Work Ethic

I've always had a strong work ethic. I'm not sure exactly why. It could have been that my parents instilled it in me, or maybe I picked it up along the way toward adulthood from various sources, or perhaps it's just something some people hold dear no matter what they saw or learned in youth. The fact is that I work hard and always have, unless I was being abused by a manager or employer, at which point I would tend to become unruly or outright violent (which is something I never learned, but which is from my intellectual makeup).

At any rate, I took a part-time job not long after I retired. The purpose of the job was to save enough money so that when Carole and I travel we will have enough cash to travel in style, instead of just going where we want without any gilding of the lilly. For example, when we go to Italy I want us to be able to see and do things we wouldn't have the means to do if not for the extra money I save by working part-time. Yeah, we can still go to Europe without the job, but we'll have to be budget-conscious most of the time if not for the padding in the bank account the job affords.

However, I am beginning to think the job was a mistake. And for this reason:

Because I have a strong work ethic, I tend to labor more intensely than most workers. And, as a letter carrier I once knew would say: "Managers will ride the good horse."

And so it is. When I hired on, it was with the clear understanding from my employer (a large corporation) that I am indeed retired and that this job is only part-time. We settled on three-day workweeks and generally seven hours per day. However, because they soon realized that I am beyond competent, they began to abuse the situation. Sometimes they would ask if I could work more hours, but sometimes they would just schedule me more than three days without checking with me. Four days, they would say, because of a tough labor situation. And then it was five-day workweeks because they'd unexpectedly lost some employees. And I complained, but still showed up for work on time and put in the hours.

Yeah, I fucked up. I should have refused the extra days and I should have been more forceful in my attitudes toward the unwanted work.

Finally, I got it across to management that I wasn't going to work the load they were piling on my 62-year-old shoulders. They finally agreed to stop it, but not before scheduling me to work a five-day week, followed by a four-day week. As I look at the future schedule for the rest of the month I am back to either two or three-day workweeks.

That's better...but I'm starting to think I made a mistake in even working part-time, at all. Maybe it's time to find another way to earn some extra traveling cash besides punching a clock two or three days a week. Or just say "fuck it" and live with my regular pensions and savings which are sufficient for living and traveling. I mean...why'd I retire anyway if I'm just going to be in another abusive labor-management situation?