Don't ask me why I decided to do this. I was busy sitting on my computer looking at simple ways to add another couple hundred dollars a month to my income without having to resort to driving delivery services or prostituting myself out in other ways.
Speaking of that, I've learned a new term which describes me and my professional life perfectly. I'm a Personality Prostitute. I give great customer service, "Inspiring" is how it's described in my annual review, but I hate people. I have no use for about 99.9999% of people out there. But I fake it for money. It's a perfect description. Who else is a Personality Prostitute? Sure, I have other skills and knowledge, like of finance, payroll, etc. But what makes me shine is the how I treat the people who I would rather never talk to.
So, what's new with me since 2008, you ask? I'm certainly no longer selling shoes. My Al Bundy moment has passed. I went from there to RBC. That took me to a small town, Russell, MB, which I hated every moment of. And which brought out my inner demons, although I wasn't quite realizing it yet. After about 15 months I was back in Winnipeg. Another year and a half later, my demons were really starting to come at me and take over. I figured, "Hey, let's find a new job in Calgary!" So I did.
I loved living in Calgary while I was there, although it wasn't helping out my demons any. I started to drink a whole lot more. That's never, ever good for those demons. Or at least for keeping them in check. After about 8 months, those demons reared their ugly head, and I was back to being taken over. This time, at least, I acknowledged that maybe it was an issue that needed some help. Notice I said maybe. But acknowledgement is the first step, I guess.
So, after another period of time, about 18 months maybe? I ended up being fired without cause. The regional manager for whatever reason decided he didn't like me. It made me feel somewhat better that the location had a mass exodus of people not long after that happened. They thought if I was being fired after getting great annual reviews, that anyone could be. Karma is a bitch, though, and that regional manager was fired about 18 months later. Something about impacts on employee morale that resulted in financial impacts. Banks and Credit Unions don't like it when your performance falls.
So, for the first time in my life I was off to learn about the Employment Insurance system. At first I was convinced I'd never qualify for it, so I didn't apply. But I took a closer look at my Record of Employment and I wasn't listed as Dismissed, but "Other." I figured what the hell? I'll apply and worst case scenario is they will decline me. Turns out I wasn't declined, and they even paid retroactively to when I was eligible on my first pay. Until that point I was much like a lot of other conservative types, where social programs are for the devil and anyone who uses them are scum of the earth. I couldn't help it, that's how I was raised. Prairie living is full of it. Okay, maybe I wasn't that bad, but it was one of many eye openers I've had over the last decade and a half.
Anyway, fast forward and I've found another job. The job itself was actually quite decent. The environment was less so. I didn't last long, it was right in the middle of the oil downturn of 2015/16 and a lot of people in downtown Calgary were losing their jobs, and that's what's brought me back to Winnipeg.
It's time for bed now, it's after midnight. I'm shocked I've got so wordy in this post today. I'll continue the next story after work!
No comments:
Post a Comment