6 months ago my work situation was terrible. A job I had originally thought was going well ended very badly with coworkers destroying my work and supervisors asking me to help falsify documents. It wasn’t just me, either, but several of my coworkers and I were being tormented for some unknown reason and we got to a point where we just couldn’t take it anymore and we all quit within about a week of one another. For the first time in my life I just left my work ID on my desk and walked out with no intention of coming back. Walking away from a regular paycheck because I couldn’t handle the work environment was the scariest thing I have ever done. I then sold extra stuff on eBay and worked a part time job for a few months while looking for something better. That something better turned out to be one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
I got hired on at a new company much closer to home for the same pay I had been making previously. The perks here are incredible! They pay for my monthy metrocard and they pay for 100% of my health insurance. I had been here for less than 2 months at Christmas but I still got several hundred dollars of holiday bonuses. All of the perks here are great but they pale in comparision to my coworkers. Everyone here is bright, energetic, and good at what they do. They care about one another and will drop everything to help someone meet a deadline or finish a project. They go out of their way to provide quality service to customers, but not because of the profit it brings in…they truly care about the people they service and it makes them happy to know that they are helping the people of NYC live healthier, more affordable lives. This is the most incredible work envrionment I have ever encountered and I have been sort of on edge for the past three months that somehow I was going to fuck this all up and get kicked back out into the land of the unemployed.
Today I had that fuck up moment. I screwed up royally. It wasn’t enough for me to think that I should have been fired, but I probably should have been reprimanded for it at least. My boss called me into her office and I just knew I was going to get written up. I walked in and sat down and waited for this kind, gentle woman that I have so much respect for to tell me how much I dissapoint her and I held back the tears that were welling up inside me.
She looked at me and said, “It has been a stressful morning. Why don’t you take 15 minutes and futz about on the internet or walk around the block or something to give yourself a chance to regroup.” When I asked why she said, “You do an incredible job here and we love having you on our team. I know you are frustrated with everything right now and I don’t want you to hit your boiling point and quit. We can’t afford to lose someone like you. Please just let me know if you need to walk away for a few minutes to decompress. We will gladly give you that time because we need you to be here long term.”
A meeting that should have been the first step towards firing my ass turned into one of the nicest things an employer has ever said to me. I was still holding back tears, only now they were tears of joy. I jokingly recommended a margarita machine in the breakroom for those decompression moments and we both laughed. I am at my desk now, taking my 15 minutes to futz about on the internet before I go back to work.
I have always heard people talk about how much they love their job. I never knew anyone could truly mean it until now.
