lovetowrite

I continued going to work at the telemarketing office but was so isolated.  I worked hard, and if I had a break, as we had to work for 5 hours before one, I kept to myself.

I pushed myself through this 3 month time period, so that in the end I would receive my bonus.  Otherwise $7 an hour for evenings and weekends just wasn’t worth it.

I counted the days until I could hand in my notice.  The final day came and one of my greatest joys was to have a type written resignation.  I didn’t give it to the supervisor, but to the lady in human resources.

I went to the telemarketing office and sat down to do my work.  I always wore smart clothes and was professional.

I had completed a survey and had to ask a supervisor to come and check it.  I had this teenager come.  He was in a vest, short, flip flops, and had an ear and nose ring.

He went over my survey on the screen and tried to correct my grammar.  I had done a 2 year course of shorthand/typing, was a secretary, as well, as an office manager.  I asked him about his education, and informed him that I was correct.

After this I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stick this job for much longer.  I just wanted to make it to the 3 months, to get my $150 bonus.

The first couple of days were fine.  I was able to get on with my job with minimal problems from the supervisor.  After every completed survey I had to call them over to check my work.

This felt uncomfortable for me because I had been a sales office manager for years, and had hundreds of people working for me.

I kept my head down and worked really hard.  Others went out for cigarette breaks etc., but I continued working to the end of my shift, proving my worth. 

I wasn’t enjoying this job but figured I needed to stick it out.

As I pay my own health insurance, I needed a job, but after owning a restaurant, and then managing one, I really didn’t want to work for anyone.

I answered an advertisement in the paper for a marketing company.  It was to phone people with surveys.  I could pretty much pick the times I wanted to work.  It only paid $7 an hour, but I figured I would give it a try.  They also offered a $150 bonus if you worked for 3 months.

That should have told me that they couldn’t keep their workers.  I signed up and went to work 3 evenings a week from 5.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m.

We had to clock in, and even if we were early, had to stand and wait until it was a minute before 5.00 p.m.  Then we filed to our computers, which were on long tables.  It was like a conveyor belt.

From the first day I wondered how long I would stay.

As our hours got longer, it worked out that between us we were working a 22 hour day, and that equated out to $4.55 an hour.  The cooks were making $10 an hour and the servers, the skies the limit with tips.

We finally had to sit down and tell the people that owned it, that we were not prepared to put in a 6.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. and a 9.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. day, for the money they were paying us.

We chose to leave the restaurant business.   When we owned ours we made excellent money, but people are just not prepared to pay employees, what they are worth.

The first few weeks were fine.   Then the owner suggest I learn how to make their rolls from scratch.  This I willingly did during the quieter afternoon period.

They started to get busier at breakfast.  I believe it was my husband’s influence so I was asked to start earlier.  Then as I was baking in the afternoons, hubby was asked to stay longer.

We were now both working full days and were being paid one person’s wage for a couple.  I really thought that these people were taking advantage of us.  I love what I did but needed to say something to them.

We ate out in our local area and one of the restaurant owners needed help.  They asked hubby and I, if we would manage their restaurant, 2 days a week. 

We thought that this would be a great way for my husband to be in the restaurant business without the stress.  They were open 6.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m., which is a long day. 

We decided that he would do the 6.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. and I would go in around 11.00 a.m. and work until close.

This worked out fine as he was able to rest in the afternoons.  So many of the customers knew us, from when we owned our restaurant.  In the beginning this was great.  However, people want more from you all the time.

My husband slowly improved and was able to get around.  However, I was at the sandwich shop everyday.  I was taking orders and doing some deliveries too, but I was till paying out so much more money, than I was bringing in.

It got to the point that I was using my own money to keep the business going.

I put the sandwich shop up for sale, but no-one wanted to buy it.  We had people that wanted to buy the new equipment, but then I would owe two and a half years of rent.

I finally had to give the restaurant away, including the equipment, food, and everything, just to get out of the lease.  The landlord would not help us in anyway.

We ended up losing thousands of dollars on this venture and to think, before my husband’s accident, we were starting to do great.

You never know what is around the corner.

I went to the sandwich shop in the mornings to get the food ready, and then had someone in the shop and also another person to do deliveries.  They said they would do them for tips.

I then had enough friends to take me to the trauma hospital every afternoon, and stay a couple of house, before bringing me back.

The shop was doing nothing, people weren’t coming in or phoning.  I was paying out more money for the employee than what I was bringing in.  I ended up phoning our customers and telling them that we were still open.

Len came home after 5 days to recuperate, and I was running between him and the business.  I just didn’t know which way to turn.

I arrived at the hospital soon after my husband and had to stay in the waiting room.  I had to give them all his information.  The lady who kindly brought me left, and I telephoned a friend, who said that they would come down and sit with me, until I was ready to leave.

Finally a couple of hours later I was allowed to go into the E.R.  My husband had broken ribs and both lungs collapsed.  They had tubes in him, but had cleaned up the blood, so it wasn’t as frightening, as earlier.

I was told that he would be in hospital for several days.  I am not good with driving out of my comfort zone, so then I worried as to how I would get to see him.

Also I didn’t want to close the sandwich shop as we were finally starting to get on our feet.  I had a lot of planning to do so that we could get through it.