Oh Well..Next Please

I resigned from wally world yesterday. Yes, the fortune 500 company I referred in a previous post. Wall-Mart. In a place where most people have no regard and just don't show up anymore, I took the professional way out and handed in a letter of resignation. 30 years on Wall Street taught me YOU DON'T BURN BRIDGES....EVER.

The letter was not full of honey coated lip service. It was a direct and expressed opinion of what I thought was wrong with this company as an employer. I might forward the letter to the regional manager and possibly the CEO. This has nothing to do with the people I have been fortunate enough to work with, most of them are terrific and work harder than anyone I've ever known for far less reward.

The company is run by bean counters who have zero clue on what makes their work force strong or weak. They are about everything BUT that. So the final score is:

Consumer: 100
Employee: 0. A big fat round zero.

When I first started, I felt that in five months I would know whether or not this was a company I would want to grow with. My five months were up and I decided:

Niete.

Now, it wasn't the job I didn't like. In fact I love my job, what I don't love is the company itself. I approached this as I approach any new endeavor; with high hopes, excitement and high expectations. Therein lies the problem.

The excitement was there..after all, this was something completely new to me. The high hopes were there...I hoped it would be something I'd want to grow into in the long run but the expectations compelled me to step back and reassess. The company itself is the problem.

It is bad enough when you work with people who are mediocre and uncaring of what they are hired to do, but I constantly saw the people in the wrong jobs. When you give your all and you watch others skate by with minimal attention to what they do it gets increasingly frustrating. My mantra of 'what is my time worth' became a broken record in my own head. I decided my time was worth much more than anything this company could give me in return. So I did what I felt was necessary. I quit.

I come from a world where mediocrity does not pay off. You are rewarded for what you bring to the table. To find myself in a company where everyone gets treated exactly the same no matter how they function in their position made me aware that all the world does not function equally. So, instead of beating my head against the proverbial wall...I quit.

I'm not a quitter. Never have been but at this age you begin to realize that life is too short to be miserable. Let that be a lesson to younger readers. Nothing is worth you being miserable.

All is not lost though. This was a valuable lesson in what makes me tic as a productive individual. I love chaos. I love people, I love putting out 'fires'. I'm good at that. What I am not good at is waiting for my break, or waiting for my dinner hour or waiting to go home.

Working for this company is like working for the government. If you want a somewhat secure and steady paycheck with the promise of a possible 10c per hour increase 'next year' than this is the place for you. It is not the place for me. I'd rather fall on my sword and make mistakes than take the easy way out.

I've always felt that if I'm going to commit 1000% to anything I do, I'd rather do it for myself. So that is what I will do. The mind is once again swirling with my next step. I know now that is must be done and had I not worked for this company during its most hectic and chaotic time of the year, I would have never come to this conclusion. I would never have had the guts to take this next step.

So for that I am grateful. Everything is a learning experience whether you know it or not. Sometimes the lesson comes well after the event and only in retrospect can we see it. So, blinders are off, lesson is learned and thus begins act II.