I LOVE/HATE MY JOB

[GotSmart]

How many people love or hate their job?

Most of the jobs I have had I have loved working at, some more than others.  Some jobs were absolute hate.

I will leave this thread starter, as I have to mail off a contract for my new job.  I will be back when I have time to post.  

 

[Almost There]

I used to love my job!

Now I simply like my job but that's because I am more than ready to retire. I've worked for 50 years now and it's time to go play...

I held on to the job because there was no point in not working as long as I was tied to my current lifestyle by elder care responsibilities. Once Mom threatened to replace me with hired help and I realized that staying tied to an apartment and long cold hard winters was stupid. She's hiring help to replace me, I'll stockpile things for her that can't/won't be handled otherwise and I'm outta here!!

I admit though that I'm having trouble buckling down and doing my job now - I'm simply not motivated.

When I had a job I didn't like, I changed jobs. I never quit one before I had another but when either the work environment or the work itself didn't suit me, there was always another job somewhere else.

 

[LeeRevell]

I first enjoyed my IT job with the state of Florida, but after the Old Guard who looked after their subordinates left to be replaced by 'corporate-minded' Bean Counter types, it became a real drag. Couldn't wait to retire.

 

[wayne49]

I loved my job (IT) for over 30 years. It has had its ups and downs. I love designing and coding software solutions to complex problems. I have been well rewarded for my work over the years. I am fortunate.

The last four years changed that feeling to drudgery. No recognition for high performance, no promotion, minimal COLA raises. Why bother, it became just a paycheck. No new projects, just working on the same automated discounting application engine, that I had developed on my own eight years ago, that is the core of every sales transaction. They kept me stuck to it. My magnum opus became my ball and chain.

The last two years I have been volunteering in my off hours at the county stable assisting with junior rider lessons. Turns out I have a knack connecting with horses and young riders. This has helped me find satisfaction outside of the workplace in real life.

I retire in two weeks!! Forever Four Season Vacation begins.

-Wayne

 

[ilovemyvan]

When I was 15, one Saturday morning my parents informed me that I was not going back to school the following Monday. I was to start working at the same place my mom worked at. The family needed money and I was to give 1/2 of my earnings as room and board. My brothers were to stay in school because being men they were going to have to support their families one day, while my future was going to be staying home taking care of my children. Why waste education on me. The same thing happened to my sister. I don't blame my parents, they were very loving and hard working. They were stock between a rock and a hard place and did the best they could. The year was 1968.

I hated the job with a passion. I was manually packaging sanitary belts, the more I packed the more money I took in. On good weeks I was making $39.00. How I hated that job. Every morning I told myself that I would not do this for the rest of my life, and I didn't. At 18 I quit and went back to school to finish high school. From that point on I never, never stayed at a job I hated.

 

[ilovemyvan]

Wayne said "I retire in two weeks!! Forever Four Season Vacation begins."

GOOD! GOOD! GOOOOOODDDDD!!!!! FOR YOU MATE.

I'm so excited for you

Nicole

 

[rvpopeye]

The day you retire is good , the day you get that first check , Ohhhh Yeah !

 

[cyndi]

I've loved most of my jobs. And hated parts of them.

Mostly, I love being retired. I have nightmares about the post office calling me back to work.

 

[rvpopeye]

Ohhhh Noooooo don't go "postal".
The nightmare is them really calling.....

 

[LoupGarou]

I love my job and what I do, but it's the people I have to work and interface with that I hate.

 

[wayne49]

I would add two items.

One was that the postings for the type of work I do always described the same environment as where I am. Expected 24x7 availability, off hours support, etc. All I would be doing is driving to a different place, and I have a 12 minute non freeway drive to work that I appreciate a lot. I would lose the volunteer work that I love. 

Second was at my age, I realized this was it for my career. I had gone as far as I was going to go. The sun was setting, the music was winding down.

It was time to change my life.

Graduate from my career phase, and commence a new phase, when I get my life back.

 

[ZoNiE]

I love what I do. I Hate the people I work with, and I'm not the Hating type...

 

[GotSmart]

I got my first job (paying) at 4 years old.  Killing grasshoppers in the garden.  We had a huge garden on the egg ranch.  3 cents for a normal hopper, 5 for the big ones, and 10 cents for a tomato worm. (hookworms) We would have people showing up all the time to buy eggs, and fresh produce in season.  The eggs and produce money went into the family fund, but anything else I could sell was all mine.  I started selling feed sacks of chicken manure  :dodgy:

I would give the customers a tour of the garden with 6 foot tall tomato plants, 30 to 60 lb zucchini, (Great dried in soups and stews) and point out the chicken pens.  When the comment came down about the size of the plants, I would bring up the value of the manure.  You would be amazed how much money I was making selling feed sack filled with the dry manure to people to carry home in their new cars.    

By the time I was 10, I had a new top of the line Schwinn and all the pocket money I could use.  (If only I had taken care of those first edition comics!) 

Except for a few emergency cases, I would only take a job I thought I would enjoy.  I would work there for a couple years, then find another job to learn.  That is why I have so many skills.  Deliberate job surfing. 

The job I enjoyed the most was one of the nastiest ones around.  I was a support staff in a Assisted Living Facility.  Care of mentally challenged adults. Wiping noses and bottoms, giving showers, feeding and brushing teeth.  These were 50 to 80 year old children.  Only one could read.  That job gave me the most satisfaction of any.  The clients saw me as a friend, and were honest.  (most of the time) I had one guy who smashed a full cup against the wall, and pointed across the room stating "HE DID IT"  The staff over there was passing meds, and we all got a good laugh out of the situation.  Why get upset over spilled milk?  Another client came up to me and was staring at my face. I asked if everything was OK, and he asked me if I had looked in the mirror lately.  I  thought I had something on my face and says "Yes?"  "Did it break?"  I miss my boys.      

Today I mailed off the signed contract to Renogy giving me a extremely large territory in which to sell their products.  In my eyes this is a dream job.  Talking to people, and setting them up with something they know they need.  No pressure sales.  Just like when I was a kid.  

If I sell a van size kit, I will not make much, but I will be laying a foundation that will lead to the big sales.  Either way it beats digging out ditches.  (Summer, 1978)

 

[compassrose]

My last day is June 28th. I moved it up from Aug 23. I am so fed up with the workplace I'm at. And I am NOT going to train another Department Head (he doesn't know the difference between White/Tint Base (our "White" paint) and Base 2 (it is not paint until we put colour into it). I am not going to do his job for him I did that for the last two DH's until they learned... and still did it because they were "busy". I did it for the month while we did not have a dept head. I am tired of getting garbage from management. Just because I am not uber friendly and talkative does not mean I am "rude". I also have a very good reason for NOT being perky. The first "meeting" I got called into by the new manager occurred when David had been dead for less than 6 months. Jerk wanted to make me attend "counseling" for my "attitude". Then his new "been working at HD for about a year and was magically promoted to Dept Head and brought along to a new store" guy says... I was "rude to him". I simply didn't feel like getting into a frivolous chat session. So got dragged into yet another "meeting" on Monday. So while I was waiting on them to show up, I wrote my "I quit" letter. I was "rude" (I was a bit short I admit) with one of the ass't managers. He called me to get me to clean up a mess (excess stock on the floor in paint dept) that I didn't make, Garden made it. And I was trying to find some one to cover my lunch (at that point in time I was 30 minutes late). My NEW dept head first ignored the pages on the overhead speakers (3rd person backed me up on that one), then called me to tell me to "find a sister dept to cover my lunch". I told him I had already tried Electrical and no one answered the phone, called Flooring and they didn't know how to mix paint but they would cover (answer the phone only) while I was at lunch if no one else would. Called Garden and they said no one there knew how to mix paint, so back to Flooring who reluctantly agreed. Meanwhile, I'm mixing paint for customers while on the phone with every one. This is when the ass't manager called to add yet another task for me to do. So yes, I was short with him. And I told him. But apparently it was my fault that Flooring did not cover my lunch hour. And it was my fault that another associate in Electrical didn't cover it because he hadn't even clocked in when I left to take my lunch 45 minutes late. It was my fault. Bear in mind that the night before, this same ass't manager (under direction of the new manager) told us if our depts were in condition for the store to open, then were were going to be locked in the store after our 9PM shift end until our dept was ready "no matter how long it takes". Yep, I called HR on that one, not that it will do any good. TIME TO LEAVE THIS PLACE! I have a headache that starts up just before I go into work now. This is not how I want to feel about someplace I work at. So I am leaving. I will NOT be working at another Home Depot. I will start up yet another business. I prefer to work for myself. And did I mention that the first meeting, which was supposed to be very private and confidential, "stuff" got out. I asked my old Dept head if she said anything to anyone and she said no. I didn't say anything to anyone. But one of my co-workers that I get along well with, made a comment that included a phrase that I used in the private & confidential meeting. "No one hears me when I page on the overhead speakers". His comment to me when I paged for someone in the dept he was covering (I didn't know he was covering it)... "I can hear you when you page, Lorna. I always hear you." So who has been telling? Time to go. I have a vacation between now and the time I leave. So in actual work days, I have only 11 days to deal with the place.

Sorry for dumping this. But I feel better about getting it out. Now I can turn it loose. And do my happy dance daily. I have a few things left to do on the bus in order to move it the 150 miles to my daughter's back yard (again). The rest can wait. I will now have help with a few things that I need to do before I leave the state. Then I will not answer to another person on how I live my life. They will not control me.

 

[Almost There]

I hear you on the corporate bs Compassrose, I hear ya!

I wouldn't be in the job I've got if I worked IN their office - I work remotely from my own home office and while it has it's own problems, I never have to deal with the crap that goes on in the office. I wouldn't have lasted a month in that office without either screaming 'I Quit' or killing someone. Even working remotely there are days when I phone a g/f and threaten to run away. We go for a walk at that point...

And I know that the next time some b/s gets dished out in an email or by phone, the phrase 'I'm retiring NOW' is going to be on my lips.

Congratulations on your imminent retirement - time to go play!!

 

[WriterMs]

My jobs were always changing.. from ad agencies to freelance to corporate and back again. Guess I was a nomad in work. But, when I had good folks to work with and for, I loved my work (which was most of the time). All of my work had to do with writing, marketing strategy and PR.

And many times my work was quite out of the ordinary. KnoWhatImean, Vern? (okay, only those more mature readers here will likely get that)

And then a few years ago, I finally made myself (accidentally) begin and finish a novel. I put it on Amazon because.. well, why not? And after a few months, it took off. So now I've finished my third and final one in that post-apocalyptic series. I'm working on my next novel now which is in the mystery/romance genres. The main character travels in her RV (a Tiger cause in fiction I can have any RV I want ...LOL).

 

[MikeRuth]

Interesting to see others in similar situations.
commpassrose, wow I had a friend with HD who told similar stories, they packed up and moved to Arizona. Never to work for HD again.

For me always been a worker for a small business, Corporate life was not for me, knew that right off the bat as I got out of high school. Other Family members went down that road happily I guess. Never made much money but always seem to be happy with work until the oh say 10 year mark, then I seem to burn out and move on. Worked on and off for 18 years in the retail Bicycle business. Was OK, probably should have bought my own store but I liked the 10 to 6 gig and partying after the day was done.
Worked as an Elevator mechanic for several years, got my Journeyman license and enjoyed that a lot. Unfortunately the company I worked for didn't want to pay what I was worth. Adios!
Decided I like tinkering with PC's and knew a couple that owned a computer store and had been running it successfully for many years. Interviewed on Friday went to work on Monday.
short story, I get the entire shop dropped in my lap inside of two weeks and have to learn fast. I did and enjoyed it. Owners got sick, sold it to a foreigner and in less than two years the doors were closing. Had enough, when they told me to lie to customers about why they were closing I took that as my license to collect there customers. Handed out personal business cards, bought a cell phone and been in business for myself ever since. 17 years in this business of computer repair and I'm tired of it.
But that's of my own doing cause I'm literally to nice of a guy, Calls any day of the week at any time of the day now. I've shut some down but it's still going to happen.
As I get older I realize I don't have the ambition that I once did for it. It's time for change and so the Van Build has begun.

If I'm right, once I get free of the every day routine and start to get back to a simpler life I think I'll have more ambition towards whatever I choose. At least I'm going to give it a try, hey if I can pull off for another 17 years again I should be ready for a Pine Box.

 

[Canine]

The day you retire is good , the day you get that first check , Ohhhh Yeah !

rvpopeye, I'll bet we had almost the identical rigs. Mine was a 1982 GMC with a 350, 22' long, can't remember the make though... It had its issues but still is my favorite for size and handiness.

 

[Canine]

My last day is June 28th. I moved it up from Aug 23. I am so fed up with the workplace I'm at. And I am NOT going to train another Department Head 

Sounds like HD to me..  Corporate life, workers are expendable.  That's why I am not thrilled with WallyWorld...

 

[rvpopeye]

Dusty ,,,,
Yup Yup ! I like it but think I could downsize to something smaller eventually , the space is nice but 6mpg sucks.

Compassrose

Glad to hear you broke away from that crap. I have several friends in very same situation.
Corporate mentality / mgmt training sure leaves a LOT to be desired.
I stay away from it whenever possible.
Lots of workamping jobs are starting to become corporate now too.

Glad I was finally able to pull the retirement card out this year ! Not much but enough to make my working less necessary.
Fortunately there are still lots of places run mom n pop style (like where I am this summer).
Maybe we'll run into each other someday and can do one of those happy dances.