musing on priorities
Dec. 17th, 2008 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
floatingleafSo last Friday was the company-wide annual holiday lunch at a luxurious restaurant, with a gift lottery, after which we were dismissed for the rest of the afternoon. And today was another holiday lunch at the office, just for the operations department (about 20 people in all), with food ordered in and more games and prizes afterwards. And we were also (more unexpectedly this time) dismissed for the rest of the day. Even though everyone will still put down "8 hours worked" on their timesheet.
I may bitch and moan about the shitty pay, but all other things considered, this is the nicest workplace I've ever been in. The management is actually human, and they take good care of their employees. Many people have worked there for most of their lives, so they know each other really well and there is an unmistakable family atmosphere (they gossip and bicker like siblings too, but there isn't any real malice in it - not that I can detect, anyway). There is no real stress, not for long periods of time - even when we have a lot of work to catch up on, we all know that we will be allowed to take as much time as we need to do it right, because doing the job properly and with care is more important than speed. And that, in itself, makes it a perfect workplace for someone like me. Plus, I really like my coworkers (well, most of them, anyway) and enjoy spending time with them (back at the mortgage company - the one that paid me so well - official company lunches & dinners were a chore I could barely stand to put up with; I felt like all those people ever talked about was either money or baseball, and I was bored to tears most of the time). Not to even mention the fact that nowhere else in creation could I possibly leave my desk for a half hour (not during lunchtime, but to take a nap on the toilet seat afterwards if I'm feeling groggy) and not have anyone notice, let alone say a word. It's happened many times, and I've seen other people disappear too (going out for a smoke, walking around the office, chatting in the breakroom etc.) - and management never ever mentions it at all. I am frequently late, and my boss never said a word to me about it. Sometimes I will stay a bit longer if I'm late, and sometimes I won't - which, again, doesn't really matter, because by that time everyone else is usually gone anyway (we have flexible hours, so most people start early - I am the official not-a-morning-person on my team, lol). So, in short, for most of the time I can feel fully relaxed and utterly comfortable. How many people can say they feel that way at work?... And to me, this is totally worth much, much more than money. So when I think about it, I come to the conclusion that I'd much rather learn to carefully watch my expenses and cut back on some superfluous stuff than try to find another job just to get that extra 1-2 bucks per hour. Even though the latter is probably what many people (including my parents, sister and a few close friends) would advise me to do. *ponders*
I may bitch and moan about the shitty pay, but all other things considered, this is the nicest workplace I've ever been in. The management is actually human, and they take good care of their employees. Many people have worked there for most of their lives, so they know each other really well and there is an unmistakable family atmosphere (they gossip and bicker like siblings too, but there isn't any real malice in it - not that I can detect, anyway). There is no real stress, not for long periods of time - even when we have a lot of work to catch up on, we all know that we will be allowed to take as much time as we need to do it right, because doing the job properly and with care is more important than speed. And that, in itself, makes it a perfect workplace for someone like me. Plus, I really like my coworkers (well, most of them, anyway) and enjoy spending time with them (back at the mortgage company - the one that paid me so well - official company lunches & dinners were a chore I could barely stand to put up with; I felt like all those people ever talked about was either money or baseball, and I was bored to tears most of the time). Not to even mention the fact that nowhere else in creation could I possibly leave my desk for a half hour (not during lunchtime, but to take a nap on the toilet seat afterwards if I'm feeling groggy) and not have anyone notice, let alone say a word. It's happened many times, and I've seen other people disappear too (going out for a smoke, walking around the office, chatting in the breakroom etc.) - and management never ever mentions it at all. I am frequently late, and my boss never said a word to me about it. Sometimes I will stay a bit longer if I'm late, and sometimes I won't - which, again, doesn't really matter, because by that time everyone else is usually gone anyway (we have flexible hours, so most people start early - I am the official not-a-morning-person on my team, lol). So, in short, for most of the time I can feel fully relaxed and utterly comfortable. How many people can say they feel that way at work?... And to me, this is totally worth much, much more than money. So when I think about it, I come to the conclusion that I'd much rather learn to carefully watch my expenses and cut back on some superfluous stuff than try to find another job just to get that extra 1-2 bucks per hour. Even though the latter is probably what many people (including my parents, sister and a few close friends) would advise me to do. *ponders*
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Date: 2008-12-28 12:09 am (UTC)