So, I have a job. It's not a bad job, and it's probably the best job I've ever had. They have a lot of policies that piss me off too, but others have been good.
But I don't want to be stuck here at this job forever. I've basically reached as far up the totem pole I can without becoming management, and I do not want to be management. I want to be able to progress forward and increase my earnings, if only because I fear my current level of income will only be sustainable for so long what with. Well. Ya know. The world we live in right now.
But the primary thing holding me back is my chronic pain. My current employer has a pretty generous PTO policy. I gain it quick, I get 28 days a year, and as long as I get an okay from my team leader I can use the PTO for literally any reason I need to take off. At prior employers, the attendance policies have been a lot stricter, and I found myself often in poor standing despite top tier performance only because I'd have a pain day so bad I couldn't hardly move every month or two.
I've been in good standing the whole time at my current company, because I haven't accrued “points” or disciplinary notes, because communicating with my manager is enough here.
But of course, that basically means if I get any job anywhere else, or heck if I move to the wrong department within my company, I'll be screwed. Like I'm throwing myself into the lion's den to be eaten to bits.
I feel completely trapped. And I don't want to seem whiny, I'm grateful I have a decent job at all, and I know I'm immensely lucky for finding a situation where I'm not punished for my pain issues. But I guess because I know how rare and strange this is, it just makes me feel even more like I'm just gonna be here forever, and it's gonna tie me down to a city I hate and want to leave for years to come, and I'll never be any more financially sound.