THE WORKPLACE

        In my generation i was brought up to believe that when you grew up, you graduated from high school,  got married and raised a family, the wife stayed at home to take care of the home and raise the kids. Just like the "mouse house" in my previous blog i would come to find out that was just another fantasy. My working career started when i was 16 yrs. old,  i have been a carhop, grocery store clerk, cashier, candy counter girl @ woolworth's store these were all accomplished while in high school. I married 2 yrs after graduating high school, prior to marriage i worked for illinois bell telephone co. downtown @ continental bank and a clerk in a cleaners.                                                             I was fortunate that i did not have to work after i married, i did not return to work until our one and only child was 14 yrs old, then the infamous mickey D's and the local library were blessed with my presence part time, i left those careers and went to work in a hot dog stand, the best job i ever had, i worked with two sisters whom by the way were irish and proud of that fact,they ran the place and the owner was a Chicago fireman, we didn't see him but maybe once or twice a week. I loved it when people asked "what do u do for a living?"  " I sling wienies and i love my job" was my response. Oh, the times we had there, the laughs, the camaraderie we shared, such fun !!!  I left that part of my career behind due to moving out of state. I sure do miss those days !!                                                              Living in a different state my career led me to working at a video store, another grocery store and another hot dog stand, mind you all these previous jobs were part time careers. Finally i moved onto full time work, jeez how grueling working and maintaining a home that is a tough nut to crack, but other women were doing it so could I. Working at wal-mart was a stressful job only due to the fact that the store manager was "HITLER's" grandson, he was a vicious and cruel young man especially to his dept. managers, he got his comeuppance though, he was fired for having an "illicit love affair" with an employee, whoops not allowed in such a family oriented store. I was so glad to see Karma intervene here. My next move was to a local hospital where i remained for 23 years until i retired.                                                                                                                                                                  Talk about politics and a soap opera, I couldn't decide which one dominated in this field. I was just thinking the other day how come I was never fired from this job, I moved around to several departments, medical records, admitting, lab and ended my career at a satellite center of the hospital. I got along very well with most of my co-workers, it was management where the trouble came in. Now mind you I have never been one to hold back, I have always spoke my mind, which has gotten me into a lot of trouble all my life, so that is where the conflicts came in. I have had good managers and bad ones, my error came when I told the one manager that she was a bad manager, I just did not and to this day still do not understand how some of these managers acquired their positions. Well i did find out that actually "sleeping around" did work for some, true statement, not gossip because I was the unfortunate soul that caught them "in the act". WTF do i do now, keep quiet, tell someone ? As it turned out I did not have to say anything the truth came out, now you think a thing like this would have been instant termination, they were both promoted, one to a supervisors position and the other to managing a department @ the hospital !!!  I KNOW, I KNOW, we who knew were completely 'GOBSMACKED', at this decision so now the new saying at work became " It's not who you know, it's who you blow". Of course only the truly bold would come up with this new verse.                 I have been "written up" reprimanded like a child many times in my 23 years here, some were well deserved, others not. I was a "good employee" even voted as "employee of the month" once. I very rarely called off, I was tardy hence the write-ups. Upon retirement i did get a pretty good pension which by the way this company did not contribute to. All they offered was companies you can go to to invest in, which i was grateful I did.                                                                                                The one manager I was cursed with still haunts me to this day, oil and water were we two, talk about a personality conflict.  OMG !  this woman was out to get me, she is the one i told directly she was a bad manager, I was watched by security to see where i parked, if i was not in the correct place it was to be reported to her so i could have my car towed and be written up for parking in the wrong place.  I was called into her office weekly sometimes more, not for my work performance but confronted by rumors she had heard about me talking about her or a fellow employee, I told her I have always told you of all people the truth and if a rumor is true i would admit it, all of the ones she confronted me with however were not, she would have mandatory department meetings on my day off, I was told if i did not show up for them I would be written up. She would have "pizza parties" for doing a good job in our department, of course it would be on my days off. She would always throw in  " You can always come in and join your co-workers if you wanted to". I told her only if it was mandatory would i show up for that. I never did. We had our final confrontation on a friday when i was leaving work she wanted me in her office when my shift was over, (mind you not on company time) she confronted me this time that she had heard I was talking bad about members of her family, I did take care of some of her relatives as patients, they were all very nice people and i was my usual professional self with them, i denied this allegation as well, then she threatened me, that was it, I told her i was tired of this harassment and I was going to Personnel on Monday. I told her I had documentation of all the times I felt I was called into her office unnecessarily and will give copies to personnel. I did what I said and was told we would have a meeting with all parties concerned. That meeting never came to fruition, however she left the company about 3 weeks after this incident she supposedly took on another position at another hospital, God help them.                                                         A lot of people who were in the upper echelon pretty much left their jobs early, retirement, illness, accepting another position, moving to another state that went on a lot in this area, We the peons knew the truth to most of the reasons why, my dad always said these incidents would not have been tolerated if there was a union. dad, always a union man.                                                                            My last few years of employment were blessed with 2 new managers, HITLER's granddaughters were these two peas in a pod.  The ironic thing here is that they were both co-workers who had no business being managers. Constant complaints from the employees to personnel about these two, alas to no avail.  They ran two different departments and I just don't understand with all the complaints against them how they still prevail ?  I keep in touch with co-workers, since i left 3 yrs ago two of them have retired early thanks to the granddaughters, they just couldn't take it anymore. I did have an exit interview (on paper of course) my words were not kind. I felt throughout my career there I gave my all , I gave "great service" as a devoted employee and what did I receive in return "Disservice". Upon my retirement I received nothing no thank you's, no good-bye's  hell, not even a party!!     That's all for now my 'SPECIAL READERS'    Ta-Ta for now !!