Four Things - Day 6

I thank my wife, Robin, from "At Four O'Clock" for starting this.

Day 6: Four Memories from the past Four Years

1. Not all memories are good.  We all have them...those dreaded horrible times that stick in your mind and eat away at you.  I have one that I will always remember because it, at the time, made me feel like a failure in so many ways.  I was in a management position at my job, which I enjoyed, and I was just back from an on the job injury that had me out for a month.  There was so much that had NOT been done while I was out.  Paperwork, organization, paperwork, staffing, paperwork, stocking, and, oh ya, paperwork.  All of, not a bit of it was done.  I was told and it was also implied that my direct supervisor was supposed to manage all this while I was out.  I expected it to be done half assed at least but not a bit had been done.  I know that I should have confronted her, but my job was my livelihood and I was afraid of the confrontation backfiring and me losing my job.  I had been with this company for a few years and I happy that I was working when so many others were having difficulties even finding work. So, I sucked it up and tried to catch it up.

To no avail. Three days after I was back...(how does one get current on everything that has piled up over a month in just three days without being on salary?)...my department was reviewed by the district auditor and we received a 12% score.  That was the lowest in the store's history. (And before anyone asks, yes, the auditor knew I was out for a month and no the manager above me did not get penalized.)  I knew my job was history, but being stubborn, I hung on and after three weeks, I thought I was in the clear.

I was wrong.  I organized a meeting with my department which is supposed to be done monthly, and got everyone in my department to agree to certain things which required reporting to me about duties performed and actions taken.  I made myself the supervisor by putting myself responsible for the department fully at that meeting and made sure everyone knew it.  I was trying to get back to the way it was before I was injured.  Immediately after the meeting, my store manager called me into the office along with my direct supervisor and we had a private meeting where I was told that my duties were no longer needed as I had failed with the department utterly.  I was to stunned to speak, to fight back, to say anything really.  He kept me on though but with a huge step down in position and pay.  I felt like a moron facing my department coming out of that meeting because it was just 30 minutes earlier I was making them all agree to get back on track and report to me as before...and here I was, below them in title and pay scale.

I did as I always did though.  I sucked it up and moved on.  I showed up for work in my new position, did my job, went home, rinsed and repeated.  I was devastated both mentally and, in some ways, psychologically, however, and it showed to my wife...which I regretted.  But she supported me and was my true hero in that she never lost faith in me and my abilities.  I bounced back eventually and soon worked back into management.  The pay was not where I was before but it was still better than what I made otherwise.  

I learned a lot about me and my work, my belief in my company and the strength of my wife and myself in that time.  While this memory is not the best memory I have, it is a memory that serves to remind me of what I have and value it so much more.  Not only that, it also is a stark reminder that no matter what you do, you have to do for yourself and yours first and foremost.  Don't hold  back if you feel you are wronged.  If I had said something maybe things would have turned out different...but in reality, I am now glad at how they turned out.

I am back in the same position I was at before, but at a different location.  I am more confident of my abilities and my work than ever...and my wife is still my staunchest and most avid supporter.

(source)

2. Meeting my wife again.  I can't say it enough.  God was definitely in our lives when He introduced us the first time.  Then, after two years, He had us meet again.  The full story is here on my wife's blog about what happened to get us together. The best memory of that time, however, was not just this, it was what happened on one particular day.  I had gone to Texas to visit with a relative (before plans were made for me to move there) and when I got back, I had searched the store for a few days to try and find Robin again.  Just seeing her made me feel good, even though, at the time, I thought she would have nothing to do with me.  After not finding her and being afraid to ask around about her, I figured that she had just quit or was let go for some reason while I had been in Texas.  

Then, one day, I was standing at the door talking to another associate, getting ready to leave for the day when I noticed her walking across the parking lot.  I was so excited that the little boy in me was doing back flips and, I swear, if I had been a dog, I would probably have gone bolting across the parking lot to tackle her with my tail flailing like a high powered fan.  As she came to the door, the associate I was talking too having turned into a droning sound in my ears, I smiled at her and said, "I thought you had quit. I haven't seen you around." At least I think I said something like that.  The memory is fuzzy because she smiled at me.

There went that little boy again, doing backflips like a master gymnast.

3. A Saint in our house...or is that a little devil?  We adopted Saint about 6 months ago now and she has been a terror at times, but she has mostly been a wonderful addition to our crazy little family.  We, Robin and I, had debated for months over whether to get another dog.  Then one day, while I was at a customers' house, I was introduced to a tiny litter of pups.  The owner said that she was giving them away and I told Robin.  Robin wanted to see them so we went and looked and within minutes, we were holding Saint.  We named her Saint because she had this habit, and still does it occasionally, of folding her paws like she is praying.  It was still several weeks before we could take her home though but when we did, the home felt so much brighter due to the presence of the little bundle of energy.  It didn't take her long to make our home her own...along with all that came with it...like the carpet and its many fibers, which she loved to chew on...

But the memory of Robin holding Saint that first time...wow...just precious.

4. So I talk in my sleep right.  Robin loves to tell this story so I am surprised she hasn't told it yet...so YEAH! I get to...lol.  Anyway, I work very hard on some days and so I fall asleep hard...and most of the time...fast.  I have always been able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat, I don't know why.  I don't fall asleep while doing important things, like driving.  Put my head on a pillow, however, and it's Nighty-Night!  I have also been informed that I talk in my sleep.  I have been told that I can carry on conversations too...like this time that I am talking about now.  I had laid down with Robin and we were curled up.  Robin swears only a couple of minutes had passed and I just suddenly said, "Sugar snap waffle peas!"  She thought I was still awake so she asks me what I meant by that.  She said I replied with something to the effect of "It was something we made when I worked at Waffle House, Sugar snap waffle peas!"  She woke me up and told me what I said and I denied it but she still likes to remind me of it and we joke around about it.

After all, it is not everyday that someone can claim to know of the elusive Sugar snap waffle peas.

(source)