Comments on: the last day http://follow-my-bliss.com/2009/10/16/the-last-day/ desk job quitter . comedy doer Fri, 11 May 2012 17:21:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Sewana http://follow-my-bliss.com/2009/10/16/the-last-day/#comment-2486 Tue, 10 May 2011 14:58:48 +0000 http://follow-my-bliss.com/?p=3627#comment-2486 BION I’m ismpresed! Cool post!

]]> By: Jen Curran http://follow-my-bliss.com/2009/10/16/the-last-day/#comment-752 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:03:55 +0000 http://follow-my-bliss.com/?p=3627#comment-752 Good rules, Rob.

]]> By: Jen Curran http://follow-my-bliss.com/2009/10/16/the-last-day/#comment-751 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:03:20 +0000 http://follow-my-bliss.com/?p=3627#comment-751 Thank you for this comment! It’s amazing the things we will put up with before we finally choose OURSELVES over someone else’s idea of how our lives should be. Good for you for finding the strength to leave that mess. I’m happy that you’ve made it to the “other side.” Thanks for your sharing your story! It’s inspiring.

]]> By: Rob Christeson http://follow-my-bliss.com/2009/10/16/the-last-day/#comment-727 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:59:32 +0000 http://follow-my-bliss.com/?p=3627#comment-727 I had a similiar experience this year when I was laid off. First time in my adult life being out of work. I just had a couple of rules to keep me on the right track:
1. Wake up on time
2. No daytime TV
3. Have a to-do list each morning – finish what you can
Doing these things kept me sane, and a little productive too. Keep your focus on what you want to accomplish (even if one thing is figuring that out), and you’ll stay sane and get where you want to go. Keep Posting!

]]> By: shoutabyss http://follow-my-bliss.com/2009/10/16/the-last-day/#comment-724 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:00:05 +0000 http://follow-my-bliss.com/?p=3627#comment-724 I once worked the same job for 16 years. The company had excellent pay and benefits but demanded a lot in return. Things like being available 24/7 and having a different schedule every single week. One week I’d be working #1 shifts, the next week #2′s, etc. Sometimes they would schedule you for a #2 followed by a #1 in the same week. (That means you’d get off work at one or two in the morning and have to be back at work by 6:00 AM.) And there was absolutely no reason for doing it that way except that they didn’t want to make the effort to schedule more compassionately. And if you went on vacation you had to be within 24/7 “pager range” in case they needed you for anything at all.

I mostly liked my job but I was a miserable employee due to the pound of flesh that they exacted in exchange for the privilege of working there.

One day I was working a #1 shift. A 6:00 AM start. Me and the other #1 guy were told we had to go to an “important” meeting at 5:00 PM. We tried to explain that guaranteed us a 12 hour day but they didn’t care because the meeting was so “important.”

At 5:00 PM the meeting started. First order of business was birthday cake for one of our peers. Then our managers spent time reading us some memos that had already been distributed. Yes, they literally sat there and read us memos, like we were in kindergarten, word for word. That was it. I understood that some of the team didn’t read their memos but I was one that did.

Naturally those of us on the 6:00 AM shift were enraged. The company, once again, had forced us to submit, to lay on the ground and show our necks and give them the option of ripping our throats out if they chose to do so. That was the only point of the exercise. It was an alpha-dog type of thing.

I had finally reached my breaking point. I went right to my desk and whipped out a letter of resignation and it was on my manager’s desk the next morning.

The point of this story is about how hard it was to leave. The 16 years had really done a number on my head. During the next 30 days I cried and second-guessed my decision to leave many times. Walking away from that job turned out to be one of the hardest things I’d ever done. I have to give credit to my wife who supported me 100 percent and helped me stay strong. At the end, I wavered, but when they called me in to a meeting on the 29th day and made an “offer” to get me to stay, they basically gave me all the fortitude I needed to see it through. Their “offer” was letting me keep my job at my current rate of pay and pretend I’d never resigned. Um, thank you, but no!

So now I’m out living life on the other side! Be glad you are setting out on a new path and won’t be there 16 years then have to go through something like this.

I’ll be eagerly following your blog to see where your journey takes you next!

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