Things Have Changed

Starting a new job was not something I had planned on. I was pretty complacent at Race Street. I settled for what was handed to me and I settled comfortably for a little over ten years. I always knew that wasn't going to be my final resting place although at times it felt like it.

There were days where I sat at that desk and envisioned myself 20 years down the road sitting at that same desk, next to a much younger owner, with different visions for the company while I sat there in self-loathing and disgust that I had let my all my dreams and aspirations slip down the tiny drain of life. I didn't want to wake up in twenty years so blinded by routine and comfort and never trying to venture out and define myself in a career I was more satisfied in. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of upsides to the job of which I won't get into now, but over all it was a high stress job that I had grown weary of.

Then there were days where I absolutely loved my job. Although they were few, I still had them. They were my family. I hated them and I loved them, kinda like everything else in my life. But the time had come where everyday that I drove my to my job, usually at the same place everytime on the freeway I would say out loud how much I hated my job.

I felt like I was too young to already hate my job. To already be at a dead end position and stay there snuggly for the next 40 years or so. I refused to be that person. I prayed to God to help me. To put a job in my path that would be more fulfilling, more rewarding, and less stressful and He did.

I work somewhere else now. After ten years of wasting away at a company and I say wasting away because being the only Spanish speaker in a company where 50% of customers are Spanish speakers, a company where they knew they could count on me every holiday season to go back and work at their retail market for no extra bonus, and I couldn't even get offered 50 cents more to stay... I valued them more than they valued me... I cried my last day there. It was really hard for me to leave. I love them and I miss them sometimes.

My new job is quiet. I haven't been a new person at a job in over ten years. Finding my corner here, where I fit in, who I can talk to and trust, coming in a few minutes late & feeling ok about it, who's coffee cup am I stealing today, does my incessant typing annoy people here, buidling my bathroom confidence all over again, storing my lunch, who's parking spot am I taking, do they think I stink, do they think that I became comfortable too fast, do they think I am weird, or worth it?

I am excited, relieved, less stressed, and happy to be here. Happy to be in a different situation than I had been the last 10 years feeling like I can grow WITH a company and ready to do it. Here's to another 10 years of booty ploppin...