Antiwork

So I took a part time gig at a drive through coffee shop to earn a little extra money and to learn a new skill. I have been working there for a few weeks at this point. I arrived at work in the morning when it's still dark outside and am told by the manager that I'm going to be a “runner” today. The runner goes out with a tablet and takes order from cars that are in line at the drive thru. They do not have a speaker system. Did I mention it's about 6° outside and I don't have a jacket, hat or gloves! I tell the manager this and she dismissed it saying ” you won't be outside long”. I proceeded to go and take orders outside in little more than a T-shirt for 30min. My hands were numb and ears hurt and I could not stop…

Back in early January the company I work for did our annual reviews. After working many long days and rolling out 4 new systems for our network along with a core conversion I was expecting a decent raise. Well it was weak, $1800 for the year I was not happy, well nobody in my Dept was happy (boss even apologized saying I know it’s not much). I just sucked it up signed off on it, then went into my office and started submitting my résumé. I was very quickly taking phone interviews in the first week. After 2 weeks I was approaching offer territory so I went into my bosses office and told them “I’m looking for a new job” laid out why and how much my offers were (my boss and I are friends so I figured I’d be decent and not leave them high and dry). After our…

I made 16.20 and hour. I turned down jobs that offered 26 an hour because I don't like 2nd shift. Which that job was. My job let's me go to interviews and I told them about electricians union I would be making 38 an hour in 5 years. The great thing about my current job is I live where I work….so zero travel. On my annual review a week ago I had high reviews from my supervisor and manager. I figured I might as well give it a shot and say on it that I want 2.50 an hour raise from inflation and good work ethic. I expected a 50 cent raise. I got my check today and now i am making 18 an hour. Maybe i should of asked for more lol? There is always next annual review I guess. I have gotten raises a lot from this job…

The whole “we value all staff, everyone has a valuable contribution to make” shtick sounds really good until you're sat down in front of HR and senior leadership with carefully sad faces and told your position is being eliminated. “It's not a reflection of your work.” Well obviously it's not. I'm smart, have a ton of experience, worked damn hard and produced results. And I'm not the only one being sent on their merry way. I'm in my late 40s. I don't have the energy right now to start all over again. But here we are. It's all really such bullshit. I just needed to unload. Thanks for listening, companions in suffering.

I have worked in web development for 25 years. I've worked for single employers, and I've worked in agencies (working with dozens of companies). I have interacted with decision makers at every level. The one conclusion I can make from all of that… Nobody knows what they're doing. The most successful companies are simply the ones who screw up the least. I'm sure if you spend 30 seconds thinking about it, you could come up with dozens of examples from your careers that brilliantly illustrate that point. In my current position I had tried to make things better. I cared too much. I tried to ensure that all of our data was correct despite being given garbage. I fought with other departments to get the right information. Railed against lack of procedure. All that led to was stress. I have since learned to listen the above rule. I can't get…