Moving On

View of Mt Diablo from Marsh Creek Road

Let’s start with the fact that I resigned from my job today. I thought, when better to quit your job then in the middle of the pandemic, and sent off a letter that will clearly change my life one way or the other. I do not foresee it having a profound effect but it will change my daily schedule for certain.  

First let me emphasize that I was working for a company in a position that normally would have placed applicants through a two-year training program, not me. They told me I would be given months of training to learn their processes and computer systems. No for me they gave me one day with the district manager there that had hired me. One day! By day two they dumped an electrical distribution panel upgrade on me with no previous information although this was a company that had been working on upgrades with us for years. Unfortunately I was desperate, they were desperate, and that is generally how someone ends up regretting their decision.  Desperation leads to poor judgement. 

So at the interview, just a few blocks from the profit center location I was being hired to manage, when the district manager did not want to take me by the store to meet everyone...red flag. Then when the district manager tells me that he does not want me to fire or reprimand one of the employees that has been there for decades...larger red flag.  And finally when I realized that no matter what happens the owners of the company are taking 76% of the profits and charging you to sell material for them...GIANT RED FLAG🚩🚩. With all these red flags I should have immediately walked out the door on day one. What can I say, I always look for a way to make the best with what I have been provided. 

Wait, there’s more.  Day one I find that the other employees all have certain quirks that will drive a monk crazy.  One lives on their own schedule and own time, works at their leisure and basically works the system every which way possible.  One is completely uninterested in anything that resembles hard work and more interested in YouTube.  And the final, most important piece of the puzzle is self-absorbed and completely conceited.  One who assumes all have had the same opportunities and same chances at those opportunities and belittles anyone and everyone else.

Tangent Rant:  We can pretend that hard work and solid ethics are the backbone of becoming wealthy and successful.  We would be deluding ourselves if we really believe that is all it takes.  Who you know is just as important as what you know.  Luck and circumstance have just as much to do with success as any hard work you have accomplished.  

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  The point is that you could be working your fingers to the bone, putting in all the necessary hours, etc.  And when it comes time for that raise or promotion it will all come down to the perception of someone else.  The way someone else sees you will ultimately decide your fate.  And if you think about your perception of others you may realize just how easy it is to fall into the pattern where you lose objectivity and let your opinions affect your perception.  Therefore to say, “Hard work is all it takes to succeed." Is clearly a false statement.  Now, sometimes you have an immediate connection with someone and if that happens with a supervisor or manager you will have a much greater chance of getting ahead at your current position. Maybe you have been lucky, maybe you haven't but either way you have seen just how perception can affect your life.

Returning to our original rant:

I accepted that I would have a difficult time adjusting to the new personalities at my new job and I came in day after day hoping I could affect a change that would make a better workplace for us all. Day in day out with a "game the system", "YouTube is Life" and "I am better than the whole world, everyone else is worthless." It wears on you and pushes your buttons. In the end I realize that the best jobs I have ever had have depended on the crew I worked with and less about the job I was doing. A great crew can make your day speed by and even when the job gets stressful you know you have co-workers that have your back.

So I am moving on and hopefully I will be moving forward. I have put in my application for classes in the fall and I have hopes to work on developing my cyber security skills to the point where I can use my talents to secure a job. I will inevitably feel bad for leaving my job knowing that the clients, which were mostly decent, are now stuck with only one avenue in which to work on projects and that avenue is a complete anal sphincter.

I dream often of a future where we all work together for the betterment of all kind.  Not just mankind or endangered species but all of the creatures of this world.  The truth is we are all a piece of this Earth in one way or the other, ashes to ashes, life from the dust, and even the anal sphincters of the world are worth saving.  I just don't want to be confined to an office with them 10 hours per day.