30 before during after and sometimes not 30 P.3
Now we begin the time skips. There are just too many things I think you should have accomplished before you hit 30 to keep them in the chronological order or life. So that is why with great GLEE and marvelous pleasure I bring you, “The time I told the man to F off.”
The honest truth of this story is that at first I wasn’t actually happy I had to do this. But as time went on I realized I really made the right choice. But first some back story. So I had been working for the Leather Shop that I currently work at for about year when I was offered a job working in Baltimore. Well I didnt want to leave Florida for Baltimore at that time and politely declined the transfer.
Not taking that gig meant I was pretty much putting in my 4 week notice and I left the company on very amiable terms (hence the reason I was rehired and all that). I needed a new job if I was going to stay in Orlando. After a few days of searching I found a local MovieStore was hiring for a manager position. I applied and got the job. Little did I know that this place would almost be the death of me.
I started the day after black Friday 2009 and due to some scheduling conflicts with my employees I had to work a 60 hour week. Mind you I am salaried at this point and am only SUPPOSED to work 45 hours a week. Keep that in mind as it gets important later. Another couple of weeks go bye and I still havent worked less than 60 hours any given week. I think to myself “Yeah but it’s the holidays thats all.” So I suck it up and move forward.
Months start to click by, as they tend to when you work between 60 and 80 hours a week, and I still haven’t seen a slow down in business. In fact with me at the helm my Store starts to do some incredible business. Within 4 months of being in charge my store is trending up by something absurd like 30% over the previous year. Months click by and the shifts never change, some employees start to leave for greener pastures. One of my former employees becomes another Store Manager, another gets his Teacher’s Certificate and goes into Teaching. Another has to leave because his band, Alias Punch, was signed to a really sweet touring deal.
While all that is going on I am still working 60 hour weeks and in my free time I am learning how to play the drums (but more on that later). I develop such a great location that I even get some local celebrities to come in (partly because my buddy MSL shops at my store too).
Around the end of the calendar year of 2010 and my store is at around $900,000. Just selling DVD’s and Blu-Rays and I was on the verge of making a Mili and my boss seen here in his glory,
tells me I am being moved to a Store that is notorious for being robbed and is located on one of the worst streets in all of Orlando. I tell him in no uncertain terms, “I don’t feel comfortable working there.” But I am told to suck it up and accept the transfer.
I work at this location for about 2 months before I start to notice the clientele is not on the up and up at all. It is so bad that I am basically loosing 3 or 10 DVD’s a day. Still I am working more 60 hour weeks, now in just the worst part of the town. More annoyingly the guy who replaced me is getting tons and tons of credit for running a “Million Dollar Store.” I think to myself “well at least my bonus is going to be amazing.” I sit down with my boss and he tells me that our reviews wont be until April, it was currently February and I ask him about my bonus, “We dont get bonuses.”
I run the math after he leaves and realize I have been working for less than minimum wage for over a year now. So I start aggressively looking into becoming a Teacher (something I always wanted to do) but Orange County Florida is not really hiring at this time…or ever. I am stuck working at this shithole. One day I get a buzz from my buddy Aaron who runs the Comic Book Store that I still work at part-time right now, but hadn’t ever worked with him before. He would like to know if I want to come work for him. The money is substantially less, but I would actually have free time and I wouldn’t have to fear of my life. I tell him I need to think about it and call my folks. My mom thinks it’s a great idea and tells me she will help me with bills while I get adjusted to my new pay rate (ie buying less shit). I am still a little skeptical and tell Aaron I would have an answer for him on the upcoming Monday.
Friday comes. Friday of President’s Day Week. I will never forget what week it was because I was told by my boss to adjust the schedule I had made to make sure I had double coverage on Monday, President’s Day. So I had to take some hours away from Friday, funny thing, we made no money on Monday because this store only made money when someone robbed a teller or it was payday, which is almost never a Monday. Friday was going alright and then I was alone from 330-530 because that was the shift I took from Monday per my bosses demand.
Two guys tried to run the okiedoke on me, as one dude went to the back of the store and asked for help, while his buddy picked up a whole tray (about 50) blu-rays and ran for the front door. Evidently they did this all the time. But I guess they never counted on a fat kid with a massive rage issue. Because when I saw that dude take off out the door, my eyes went large and I took off after him, knowing that I was going to make this kid drop those movies, or if I caught him I was going to beat him to death. It was a stupid thing I did, putting my body on the line for some shitty movies that weren’t even worth the 7 bucks a piece we were asking for them, but that’s just what happened.
The guy was so freaked out by my running him down that he just dropped everything and ran off. I called the cops and got all the movies back from off the ground. I file a police report and give them a copy of the video tape, but since technically nothing was stolen, there wasn’t a lot they could do. My boss shows up after all this and while the cop is finishing up her report we review the tape and all he says to me is this, “You shouldn’t have scheduled yourself to be alone on a Friday at 5pm. That’s why this happened.”
I was floored. I called my folks, called my girl, called my senator….ok not that one. But we all agreed it was time to go. So I called my buddy Aaron back and asked him when I could start. He said he could use me as soon as 3 weeks. I told him that would be perfect. I work a week and ask for my two week vacation, which is approved instantly. On the Sunday before I am supposed to go back to work, I walk in at closing time and type up a letter to corporate and resign. Knowing that if they didnt pay me for my time off, I could make the argument that I was never salaried to begin with and sue them for all my unpaid overtime (spending 3 years in a law firm does come in handy).
I can not tell you how happy I was that first week of working for my friend Aaron, a self made man who I respect the hell out of. To be fair though, I felt like the million bucks I made for that shitstop of a company. I told them to suck a dick and a dick they did doth suck. It’s something everyone should do before you turn 30, or really at any age. One time in your life you need to tell a boss that you just wont be fucked like that anymore. You will always find another gig, maybe you have to take a massive pay cut, but youll figure out how to make it work. Whatever the reason is, just get out. Life is far too short to spend 1/3rd of your day in misery.
Tune in next time in my 30BDASN30 installment as we back in time a little to “One Day as a Rock Star.”
Ric Susman