Working Part-Time, Hating Work Full-Time.

"Work sucks, I know."
- Blink 182, "All the Small Things"

I’m going to sound like just another sky-collared (that’s a mix of blue and white collar, by the way) jackass plaintiff here for just a moment, so please humor me.

...Bosses are the worst, aren’t they? Especially the ones who never really let you know where you stand with them or the company that they are such a detestable cog in. The bank I work at (which shall remain without a name, at least while I’m still employed under them) recently gave me the big thumbs-up on a promotion that had routinely been hinted at “unofficially.” Well, it wasn’t so much a promotion as an advancement in hours–moving from part-time to full-time. It was great! Not only could I enroll in all the sweet benefits that a full-time employee was allowed to roll around in but I would also get a bigger paycheck every couple of weeks.

Ever since I moved to California, I’ve been hoping for a position where I could work 30 hour weeks. 30 hours. Such a perfect amount of time. 20 hours left me with too much time on my hands (which made me a lazy lump) and not enough bread in my pantry (which left me hungry for entertainment). But 40 hours would be too much. I would have almost no time on my hands and all the bread I could handle–but not enough time to enjoy it. It’s a Goldilocks “too hot” or “too cold” porridge situation. So when I landed the 30 hour workweek prime time spot, I was amply excited.

A bit of the back story: a fellow employee was downgraded and eventually terminated due to a few insubordination issues. This left a vacancy on the schedule and her hours up for grabs. The boss told me to grab them.

Then, as if by magic, the same woman who was fired the previous week suddenly showed up at work the very next Monday to go about her usual day of not knowing how to do things. No one said a word about it. Now, I may not be a rocket scientist (or even a rocket enthusiast), but I feel right in assuming that when someone is fired, they generally stay away from the place they are fired from. And don’t...ya know...continue to work there. Maybe I’m being too old-fashioned, I haven’t decided yet. What I have decided, however, is that bosses who don’t live up to their promises need a good, solid whollopin’.

The rest of the story: I received a copy of the schedule this week which has the fired/rehired woman’s name on it, and a baffling “20" featured beside my name and under the column labeled “Standard Hours.”

I’m still waiting for an explanation. It’s my hope that by this time tomorrow, I’ll have something to report back regarding the phenomenon that is my changing work hours.


This Entry In Song:
Ben Folds - "Fired"

Be Back Soon,
Shaky Jake