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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Inspirational
- Subject: Life Experience
- Published: 11/09/2018
You know you can do a job day in and day out and then someone points out you are better than that. Well in my case it wasn’t pointed out but I was thinking of grandad and his famous last words to me.
“Go for that job that you want. You never know, you might just get it.
Nothing ventured nothing gained”
He was always saying it. “Nothing ventured nothing gained.“ And then he would high five me.
That actually was the last thing he ever said before he had a massive heart attack and died.
Right in front of me it was. Left me traumatised for ages.
I didn’t even try to save him because I didn’t know how. I just stood right beside him and screamed for my grandma. She then just stood and screamed with me.
After that my parents sent me on a first aid course. Grandma came with me.
Anyway, so that’s what I did. I went for the job I had seen advertised and I nailed it in the interview. One week on and another interview under my belt. Went superb.
Two weeks later and I got the call. That Ultimate job was mine. I couldn’t wait to hand my notice in from my old mundane position as a computer salesman and ultimately be able to get stuck into what I had qualified for at uni.
Manager for an IT company. Small company with about 20 staff. They all seemed really friendly. I couldn’t wait to start.
I put down the phone and just grinned from ear to ear.
There were over 100 applications for that job and I got it. Woo hoo.
Start date on my birthday. Awesome birthday present. 18/07/2015
Dinner date tonight with my darling wife Bri and our two gorgeous kids.
Felicity and Fiona, five years old and born in different years. I love saying that. 2009 and 2010. Work that one out.
No you won’t so I have to tell the story.
You see we were finding it hard to have children so a bestie offered to be a surrogate for us. All went well and she fell pregnant right away.
So here’s the funny part. So did we.
They are born just three weeks apart. It was suppose to be six weeks but Fiona came three weeks early. Obviously could not wait to meet her big sister.
So not twins but almost. 10/12/2009 and 6/01/2010.
They look like identical twins aside from the fact that Fiona has curls and Felicity has dead straight hair. They weighed identical weights at birth.
How about that.
Amazing, don’t you think. Well we were just over the moon. Best thing that ever happened to us. When they were first born I just wanted to sit by their cribs and just gaze at their shared beauty. Our gorgeous little double miracle.
So anyway, as a celebration we had dinner at a place called The Stargazer. It sits high above anything else in the city. The view over the city and harbour was second to none, Hence the name Stargazer I suppose. I had always wanted to experience a night at the fanciest restaurant in town.
The food was incredible. The kids were great. They just stared out of the window most of the time. The staff even complimented us on how well behaved the girls were.
Wooow the bill. Over $350, just about fell off my seat, the bottle of bubbly stung us, $129 Just for that. But I would be able to afford it on my new salary.
We definitely were not used to eating out like that and even with the new salary we wouldn’t be doing that too often.
So I started my new job and it was busy. At first I loved it. I was getting busier and busier every day it seemed and there was never enough hours in the day.
After two months there I was getting home every night at nine or ten. Never seeing the kids. They were fast asleep by the time I arrived home and I was only seeing them on the weekend.
I always felt Mr Bigwig was sitting in his office watching my every move and thinking there are one hundred other people that would love your job so keep working every hour under the sun.
He never came out of his office except to fill up his damn coffee cup.
Barely said a sentence to me in a whole year.
I would mumble to myself, “Mr Bigwig, why don’t you step into my shoes instead of going home on the dot.“
Every night at exactly 5pm he walked right out of there. For that matter everyone else in the company did as well. Big mug me was doing all the hard yards.
They would invite me for drinks or dinner but I never had the time. I almost felt like they were taunting me. I really resented their lives compared to my miserable existence. Work work work, that’s all I ever did.
I never had time for my wife and kids let alone my work colleagues.
The year came and went. That’s when I cracked. I didn’t have the energy to get up one morning. It had been building up for weeks, or probably months. I was quite angry at everyone around me. They all seemed to have great lives.
One day I just laid in bed and said, NO MORE. I had to tell Mr Bigwig.
My contracted hours were from 8:30 am until 5:00 pm Monday through to Friday.
I went to work and called a meeting with him. Gosh I was so nervous.
First thing he did was extend his arm. I thought I was going to be fired and he was shaking my hand to say goodbye.
He said, “Hi I’m Carl. You have been too busy working to so much as talk to me or notice me. Been watching you for awhile.”
Well you can imagine what I was thinking. What was he watching?
That’s me, I’m down the road. But it turns out it was exactly the opposite.
He told me he was the man I have become just a couple of years earlier.
That's why he had hired me. To make his work load easier. He certainly did not expect me to be there until all hours.
He told me that I needed to delegate more and not carry all the work load.
He called in four of my staff and asked if they could take an hour each off my day and lighten my work load.
Elected one of the guys to be my assistant.
Two of the girls admitted that they spent many hours on FB and Snapchat and could easily take on more of a work load. That meeting lasted over an hour and was the best thing I ever did.
They left his office and Carl told me he had been on the verge of suicide two years ago when a doctor told him, it’s as easy as one, two, three. Don’t think you have to do everything. Learn to ask for assistance. Just say HELP.
Wise words:
“Your job will be advertised before your obituary hits the newspaper.”
He then pulled out my contract and pointed out my work hours.
“I want to see you out the door at 5:00 every night from now on.”
He complimented me on being such a good and reliable employee and told me to take a week off starting immediately.
I was quite taken back that he had told me something so personal.
Family is worth so much more than any job he told me.
From that day on I learned, when you need to, just ask for help, it’s as simple as saying, Help Me Please.
The day after our meeting and the first day of my much needed holiday, a parcel arrived from my company thanking me for all the hard work with a nice bottle of wine and chocolates.
What a great place to work, I thought.
Well it’s been two years since that happened and I’m still at the job and could not be happier.
The End
( Quote below from unknown )
NEVER GET SO BUSY MAKING A LIVING
THAT YOU FORGET TO MAKE A LIFE.
Life’s like that(Gail)
You know you can do a job day in and day out and then someone points out you are better than that. Well in my case it wasn’t pointed out but I was thinking of grandad and his famous last words to me.
“Go for that job that you want. You never know, you might just get it.
Nothing ventured nothing gained”
He was always saying it. “Nothing ventured nothing gained.“ And then he would high five me.
That actually was the last thing he ever said before he had a massive heart attack and died.
Right in front of me it was. Left me traumatised for ages.
I didn’t even try to save him because I didn’t know how. I just stood right beside him and screamed for my grandma. She then just stood and screamed with me.
After that my parents sent me on a first aid course. Grandma came with me.
Anyway, so that’s what I did. I went for the job I had seen advertised and I nailed it in the interview. One week on and another interview under my belt. Went superb.
Two weeks later and I got the call. That Ultimate job was mine. I couldn’t wait to hand my notice in from my old mundane position as a computer salesman and ultimately be able to get stuck into what I had qualified for at uni.
Manager for an IT company. Small company with about 20 staff. They all seemed really friendly. I couldn’t wait to start.
I put down the phone and just grinned from ear to ear.
There were over 100 applications for that job and I got it. Woo hoo.
Start date on my birthday. Awesome birthday present. 18/07/2015
Dinner date tonight with my darling wife Bri and our two gorgeous kids.
Felicity and Fiona, five years old and born in different years. I love saying that. 2009 and 2010. Work that one out.
No you won’t so I have to tell the story.
You see we were finding it hard to have children so a bestie offered to be a surrogate for us. All went well and she fell pregnant right away.
So here’s the funny part. So did we.
They are born just three weeks apart. It was suppose to be six weeks but Fiona came three weeks early. Obviously could not wait to meet her big sister.
So not twins but almost. 10/12/2009 and 6/01/2010.
They look like identical twins aside from the fact that Fiona has curls and Felicity has dead straight hair. They weighed identical weights at birth.
How about that.
Amazing, don’t you think. Well we were just over the moon. Best thing that ever happened to us. When they were first born I just wanted to sit by their cribs and just gaze at their shared beauty. Our gorgeous little double miracle.
So anyway, as a celebration we had dinner at a place called The Stargazer. It sits high above anything else in the city. The view over the city and harbour was second to none, Hence the name Stargazer I suppose. I had always wanted to experience a night at the fanciest restaurant in town.
The food was incredible. The kids were great. They just stared out of the window most of the time. The staff even complimented us on how well behaved the girls were.
Wooow the bill. Over $350, just about fell off my seat, the bottle of bubbly stung us, $129 Just for that. But I would be able to afford it on my new salary.
We definitely were not used to eating out like that and even with the new salary we wouldn’t be doing that too often.
So I started my new job and it was busy. At first I loved it. I was getting busier and busier every day it seemed and there was never enough hours in the day.
After two months there I was getting home every night at nine or ten. Never seeing the kids. They were fast asleep by the time I arrived home and I was only seeing them on the weekend.
I always felt Mr Bigwig was sitting in his office watching my every move and thinking there are one hundred other people that would love your job so keep working every hour under the sun.
He never came out of his office except to fill up his damn coffee cup.
Barely said a sentence to me in a whole year.
I would mumble to myself, “Mr Bigwig, why don’t you step into my shoes instead of going home on the dot.“
Every night at exactly 5pm he walked right out of there. For that matter everyone else in the company did as well. Big mug me was doing all the hard yards.
They would invite me for drinks or dinner but I never had the time. I almost felt like they were taunting me. I really resented their lives compared to my miserable existence. Work work work, that’s all I ever did.
I never had time for my wife and kids let alone my work colleagues.
The year came and went. That’s when I cracked. I didn’t have the energy to get up one morning. It had been building up for weeks, or probably months. I was quite angry at everyone around me. They all seemed to have great lives.
One day I just laid in bed and said, NO MORE. I had to tell Mr Bigwig.
My contracted hours were from 8:30 am until 5:00 pm Monday through to Friday.
I went to work and called a meeting with him. Gosh I was so nervous.
First thing he did was extend his arm. I thought I was going to be fired and he was shaking my hand to say goodbye.
He said, “Hi I’m Carl. You have been too busy working to so much as talk to me or notice me. Been watching you for awhile.”
Well you can imagine what I was thinking. What was he watching?
That’s me, I’m down the road. But it turns out it was exactly the opposite.
He told me he was the man I have become just a couple of years earlier.
That's why he had hired me. To make his work load easier. He certainly did not expect me to be there until all hours.
He told me that I needed to delegate more and not carry all the work load.
He called in four of my staff and asked if they could take an hour each off my day and lighten my work load.
Elected one of the guys to be my assistant.
Two of the girls admitted that they spent many hours on FB and Snapchat and could easily take on more of a work load. That meeting lasted over an hour and was the best thing I ever did.
They left his office and Carl told me he had been on the verge of suicide two years ago when a doctor told him, it’s as easy as one, two, three. Don’t think you have to do everything. Learn to ask for assistance. Just say HELP.
Wise words:
“Your job will be advertised before your obituary hits the newspaper.”
He then pulled out my contract and pointed out my work hours.
“I want to see you out the door at 5:00 every night from now on.”
He complimented me on being such a good and reliable employee and told me to take a week off starting immediately.
I was quite taken back that he had told me something so personal.
Family is worth so much more than any job he told me.
From that day on I learned, when you need to, just ask for help, it’s as simple as saying, Help Me Please.
The day after our meeting and the first day of my much needed holiday, a parcel arrived from my company thanking me for all the hard work with a nice bottle of wine and chocolates.
What a great place to work, I thought.
Well it’s been two years since that happened and I’m still at the job and could not be happier.
The End
( Quote below from unknown )
NEVER GET SO BUSY MAKING A LIVING
THAT YOU FORGET TO MAKE A LIFE.
- Share this story on
- 4
Vinni
11/14/2018It was a good ending but very few in my experience are lucky like that. Most of the bosses don't behave like that. I wish I was lucky like him.
Thanks
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Gail
11/15/2018Vinni, I am sad to hear that. Hopefully one day your perfect job will come along.
Good luck : )
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
11/11/2018My Dad didn't talk much, but he used to say: " Moderation in all things, including moderation." I always took that to mean that you avoid overwhelm, and when you let go, let loose. Jd hit the nail on the head in her comments. So all I can add, is this: Good advice. " Smiles, Kevin
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Gail
11/11/2018Thanks Kevin, Nice of you to say so.
Just to let you know Shay that I am writing under is also Gail. Which you may have already worked out : )
Which is a good thing because now if I really like a story I shall rate it twice. Hehe.
Have a wonderful day : )
Help Us Understand What's Happening
JD
11/09/2018Outstanding inspirational story for all those who work too hard and then get burned out and angry at the world. Sometimes we get too focused on everything we have to do and forget to look for ways we can work smarter, not harder, and ask others to help carry the load with us. Great story, Shay! Thanks for sharing it on Storystar! : )
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
JD
11/09/2018You're so right, Shay, time is our most precious gift, and our time on this earth is too short to spend all of it working at the expense of our relationships and well being.
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Gail
11/09/2018Thank you so much. This story came from so many people that I have meet in life.
life is over in a heart beat and we all need to remember we have to have time for ourselves and our families.
Xx
COMMENTS (7)