Resigned my job today

Been a long time coming, finally came to an end this morning. Damn near 4 years at this factory, they beat the care outta me a long time ago. Last place tried like hell for over 27 years but I never caved, I cared until the end. For the last two years I've only been doing what I'm told, putting the hours in and collecting a paycheck.

I've been cheating myself. At the start of this year I decided I want my life back.

I was only in this maintenance gang 40 days when 4 outta 6 went out on sick leave, only two were legit. Us two remaining covered three shifts, seven days/ week for three months, not one person ever said thanks for steppin' up. Nobody ever questioned the SL scammers, plant manager actually called 'em his 'frequent fliers'. I shoulda berkeleying known then. I've routinely worked 4 weeks straight before a day off, came in whenever they called for 12's or doubles. Ate a ton 'o E36 M3 too that wasn't mine, they'll throw you under a rock just to watch ya crawl out from underneath just for the sport of it. There's plenty, plenty more... I could write a berkeleying book on this zoo.

Job search was dry for months then a couple relative trade jobs came up, I applied. Meantime, outta nowhere the facility manager from a job I interviewed for six plus months ago called to see if I was still interested. Hell yea. Second interview went well and I took the job on the spot. Paperwork and background checks ensued. Yesterday I received my tentative start date... in seven days. I would normally provide two weeks notice. A buddy left there a month ago and used one week plus his remaining week vacation. That was my plan... at first.

I'd have a short week anyway w/ my start date, talked w/ my boss this morning about it, she wasn't crazy about it. They could cover it as they pulled two outta our gang and put 'em in production, they put 'em back in the shop for vacations or special projects so they ain't hurtin at all. I reminded her about the SL coverage, SL scammers, coming in whenever they called no questions asked... yea, I berkeleyin' stepped up... well above and beyond. I fell in the trap of "ya got a good horse, run 'em".

I needed some time to get things done around here before the start date and winter is coming on fast, no time for nothing as this old workplace has forever owned my ass, not good for my health at all either. Debated all night to do 'what's right' but in the end decided I'd resign on the spot, no lookin' back. Admitted, I had a lot of resentment of eating E36 M3 for four years that brought me to this decision.

Told the new boss I'd be there for the start date and that I had resigned. He wasn't overly concerned about my resignation although he could be.

Signed my exit papers, loaded my stuff up and got the berkeley out.

In reply to fasted58:

Good for you. Best of luck in the new gig. May it not be "meet the new boss--same as the old boss."

Sounds like you made the right decision for the right reasons.

Best of luck to you in your new endeavors!

Mind sharing what industry you (were) in? That style of abuse in maintenance departments is rampant in some industries.

Good luck! There are reasons tool boxes have wheels and you were in a position to use 'em!

fasted58 wrote: ...There's plenty, plenty more... I could write a berkeleying book on this zoo.

You should write a book on it too. Catharsis, and get paid twice :)

GSmith wrote:

fasted58 wrote: ...There's plenty, plenty more... I could write a berkeleying book on this zoo.

You should write a book on it too. Catharsis, and get paid twice :)

I started a book about my retail years, but I realized it was far too angry to be appealing to readers.

Good. I dont have it nearly as bad as that but I've been pushed more than I would like several times, enough to make me consider cutting loose. Im still here though.

good for you, FastEd...

There are days I wish I could quit this zoo. I still love the job itself, and I get a lot of satisfaction from it.. but my co-workers are slowly killing me..

You've been covering their asses for years. You don't owe them an extra week or two. Good luck with the new gig!

In reply to fasted58:Sounds like dead man walking syndrome, welcome back.

good luck with the new job … hope it's everything you expect it to be

TRoglodyte wrote: In reply to fasted58:Sounds like dead man walking syndrome, welcome back.

Yea, I was the dead man walkin'.

Thanks

The fun part comes when they call you a week later begging you to either come back or work part time to get them out of a jam.

I've said if I won some big, stupid lottery, that I'd quit my two jobs and get my job back as a robot working for Sam's Club...just so I could quit again.

GSmith wrote:

fasted58 wrote: ...There's plenty, plenty more... I could write a berkeleying book on this zoo.

You should write a book on it too. Catharsis, and get paid twice :)

Been tempted to start a "that co-worker thread" here.

Pretty damn sure there are some great stories out there.

I have personally found that if you are willing to work 500 hours a month for no extra pay, someone will be more than willing to demand that you do that, then be pissed off when you want to go home after not having slept for 2 or 3 days. "There's still work to do." "berkeley you."

No good deed goes unpunished.

Going the extra distance once insures that it will be expected the next time.

Sounds like you made the right choice. Best of luck with the new job.

As an aside: the Laziest member of our crew had a "meeting" with the boss yesterday. It was all laid out on the table how he is the least productive member of the crew, spends a lot of time on his phone or just chatting with people, and has the most amount of untapped potential. Rather than walking away from this meeting trying to figure out how to improve himself, he got all pissed that he is being "picked on"

It does not help that our boss held me up as being the guy who gets all my work done quickly and then sees what else needs to be done. Sorry, I like to stay busy, makes the day go by faster.

even if it's a union protectionist job, there ought to be some way to get rid of him

wbjones wrote: even if it's a union protectionist job, there ought to be some way to get rid of him

Just weld his tool box closed, there will be no productivity lost because the time others have to take to fix his berkeleyups is eliminated.

The old company was big on employee empowerment, when added w/ union protectionism means we're all equal, yea right.

I was a Journeyman when half the shop was still E36 M3ting in diapers. I was the only Journeyman in the shop (mandatory papers for outside hire), other outside hires got a sweetheart deal w/ a note from their boss that said they done pipe work. Trainees bid on the job just to get off the floor for six months or so, take a break i.e. then go back to their old job. What a berkeleying racket, didn't help our shop at all. Sick leave scammers young or old would shop-a-doc and get outta work for months at a time while the honest guys had to cover w/ OT or the shop ran short. This was all done w/ a wink and a nod.

Then there was the "you do that better than me so YOU do it". We all have to know the work in our job requirements but some wouldn't even want to learn because somebody else could do it. We're all equal right?

Equal my ass.

And they wondered why I became disillusioned.

mad_machine wrote: It does not help that our boss held me up as being the guy who gets all my work done quickly and then sees what else needs to be done. Sorry, I like to stay busy, makes the day go by faster.

All that does is let everyone else know who they can pile their work on.