I’ve asked for clarification on why this travel is an exception to the way things have been conducted in the past. My supervisor has promised me that he’ll get me answers, and seems aware that it’s not an equitable situation. Therefore, I have the expectation this will not become a regular occurrence, and once he gets me the clarification, I can refine my expectations. The situation still sucks.
As for ‘work ethic’ - I work to make money so I can live the life I want. I don’t work to get ahead in the job market. I don’t work to accumulate power or influence over others. I work because the time I invest in the job is worth the amount of money they pay me… barely… so I can go home in the evening and sit on the couch and watch my DVDs, read my books, et cetera. I don’t believe in work for work’s sake.
However, I do my job, I do it well, because if I must do something or if I’ve agreed to do something, I might as well do it right. Whenever work-life begins to creep into my “me-time” without appropriate compensation, that throws the equation out of whack. Makes the job less “worth it”. Temporary aberrations can be abided, but longterm abuse? Just not worth it.
If I win the lottery this Saturday, I’ll tell them Monday that I’ll help finish the projects I’m currently working on, then expect my two-week notice.
Does this assume that long hours at work means less quality time with the family? The equation isn’t as simple as 24 – work = family. I’m pretty happy with the time I spend with little w[sub]1[/sub] and w[sub]2[/sub]. I’m not talking about time in front of the television or just happening to be in same room with them. I’m talking abut being involved and giving them uninterrupted attention. And you know what? When someone has a school or sporting event that is important, I get the time off no matter when or where it is to be there. I’m not sure that would be the case if I was working at the burger barn. I might never work an unpaid hour, but might be told to piss up a rope if wanted skip my shift at the fryer to coach a soccor game. Assuming I could afford the league fees.
OK. Different strokes. I’m certainly not interested in climbing up the corporate ladder. That said, my work ethic has kept me employed in downtimes, gotten me better jobs because of my reputation in the community and enabled me to accumulate wealth. Said wealth has enabled me to take amazing vacations that I would never have been able to afford otherwise and to buy a house in Santa Barbara which has turned out to be an incredible investment. This should allow me to retire early enough to really spend quality time with family. Plus I have a great job. All for putting in some extra hours when it was needed.
My father was a workaholic. He worked 80-90 hours a week every week whether he needed to or not. That’s way out of line and he barely got to see his kids grow up as a result of his behavior. On the other side there are people who leave at 5:00 on the dot and fuck the man for wanting to take five extra minutes of my time. There is a whole lot of middle ground in between that is reasonable and is a better long term strategy for improved quality of life. Who is the company going to keep if there are layoffs?
If CG worked for me, I’d give him a comp day for the extra commute. If it were me doing it and it were a one time thing, I wouldn’t mind at all. It’s just not that big a deal in my opinion and not even close to worthy of a whine.
And comp time is the way it normally works here, effectively. Work four ten hours days, then you could take a day off. It’s just that for some reason, this travel situation is different, apparently.