Not like it used to be in What's Happening

A lot of people think that they are so good at their job and have such a vital role at work that the place would never last without them. I have a more modest and what I think is a more realistic attitude, which is basically: I know I’m a valuable asset to this company, but they were doing fine before I got here and they will do just fine without me.

Me and my friend left a company we were both working for about 2 years ago. We both worked there for around 8 years. It was the most stressful 8 years of my life. We always joke that one of the benefits of having worked there was that every job from now on will seem easy. The place gave me a little taste of PTSD when I finally got a better job and it took almost a year for the stress to fully alleviate.

It was a specialty service job where you’re constantly providing service to clients with little to no prior notice.

There were other people there before us that did a great job building a decent reputation for our branch and as they all moved on it left me and a couple other people to carry the burden. We all took our roles so serious and kept the place on its feet even during the slow seasons; even when other branches were in the negatives.

When we both left the company a couple years ago we were genuinely curious how well the place would operate without us. I would always punctuate the curiosity with my catchphrase: They were doing just fine before we got there.

I stayed in contact with a couple people who still worked there and they would often provide updates about how much better it is to work there ever since we left. They mentioned that they didn’t stress about accepting all the jobs from clients; they would just turn them down if they were already busy. They also mentioned that they weren’t afraid to spend money on equipment and things to make life easier on them.

The one guy told me how much he spent one month on supplies and equipment and I replied something like: “That’s way over budget!” He said he doesn’t care about the budget. If they need something - they get it.

Me and my friend couldn’t understand it. We knew their way of doing business didn’t seem feasible for making profit.

One time I said to my friend: “Maybe we had it all wrong. Maybe we were the cause of our stress.” The place was doing just fine without us and everyone is happy. He would always disagree with me. He knew the business a little better than I did. It was actually an insult to him for me to say that since he ran the branch at a higher level than I did.

I just heard the branch shut down yesterday.

I was sad to hear that the place closed down. They tried to get me to go back there just a few months ago when they found out I lost my new job. Their offer was hard to resist. It was better than any offer I’ve ever received - even better than the job I accepted (the one I’m working now). I just wasn’t ready to go back to that lifestyle. I did feel slight comfort knowing that I had that job as a fall-back if I needed it. Even in their job offer they mentioned how it’s not like it used to be. Meaning that it’s better now.

As unfortunate as it is, in a weird way it gave a little justice to situation. I feel like I owe my friend a slight apology.

Last updated December 04, 2019