I was provided a form to “self evaluate” a week before the interview. I was honest in my answers. My concerns were addressed. I was treated like a human deserving of respect. I self-evaluated as “meeting expectations,” and my supervisor had me down as “exceeded expectations.” I got a raise, and while I would have preferred more, $25.50/hour at least leaves me with a little left over for savings every month.
I was treated much better than I was accustomed to.
As the day progressed I kept thinking back to my previous job, and how any critique or concern led to a stern “you be careful what you say to me” or “that is none of your concern,” and an excuse to mistreat employees and deny equipment requests.
I got angry thinking about how I was bullied and mistreated for years. I was enraged that our culture protects sociopathic monsters like my previous boss even after people literally die following his orders and trusting his judgment. I couldn't sleep; every time I would calm down and start to doze another incident would come to mind waking up my newfound rage again.
With only a few hours of fitful sleep and anger filled dreams I didn't wake to my alarms. And my new workplace was just fine with me being a little late.