i finally got a piece of the pie...
So, this promotion thing is slowly starting to sink in... I've been wanting this job for four months, doing it on a part-time, interim basis, basically auditioning for it since November, and I'm still in a daze about actually, finally getting it.
I spoke to my arch-nemisis, I mean, my competition just now on the phone (he called to get my permission, I mean, feedback before putting another filing cabinet in my new office) and we had our now-that-it's-finally-over conversation. He congratulated me and then started spilling about the reasons he was given for not getting it. They were good reasons. They were the same reasons *I* would have given if I hadn't hired him. But it was still a little weird. He was very gracious about the whole thing, whereas I imagined that I might've walked into the middle of my workplace and commited hari-kari if I hadn't gotten the job. Which might explain why I was so stressed out over the weekend.
Anyway, there are a couple of things that I can't quite get used to: for one thing, I won't be working swing shift anymore. I've worked swing shift for almost the entire 6.7 years that I've worked at this place. I won't quite know what to do with myself when I have evenings off. EVERY EVENING OFF. I can hardly even imagine it.
Another thing is the fact that I'll be supervising people. Not just people: I'll be supervising people who were my peers yesterday. People who are my friends. That could be weird. Not to mention I have no idea how to be a supervisor. I'm actually planning to go Powell's City of Books today before work to try and find some self-help book about being a boss. I definitely need some guidance there...
And finally, and possibly strangest, I can't get my mind around the pay raise I'll be getting. I will be earning over a third MORE than I made last year. Take a third of what I made last year, add it to what I made last year (plus a tiny bit more for good measure) and that's what I'll make this year. Needless to say, this will be significantly more money than I have ever made in my life and I may very well feel like a rich person, however erroneous that feeling will be...
I remember an experience I had many years ago in Ohio. I heard a woman I didn't know very well exclaim to her friends, after getting a raise and getting her first post-raise paycheck, "I paid ALL MY BILLS out of ONE PAYCHECK!" I had no idea what she even meant or why she was so excited until my savvy friend filled me in: she got paid twice a month, and her income was now so good that she could pay all her bills with one of her checks, leaving the second check of the month wide open. I was astounded.
That's how I feel now. I will be able to pay all my bills from one paycheck (more or less). I still can't get my mind around it. It feels like so much money to me, but if I put it in perspective I realize it only seems like a lot because I've been living on so little for so long. For example, it's half what my (five years YOUNGER) brother has been making as a computer programmer. And it's just a fraction of what Waspy is making at her big law firm. But still... wow... it just seems like a lot.
Anyway, I know it's supposed to be taboo to talk about money, but I think that's part of what's wrong with people in this country. We don't talk about it, about the disparities and the way your income, or lack thereof, gives you a completely different experience of life than a person whose income is higher or lower. What I take for granted making my old wage, somebody else has to struggle for and what I struggle for, somebody else takes for granted.
Oh whatever, I'm just rambling. I need to go eat some lunch and then start making a list of all the stuff I need to buy now that I'll actually have some funds rolling in. New glasses, new clothes for work, new shower curtain, new shoes...
I spoke to my arch-nemisis, I mean, my competition just now on the phone (he called to get my permission, I mean, feedback before putting another filing cabinet in my new office) and we had our now-that-it's-finally-over conversation. He congratulated me and then started spilling about the reasons he was given for not getting it. They were good reasons. They were the same reasons *I* would have given if I hadn't hired him. But it was still a little weird. He was very gracious about the whole thing, whereas I imagined that I might've walked into the middle of my workplace and commited hari-kari if I hadn't gotten the job. Which might explain why I was so stressed out over the weekend.
Anyway, there are a couple of things that I can't quite get used to: for one thing, I won't be working swing shift anymore. I've worked swing shift for almost the entire 6.7 years that I've worked at this place. I won't quite know what to do with myself when I have evenings off. EVERY EVENING OFF. I can hardly even imagine it.
Another thing is the fact that I'll be supervising people. Not just people: I'll be supervising people who were my peers yesterday. People who are my friends. That could be weird. Not to mention I have no idea how to be a supervisor. I'm actually planning to go Powell's City of Books today before work to try and find some self-help book about being a boss. I definitely need some guidance there...
And finally, and possibly strangest, I can't get my mind around the pay raise I'll be getting. I will be earning over a third MORE than I made last year. Take a third of what I made last year, add it to what I made last year (plus a tiny bit more for good measure) and that's what I'll make this year. Needless to say, this will be significantly more money than I have ever made in my life and I may very well feel like a rich person, however erroneous that feeling will be...
I remember an experience I had many years ago in Ohio. I heard a woman I didn't know very well exclaim to her friends, after getting a raise and getting her first post-raise paycheck, "I paid ALL MY BILLS out of ONE PAYCHECK!" I had no idea what she even meant or why she was so excited until my savvy friend filled me in: she got paid twice a month, and her income was now so good that she could pay all her bills with one of her checks, leaving the second check of the month wide open. I was astounded.
That's how I feel now. I will be able to pay all my bills from one paycheck (more or less). I still can't get my mind around it. It feels like so much money to me, but if I put it in perspective I realize it only seems like a lot because I've been living on so little for so long. For example, it's half what my (five years YOUNGER) brother has been making as a computer programmer. And it's just a fraction of what Waspy is making at her big law firm. But still... wow... it just seems like a lot.
Anyway, I know it's supposed to be taboo to talk about money, but I think that's part of what's wrong with people in this country. We don't talk about it, about the disparities and the way your income, or lack thereof, gives you a completely different experience of life than a person whose income is higher or lower. What I take for granted making my old wage, somebody else has to struggle for and what I struggle for, somebody else takes for granted.
Oh whatever, I'm just rambling. I need to go eat some lunch and then start making a list of all the stuff I need to buy now that I'll actually have some funds rolling in. New glasses, new clothes for work, new shower curtain, new shoes...
posted by reasonably prudent poet at 12:07 PM
2 Comments:
congratulations! being a supervisor is definitely a learning, a humbling experience. it's been a while since i've been there but i can't believe how much smarter i would be about it now compared to the first time around. i'm sure you'll do great though, and oh i SO hear about the paycheck thing. i remember the first time that happened for me too. so nice.
Congrats on your delicious piece of the pie!! That's great about your promotion and the extra jack. Well done you!
I wish I had some supervisory experience to share, but I've always been a plebe, working for the man. Or my wife. But I don't think her way of motivating me would be considered appropriate in your workplace.
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