So I quit papers and got a real job. Now I want to quit the real job....

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

and start carrying papers again. Figures.

The new job is okay. It pays pretty well for entry-level, is fairly flexible, and I get to take home loads of food every night for dinner. Also, I can pick up health insurance after the first couple of months. (On the downside, I work with a woman who flips out and threatens physical violence on occasion, and have already had one run-in with her.)

The problem is that it’s a more normal schedule, usually 8a - 3p, whereas delivering papers was more like 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.

The REAL problem is: I miss my babies. They’re in daycare, and it’s killing me. THEY like it just fine, but Momma is hurting here. The Weeping Princess has been bitten three times in the last three weeks too–again, a fact that unsettles me much more than it seems to her. I’ve even noticed the older kids being grouchier, a little more difficult, etc. Our home doesn’t seem to have the sense of serenity it once had, and I truly think it has to do with my hours and my “tired mom” quotient.

Paywise…well, I made more $$ carrying papers, although without the benefits of weekends off and health insurance (I can only get insurance on myself through work–still have to get Hoosier Healthwise for the older kids.)

This is depressing the hell out of me. I just gave up three really plum routes, and now I’m thinking that I’ll end up being a carrier again. Fortunately, I handed over two of my routes to my son, and am splitting the third one with a friend, so I may be able to eventually do them all again. If not, getting new routes won’t be a problem, I think. The DMs know me, and know I’m a long-timer and am good at the job.

And I think I can thank our lovely Persephone for helping me get this all in focus. I’m so sad that she didn’t have time to do all the things she wanted to, and it’s helped me remember that I’m only going down this road once. The Weeping Princess and Tanbone will only be this young for a while. After that, I can do whatever I want–go to school, get another degree, work in whatever job.

But right now…I miss my babies.

Am I making sense?

Best,
karol

2

While in my early 20s, I helped out my parents with their paper route. They did it during the week (both are morning people anyways, so an hour or two early didn’t hurt either of their job job performance.)

I did it on the weekends. Gave them a work week that wouldn’t kill them, and I got a little extra spending money. I could nap in the afternoon if I needed it.

Could an arrangement like that work for you?

3

Bodypoet, you need to do what is best for your home. It sounds like your home is not happy right now.

See what you can do to get health insurance for the kiddos, since it seems your new job, if I understand you correctly, pays less and does not offer health insurance for the little ones.

Your babies need you. Can you put your education on hold until they are in kindergarten? Sounds like the paper route was perfect for your situation right now.

4

Trying something new is always hard. Especially when going from being an independant self starter who is use to working by yourself to being in a work enviroment. Give yourself a time limit. Say six months. Maybe the nerves will work themselves out by then.

However, trust your instincts. My first week on one job, I knew that I wasn’t going to like it. Yet, I stuck around for one full year before I quit. I learned alot about myself that year and would have stuck around longer except working in the complaint department is such a downer.

I don’t think I could ever work in an office enviroment again. It’s too much like daycare for adults.

5

It’s a good job, don’t get me wrong. Except for the fact that there is the constant possibility of the aforementioned woman going off the deep end, I like it quite a lot. But I have to consider: 35ish hours/week for $850-900/month, versus 24 hours/week for $1100-1200. It’s great to get to take home food to my family, but at least some of that benefit is negated by the fact that I have to pay daycare.

The Weeping Princess is 3. Tanbone is 5, and will probably go to kindergarten next year. I don’t want to miss out on this time with them, and it’s not like I feel like I’m fulfilling my Mission in Life by working in a catering kitchen for $8.50 an hour.

So I guess the plan is: Get moved and make sure that a new arrangement will work out, then quit the Real Job and go back to the Good Job. After WP is in school (always assuming I don’t homeschool, which is a real possibility), then I can figure out my next step. Maybe further schooling, maybe just another job.

It will all work out. I just needed to see my possibilities in print. :slight_smile:

Thanks so much for your support, my friends. I’m so lucky to have you all.

6

I forgot to respond to Shirley’s advice about giving it all some time to settle. I’ve actually been at this job in another capacity since this summer, when I started doing deliveries for a couple of hours/day. THAT was fine, because I could take the littles with me, and I made great money at it. (Can’t do that now, as they changed the job a bit and wouldn’t pay mileage anymore.)
I started full-time at the kitchen in December and worked both jobs until just recently. Now that I finally quit the papers, it’s just hitting home that I’m AWAY so much, and I’m seeing so many changes in the older kids as well as the young ones, that I’m really worried about them.
AND there’s the issue of the bad-tempered co-worker, which is indeed a serious issue. Frankly, I had already determined that the next time she flips out, I’m GONE, right then and there. I absolutely refuse to work with someone who is that unstable, because we work in a kitchen full of sharp implements, and I do not intend to be there when she starts pitching knives or something.
So really, it’s a matter of time until I have to leave anyway, which got me to thinking…why the heck am I doing this job anyway? If it’s not the money, and it’s not the benefits, what IS it?

Ah, well. You can see I’m still thinking it all through. (Sometimes that’s a slooooow process…)

7

bodypoet, I went through a somewhat similar situation recently. I found a job that didn’t pay particularly well, but the hours, duties, and most co-workers were great. I made a huge mistake and let them make me full-time a couple of months ago, which meant that they were free to dump truckloads of new duties on me, and way too much contact with a co-worker who ended up harrassing me. I ended up quitting this job in January, and now I’m back at square one again, looking for what I gave up. If I had it to do over again, I would never have gone full-time - I was dangerously close to happy at the part-time job; probably the happiest I’ve ever been at a job.

I guess the question you need to ask yourself is “What will I regret the most?”

(If you’re feeling any guilt whatsoever at not working at a “real job”, please don’t. The most important thing is doing what’s right for you. My husband told me this, but I ignored him. I’ll listen next time.)

8

I’d probably stay with the short hours/more money option, especially since the littles aren’t getting any littler. But don’t leave on account of psycho bitch co-worker. If she gets in your face, tell the boss you’re calling the police if he doesn’t handle it (it is illegal to threaten people – even if you ARE nuts). And get right back in her face. Tell her to back the FUCK off.

9

Oh yeah, I was going to mention that I actually got Employment Insurance after I quit my job due to the co-worker harrassing me. Your employer has a responsibility to provide a safe workplace, bodypoet, and being afraid of a co-worker doesn’t sound very safe. Talk to your supervisor if you end up staying - if you have any intention of trying for EI or anything, document everything that crazy co-worker does.

10

I’ve really thought about the “what I’ll regret most” question, featherlou, because that’s really the heart of this whole dilemma. It’s not like I’m giving up a huge career here or anything–I’m a cook/deliveryperson for a catering kitchen, I have absolutely NO career aspirations in that direction, and at most, I’d be working there for a couple of years until I decide to go back to school or find another job. It’s sort of a stop-gap measure, a good enough job, one I like fairly well, and one I’d be willing to do IF there weren’t the kidcare issues to deal with.
In other words: I won’t regret quitting. I WILL regret missing out on this time with my babies. todd33rpm and I have talked about it quite a bit, and he said the thing I most needed to hear: I’m only going to get this opportunity once, and if I can work at a job that allows me to do what I need to do, I shouldn’t feel compelled to do otherwise.
Re: the crazy co-worker. It’s sort of a strange situation. This place is run by the small business enterprise of a shelter for battered women, and one of its goals is to help women learn job skills, etc. This particular woman is one who, clearly, needs to learn some job skills. I’m there primarily because I don’t need to learn job skills, and can do the work independently and responsibly.
My take is, dandy. She needs to learn skills, etc, and this is the place to learn them, and she might not always behave appropriately, whatever. Perfectly understandable, given the aims of the program. However, the flip side of that is, I’m not being paid to be a role model, teacher, program director, intervention specialist, or therapuetic counselor. I’m being paid to chop broccoli, and that’s what I’m gonna by-golly do.
I could raise Cain and demand a safe workplace, and I know I’d be within my rights to do so, but in actuality, all the demands in the world are not going to stop this woman from flipping out and chucking a knife at someone, and all the warnings in the world won’t stop her from coming back and hurting someone if she gets canned. It’s absolutely NOT a risk I’ll take…I’d rather walk out. If I have to do that, rest assured that everyone from the kitchen director to the head honcho of the whole operation will know WHY, because I’ll send notice to everyone involved.
Oddly enough, I don’t feel unsafe there. I could wipe up the floor with this woman, provided she’s unarmed. It’s really the principle of the thing that would cause me to flounce out, frankly. And of course, I don’t have much invested in this job–like I said, not much of a future there, and no career aspirations, etc.
Although I gotta say, lunch was pretty good today. :slight_smile:

Anyway, I’ve talked to my paper DM and told him that I’m going to be looking for routes in the next month. I still own one route, so I really only need one more decent one to make up the difference.

11

Well, there ya go. Good for you.