Job Security in Uncertain Times

There’s nothing like someone coming along and doing your job far better than you do to make you feel great about yourself.

Imagine you have a job. It’s hard. It’s an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege that takes the ever-loving life out of you. By the end of the day, all you can think about is hitting your pillow and dreaming away all the little things that happened to you to make you feel less than fabulous until morning. You don’t really have co-workers, just other people whom you run into from time to time while doing your job who try to help you along by letting you know that they’re going through the same thing. They commiserate with you and try to lend encouragement. They give you tips about how they got through particularly sticky situations in their job.

You get no paycheck. You rarely get accolades. No atta-boys. No bonuses. No fancy lunches. Sure, you have your own parking spot and your commute is very short, but your hours are insane.

On the bright side, you have variety. No two days are alike. Everyday is filled with unpredictable events, no matter how hard you try to plan for them. And at least once a day, you get an unplanned smile – a moment that brings sheer joy to you. And makes you laugh to yourself and sometimes, even brings tears to your eyes. When you wake up in the morning, you can look back on the previous day and forget all the bad and simply remember the good.

You are convinced that you are the only one who can do your job. Only you can bring that certain combination of qualities to the position that results in the growth of your business.

And then one day, you simply have to be away from the office. You can’t help it. Someone has to fill in for you. And you think to yourself, how can this person possibly do it? It’s impossible. I am irreplaceable. They will really have big shoes to fill. Oh I hope they make it ok.

So you call, you check in throughout the day. Is everything ok? How’s it going? It’s fine, you hear.

And then when you return to your job, that’s when the reality hits. This person did your job better than you do. They made you look like an amateur. They accomplished more in one day than you do in a week, and they made it look easy. And they don’t understand why you’re not grateful. But you’re not. You’re a teensy-weensy bit bitter. And hurt.

Why do you feel this way? Why can’t it be ok that someone can come in and do your job better? And why, oh why, must you now go to bed and sleep next to this person?

This was me about a week ago. I had to be away all day Saturday. I was sure that my dear husband would no doubt experience the same feelings of being overwhelmed and under-appreciated that every stay at home mother feels during the day.

But no. I called to check in. Everything was fine. I called a few hours later. Everything was great. Even the baby, who refused to take a bottle from anyone but me for days, suddenly became agreeable and took bottles from him.

And then, to cap it off, the scene when I returned home was one for the storybooks. The Rockwell portrait taking place in my kitchen was almost more than I could bear. There was the baby, happily playing in her exersaucer in the kitchen, looking on as my WH and OBB made cookies. OBB stood on a chair so he could reach the counter and peer over into the KitchenAid mixer where cookie dough was spinning away at a melodic hum. Everything was peaceful and wonderful and…it kind of took my breath away. Not in a good way.

And not only was everyone happy and content, but during the day, my Wonderful Husband also found time to: spot clean the carpet, mop the kitchen floor, clean the toilets, do I need to go on? All enough to make me feel like the worst/laziest mother in the world. The look I got was truly one of “what do you DO all day?” And I’m sure the look I gave him was something unfit for tender ears.

So in a time when we’re all worrying about the economy and job security, just add me to the list of people who are concerned about the stability of their current employment. It took someone one day to prove that I am expendable and not terribly efficient. I am clearly in need of some restructuring and re-organizing.