but, the real reason it sucks to be so far away from family during the holidays is you're typically the only one who doesn't take time off for travel, or because you have family in town.
hear me out.
if your job is anything like mine (and hopefully it isn't, for your sake) your bosses have no idea what they are doing, really, and mask that lack of knowledge by creating a culture of everything-has-to-be-done-now. just about every manager at my company is a Chicken Little -- only with their head cut off -- running around freaked out that this or that isn't done. so, weekends and late nights are typical. not for me, mind you, as i make it abundantly clear that i have a life outside of work. i leave the late nights and weekends for those who don't (and there are plenty).
i do work weekends and stay late when absolutely, positively necessary; which is rare. in fact, i am typically the first one in in the morning not merely to beat the traffic (which is one reason) but so i can leave early and not get "caught up" in the swirling morass of inanity that typically leads one to working late.
what does this have to do with holidays and being away from family? well, every year around this time i end up being one of only a handful (or less) of people who are at work. take Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) for instance. it was just me and my boss. and there was, of course, something so terribly important that absolutely had to be done ASAP that one of my coworkers was working on that i had to take over because she was off Wednesday. my boss, who has no life, knew that my family wasn't coming in, and that i wasn't going anywhere for the holiday, so, in light of the dire and pressing need of this thing getting done, created a situation where i had to work 11 hours and get out late. not a big deal except: it always happens to me (or those like me who are away from family). oh, and the thing i was working was, of course, not really that hot. it's just that, you know, the managers don't understand prioritizing. whenever anything is needed, it is needed now. despite the fact that what you are working on currently was needed yesterday. ends up you have 10 things you have to spread yourself between and all 10 are late.
anyway, the week between christmas and new years is always the worst. you can take 3 days of vacation and get 11 days off, or something like that. varies depending on the year. almost everyone does it. i won't. never do. i save my time for when it's not 4 degrees outside. but, i end up being the only one at work (with my boss, of course) and i end up having to stay late because what else have i got to do?
anyway. it would be best if the only reason it sucked being away from family during the holidays was because you missed them. sucks that you have to work for a bunch of incompetent assholes without lives who figure, since you're there at work, too, that you haven't a life either.
wrong!
7 comments:
I like the new banner with the typer!
And I know just what you mean about managers/bosses thinking that there's a FIRE THAT MUST BE PUT OUT NOW YES NOW DROP EVERYTHING! It was like that at my old place and not a day goes by that I'm not massively grateful that I had the sense to get out of there.
Sounds familiar ... except I don't have a life anymore and most of the time am happy to stay at work. Ha!
-- Glenn
Then there is the opposite kind of boss (similar result). This boss is Joe Cool Monday thru Friday until about 4:50pm on Friday and THEN they freak out and start demanding everything ASAP and you end up staying at work until 11pm on a Friday, because they don't know what they are doing. Oh and you probably have to come back Saturday because how can you get a whole weeks worth of work done between 4:50 and 11 on a Friday?
My advice?
Drink heavily. And if you already to that, then take up skiing ... even if it is only 4 degrees outside, you'd be amazed at how spending a few hours at 10,000 feet in the sun can bring you back to life, even if only temporarily.
It's funny...I always thought the opposite was true.
Like because I have to travel far away (even if I choose not to - they don't always have to know that) to see my family, I'm forced to take some extra time off to get to them, whereas people who see family locally, both can see them on a regular basis (so why should they leave work early or take extra days off) and also have plenty of time to get to them for whatever function has been planned...
Funny how the same problem can have two totally different solutions...odd.
kelly
(formerlly ninjasofloretto) :)
great points.
i never thought about your point, kelly. you're right. i notice it at my work, too. people who live next door to their parents take 2 weeks off for xmas so they can visit. visit who, for christ's sake?
hmmm...
Steven-
i drink heavily already. as for skiing, someone of my delicate and fragile build doesn't hurl himself off the slippery side of a mountain. plus, bum knee. the drinking does me well.
Jeff-
your boss sounds worse. i would lose my shit if my boss did that to me. fuck that. i prefer the kind who is freaked out always. you always know where you stand, then! :)
so Gina, are you saying i don't have any sense for not leaving my job? well, only friends can get away with telling us the truth, huh? ;)
Glenn-
get a life, man. though, really, it's not what it's cracked up to be. mine barely qualifies and it's fairly mundane.
I would say it's time for a new job, if you can find one. THe last straw at my old job SHOULD have been when I was royally chewed out for a misplaced comma within a simple form letter. Instead, it was when my boss gave me an ultimatum to shape up or ship out--she was a perfectionist buried in teeny tiny insignificant details (misplaced comma anyone?) and that's when I left. I don't regret it one bit. Good point on the time off, though. I have family who live only an hour away but I do take an extra day or two off because otherwise I can't get my chores done since they demand every spare minute of my time on the holidays. At least I'm loved.
Post a Comment