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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

You raise me high!

If you have been around me the last few days you probably have not been enjoying life! I have been a bear and rightly so. I got an email from work on Monday that put me in the dumps. Let me give some background...

November 2008: I get an email from some person I don't know welcoming me to the new company telling me to sign the info and work handbook and send it back. What? A few emails later I find out that my work just merged and that it was "going to be a good thing." We would be getting benefits and everyone would be up for review in January for a raise.

That was a very stressful thing for me. You would not have wanted to be around me those few days either. I don't handle change very well. My anxiety goes through the roof.

January 2009: I get an email from work with our new pay rates. This is what I read (in a nutshell as the real email is confidential):

You are getting a pay cut.

Um what?

I send an email back inquiring why. I waited ALL day for a response! I was even nice in the email. I was so mad I could not even work (it was my day off, but I had planned on working anyway). That is how dysfunctional I get. I could not stop wondering why; if I was just doing really bad work or if they were just trying to get rid of old employees so they could bring in their own. I was furious. I IM'd my supervisor and she could not tell me anything. She didn't know either. I get an email later that day and it was addressed to all the employees that says this (in a nutshell again):

In order for us to provide everyone the benefits, we are cutting pay across the board to help pay for them....

Now just let that digest for a minute...after I let it digest I turned into a Bonnie that not many of you know. And I sent an email that says this (in no nutshell at all. Please forgive me now for ruining your perfect image of me):

I have never heard of such a thing. That should be an added bonus and not something taken away from us. I will not be taking advantage of the insurance and would rather have my previous rate besides looking forward to rate increases that were supposedly supposed to happen. I was told that I would be up for a raise in January. I would ask you to reconsider my rate change due to my not taking insurance and I would still like to see the raise I am due for.

I was told just this week that it is easier to be mean when you are not doing it face to face and I am here to say that yes it is. If I had been face to face or even on the phone it might have been something more like this:

I do bow to you oh holy one. Whatever you want to do to me, you may...

I felt like a sinner pushing the send button on that email. I was so sure that I was not going to have a job after all that that I actually tested for another company yesterday. But I didn't care. I was MAD! Well I never heard anything back from work and was not counting on it until today. I got an email just a bit ago and this is what it said:

Bonnie, I did get you approved for the raise you were promised. I have attached the revised letter for you. Hope this works better for you.

And it does, very much so thank you...(this is where I might have sent that oh-holy-one-I-bow-to-you email).

Can't decide if I am more excited about the raise or the fact that I AM VICTORIOUS! I won't even think about how I could be the ruin of the company because now they will not be able to afford to pay their employees and give them benefits too. Ok, I am done. I will take all your congrats in the form of comments.

P. S. I am considering doing seminars on getting raises out of hopeless situations. Tell me what you think...

P.S.S. Danessa tell Dave to be ready. I have been schooling Rob, it is about time...

13 comments:

HuckFinnsMom said...

I do hope the raise was a good one, and not puny. Good job for asserting yourself- you are an inspiration!

Bonnie said...

Oh, it was very generous. That is why I am so happy!

Here at home said...

Wahoooo!When can we go shopping???

Here at home said...

It's a good thing you didn't take that other job.

Queen Bee said...

You go girlfriend! I like people with spunk! The uppers probably didn't think they'd get anyone brave enough to put up a fight! So they prbly thought they could pull a stunt like that and get away with it! Good job being brave!

Kari said...

Way to go! I am totally the person that can think of the mean thing to say when I'm not there and then get face to face and completely back down. I'm glad it worked out in the end for you.

OUR CHAOTIC CLAN said...

Bonnie!!!
You probably did a back hand-spring down your hallway, I can see you now!! Yippee!! I'm soooooo proud of you!! Way to blaze a trail to the top of the pay scale! How exciting! I kind of got a little adrenaline rush reading this. Queen Bee took the words right out of my mouth, I was thinking the very same thing. Good for you!

Danessa said...

You ARE AWESOME!!!! seriously! I am so proud of you. Oh and I told Dave and he just smiled. Problem is it isn't so much as up to Dave as BILL...dum dum dum. Yeah, Bill's idea of a deserved raise is 25 cents an hour....
So how is the family doing?
Hmm, and I'll take you up on the seminar...

Abby said...

Maybe once they read your email they realized that they didn't want to lose you so that is why they gave you a raise - because you are such an awesome MT. Good for you standing up for you and your family. You're a great mom.

shauna said...

Great job Bon Bon!!!!


word verf--ugotbalz

Iditadad said...

Way to go daughter. Your grandma would be proud. Your nobody's door mat. WoW

Tamster said...

Congrats on that raise! And good for you for saying something! Yippy! :-)

Perfect Moments Photography said...

Way to take a stand girl! So proud of you sis :) Love ya!