!

When this state of “employment limbo” took place, not only was I dealing with my own poor state of health but my fathers’ as well (though he’s back home in Cali, I still worry since he just had 2 ischemic strokes). I have been working with my company at the same location since this particular one has been open. It was my first job in GA but not my only one as the first year of them opening I had a second job with a telemarketing agency for 6mos during the holiday season since I wasn’t getting enough hours to pay my bills. I have been through 2 restructures with our company and the last one was a huge blow to everyone including me. A whole department was removed while management took a huge hit. I tried to be every ones cheerleader but soon the damage would be evident and there’d be nothing to cheer about as coworkers started dropping like flies either accepting severance packages or serious pay cuts to keep their jobs. Then, I tried to be management’s cheerleader. Deciding to put the shoe on the other foot, I wanted to understand their role in the company and how everything affected them. I even wanted to assist in making their job easier as I often stepped into the role of management though my bills never saw the difference that I was trying to make in others lives. I understand that they feel over worked since now there are only half of them doing what feels like double the work and perhaps their personal lives are really suffering. Maybe that’s why they lacked logic when initially making the decision to even start the process of possibly firing me.

During this time I lost the ability to empathize with their plight as I also realize that we all must own our decisions that we make. I became a cheerleader for myself for the first time ever. Knowing that I love my job and my work ethic didn’t falter during this time as I was still attending work while still feeling under the weather, NOT because I needed the hours but because I knew that they needed me! As much as people may still believe that those who sit in my seat “do nothing” NO ONE wants to do my job UNLESS they want to sit down! Like I stated previously, I am a writer by nature…. During this time I fell in love with words all over again, and one thing that I remembered is an argument that I had with a coworker the first year that I worked for the company as well it being my first working year in GA. In which he exasperatively explained to me “Man, this is an at-will state, and I can work at my own will just as they can fire me at theirs!”