The Perfect Storm #TheEmployerIsAlwaysRight?
If there is anything I've learned as a parent, it's that life doesn't give a damn about "plans". I've always been a person whose life is built around routines. Needless to say my journey has given me OCD. The biggest reason for my career success is built around routines. Making sure all of the "cogs in the machine" are moving the way they're supposed to, day in and day out. Consistency and growth will get you there. That's what our world has taught me. You work hard, you'll get recognized, you'll eventually make it. All too often, what we share with our family and friends is the sunshine and rainbows and not the storm. In fact, it's how we weather the storm that challenges us to be better...
...So, sometime soon, I'll get a chance to share this story with my children. All they know ever since we moved out of the city is that mom and dad work a lot so that they can eat and be in a safer environment than they were in 2 years ago. We plan everything out. Over the summer we planned and prepared to have a child as a family; Just as we would plan to sweep, mop, and do dishes after dinner.
In early March, the anxiety and excitement are building rapidly as each day passes because Alex was set to be born around months end [He actually came a week early on the 21st]. Planning for his arrival was nerve wracking enough by itself, let alone working 45-50 hours a week and worrying about how soon I should come back to work after "paternity leave". As a [restaurant] manager, you play a pretty big role in how the business runs. I always have been the type of person to worry about what I could do better from day to day with regards to my career, so much so that there were times where I would come in on off days sometimes to help for an hour or two because I felt I could've done something a little bit better the night before or I didn't have enough time to prep a few things so I'd come and help out. At my restaurant, I feel like we had pretty decent communication with each other. So we could plan out expectations for certain shifts. I liked that.
So early in March we had a shift I was given where I knew I'd be short staffed on a Saturday night. No biggie. I've dealt with plenty situations like this. So, I made sure I was prepared mentally. As expected in a mall on Saturday it was busy. Even with us being short staffed, we handled things fairly well even with our wait times being high. I had half of the amount of employees I would've had during lunch, when we had the same amount of sales that we did over lunch for 8 hours in a row. We were missing a manager, and a delivery driver(s), and we had a few issues with our delivery computer not displaying orders; our team did awesome given the circumstances. That day came and went. I thought nothing of it. Do work, get your money, go home...::repeat::
You work hard [enough], you'll get recognized, you'll eventually make it...
...9 weeks ago, that probably would be some bs you'd hear me tell my kids or a colleague. Today? Nah, it's that type of nonsense that creates a sense of entitlement that doesn't bode well to preparing you for reality.
...So, sometime soon, I'll get a chance to share this story with my children. I'll get to tell them what I did on that night to make sure that the restaurant could run the best it could with the available personnel. I'll also get to tell them that even with all of my effort that night and lack of accountability from some members of my management team, that 3 days later I lost my job. I will definitely let them know, given the circumstances...I would make the same decision that costed me my job a second time.
To Be Continued...
#PhantomDad
...So, sometime soon, I'll get a chance to share this story with my children. All they know ever since we moved out of the city is that mom and dad work a lot so that they can eat and be in a safer environment than they were in 2 years ago. We plan everything out. Over the summer we planned and prepared to have a child as a family; Just as we would plan to sweep, mop, and do dishes after dinner.
In early March, the anxiety and excitement are building rapidly as each day passes because Alex was set to be born around months end [He actually came a week early on the 21st]. Planning for his arrival was nerve wracking enough by itself, let alone working 45-50 hours a week and worrying about how soon I should come back to work after "paternity leave". As a [restaurant] manager, you play a pretty big role in how the business runs. I always have been the type of person to worry about what I could do better from day to day with regards to my career, so much so that there were times where I would come in on off days sometimes to help for an hour or two because I felt I could've done something a little bit better the night before or I didn't have enough time to prep a few things so I'd come and help out. At my restaurant, I feel like we had pretty decent communication with each other. So we could plan out expectations for certain shifts. I liked that.
So early in March we had a shift I was given where I knew I'd be short staffed on a Saturday night. No biggie. I've dealt with plenty situations like this. So, I made sure I was prepared mentally. As expected in a mall on Saturday it was busy. Even with us being short staffed, we handled things fairly well even with our wait times being high. I had half of the amount of employees I would've had during lunch, when we had the same amount of sales that we did over lunch for 8 hours in a row. We were missing a manager, and a delivery driver(s), and we had a few issues with our delivery computer not displaying orders; our team did awesome given the circumstances. That day came and went. I thought nothing of it. Do work, get your money, go home...::repeat::
You work hard [enough], you'll get recognized, you'll eventually make it...
...9 weeks ago, that probably would be some bs you'd hear me tell my kids or a colleague. Today? Nah, it's that type of nonsense that creates a sense of entitlement that doesn't bode well to preparing you for reality.
...So, sometime soon, I'll get a chance to share this story with my children. I'll get to tell them what I did on that night to make sure that the restaurant could run the best it could with the available personnel. I'll also get to tell them that even with all of my effort that night and lack of accountability from some members of my management team, that 3 days later I lost my job. I will definitely let them know, given the circumstances...I would make the same decision that costed me my job a second time.
To Be Continued...
#PhantomDad
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