Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!

After being told that I would be reduced to a one day work week, I put a shout out on facebook so that my 11 friends there might alert me to possible job opportunities. My brother responded immediately and offered me a job with a new business that he and his wife are starting. They already have a very successful business and are expanding into a related field. I will be handling their online sales and marketing.
(BTW, I’d love for my readers to visit http://highresimaging.etsy.com and http://highresimaging.etsy.com).

I’ll tell you all more about the new job soon. I explained to my brother about the possibility that I might have the opportunity to continue working at the auction house one morning per week to assist with their weekly events for a really high wage. Although he is offering me a very good wage, he can’t compete with $75 for 2 or 3 hours of work. So, he agreed to give me that morning off each week.

So, having secured the new job, I waited for an appropriate moment when the ladies in the office had gathered about toward the end of the day, and I made my announcement. "Well, ladies, I have accepted a position with another company." I expected that my boss would have one of her classic dramatic-heart-attack-jaw-dropping-shock-and-surprise moments. Instead, I got no response from anyone. They all just stared blankly as if it meant nothing to them. After the silence became awkward, one gal finally said very half-hearted, "well, good for you." Then my boss mumbled in careless agreement, "yeah, good for you" after which she changed the subject to the ring-tone on her new cell phone. I managed to utter a few polite words of goodbye to everyone before leaving. The only explanation that I can think of is that the HR director had already notified them, but I hadn’t seen the usual gossip train travel through the office.

The conversation that I had with the HR director earlier that morning was ridiculous. I told her that I had taken another job and would only continue to work the auction event if Corporate approved the pay rate adjustment. She snapped back with, "Well, they’re not going to make a decision immediately," and then threatened, "if you don’t show up next week you’ll terminate your own employment." I said, "Well, it makes no difference to me, since I have already replaced this income. But I made an arrangement with my new employer to accommodate you. I will only do so under the terms we’ve discussed. So hopefully, for your sake, Corporate will respond in a timely manner." She was very rude, but I tried to be very matter of fact and flippant about it. She was still trying to wield my employment as a weapon, forgetting that she had just whittled said weapon down to nothing by reducing my income to a measly day’s wage per week.

I was certain that I’d never hear from her and did not plan on attending the event the following week. But the night before the event, I received a frantic phone message claiming that Corporate was going to approve of the higher pay rate afterall. They were desperate to have me cover my usual position. I would just have to finish out the pay period under the current pay arrangement, and then I would have things my way. The HR director even left her personal cell phone number so that I could contact her with an answer after business hours regarding the matter.

So, I am now working two jobs. And my new job is 3 minutes from my home! And I didn’t even have to job hunt! Having my cake and eating it too!