It’s kind of weird. I’ve been working since I could get working papers. I started at the mall at 15, branched out into the corporate world after high school, worked with the New Jersey legal system, worked in education and back into an office setting where I have spent the last six years. In two days I will be done with the working world. At least for now. Mike and I agreed that once we got married I would no longer have to work. God willing we’d be starting a family and then I’d be a stay-at-home mother. It honestly bothered me when we first discussed it. I’m used to having a job. I’m used to having a paycheck. I’m used to having a routine. Then the news of the layoff came about. I found that I wasn’t that upset about it. Not at all. In fact, I was overjoyed.
See, I used to enjoy my job. I work with good people (although they have their flaws, they’re only human). We all get along. However, there’s no incentive. Raises have stopped – although the economy can be to blame for that. We get time off, but it’s not enough. Policies are never followed – it’s like a free-for-all. There’s no room for growth – it’s been told to our faces. We’re under-paid and under-appreciated. Still we all show up for work while there’s blatant favoritism that we have to sit back and accept. Why? Why else? We need the paycheck.
My job wasn’t so miserable up until the last year or so. The economy took a dive and people weren’t buying into the electronics industry like they were. We were turning people over for collections, getting bankruptcy notices and still somehow staying afloat ourselves. But with little sales came little revenue and the books started to hurt. Working in the accounts receivable office, my daily duties started to dwindle. Sure, at first it was great. I got paid to do nothing! But how much of doing nothing can you stand before it becomes exhausting? I knew I was going to be leaving soon enough so I stuck it out. I sent my resume out to companies in the meantime, but I wasn’t getting any bites. So I’ve been biding my time until I either turned in my two weeks to become a housewife and mother or was laid off. The layoffs came first.
Like a blessing in disguise, it got Mike and I moving on our wedding preparations. We have been engaged for four months, but hadn’t really planned anything. We still don’t have a date, but we will be applying for a marriage license next week. I’ll need insurance. I’ll need to do something with my life. I had obvious concerns about being unemployed, but it opened a whole new door for me that I’m entirely grateful for. I’ll collect unemployment, find little ways to make some extra cash and embark on my journey as Mrs. H. hopefully before the summer ends. Mike doesn’t have a problem with me taking the summer off so I intend to make this the best summer ever. Hopefully I can discover the hidden happiness that has been sheltered away by a daily routine of keying numbers, sending e-mails and making collection phone calls.
I have two days left and I can’t help feeling like I did back in school. You know, when it’s the last week of school and you are entirely over-anxious for the school year to end so you can start your summer. That’s how I’m feeling right now. Let’s head to the beach! After all, beginning September I could be living a whole new life. I could be Mrs. H., wife and hopeful mother.
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