Staying in Everyday Things

It’s been another busy week at FedEx land, and since today is my only day off, I figured I’d finally sit down and update lol. Crazy how the month of September is nearly over, and I’m already seeing Christmas displays in stores. I’m not too crazy about Halloween, but I am enjoying the pleasant weather.

I do have some news to discuss.

Back in February, I became sick and was unable to work. As a result, I was fired from the Norcross terminal as a “no call, no show”. I was able to work at a different terminal thanks to my friend’s husband. I started working for the Kennesaw terminal back in March and was given a full-time permanent route a week later.

The Norcross terminal is 40 miles or so away whereas the Kennesaw terminal is 63 miles away. I’ve wanted to either move closer to the Kennesaw terminal or go back to the Norcross terminal. On Labor Day, my former co-worker called me up about a potential job opportunity back at the Norcross terminal for peak season and beyond. We both worked under the same contractor, and even after I was let go, we managed to stay in touch. During our conversation, Frank was telling me how things were going at the Norcross terminal and told me I should call my old boss back and see if I could come back. I told Frank I would think about it; I called my former boss and left him a voicemail.

The next day, I told my current boss about the recent developments. He appreciated the fact that I was honest with him, and he was clear he didn’t want me to leave. I reassured him I would stay. I was just doing my due diligence and just exploring my options. Two weeks go by without hearing from my old boss until two Fridays ago when he reached out to me.

He told me that he had a position opening up, and he wanted me to let him know asap when I would make my decision. I told him I would need to talk to my current boss about it. Later that day, I talked to Scott about the conversation I had with my former boss. He clearly didn’t want me to leave at that point lol. I told him I would need a day or two to think about it.

Funny enough, I made my decision two hours after that phone call. I called Scott later that evening and told him I would stay. He was busy, so I didn’t get a chance to fully explain why I wanted to stay. Before I actually forget, here’s some of the reasons why I chose to stay.

1) Scott has treated me with so much respect and care. He truly cares about his drivers and does not hesitate in granting us time off. In fact, back in April, I asked him if I could have some time off during the summer for Jasmine’s trip. He told me June and July would be booked up, but I could wait until August and request time off. I told him I would want a week off in August. At first, he hesitated in granting me that time off since I was so new, but he acquiesced and let me have that time off.

2) Money. My former boss would pay us with a personal check; Scott pays us via direct deposit. What I really disliked about a personal check is going to the bank to deposit the money and not having it readily available for withdrawal. There were times when the banks wouldn’t accept his personal check because the date was wrong, or the written amount was different from the amount spelled out on the check, or he forgot to sign the check. I even tried depositing the check via ATM or using the mobile checking deposit, and it would still take a while for the check to officially clear. There were days when I would have little money on Friday, but the money wouldn’t become available until the following week.

3) Appreciation. Scott is straight-forward and won’t talk behind your back. All he expects in return is for us to be honest with him. My old boss was two-faced. Frank was the best guy Aaron ever had, and yet, Aaron would treat Frank like he was nothing. In reality, Aaron couldn’t even run Frank’s route. At the very least, Scott treats us all fairly and does what he can to appreciate everything we do. In fact, he’ll randomly come up to me and tell me how good of a job I’m doing or telling me the good things he’s heard from customers. He’s told me he’s thankful I’m reliable, always back around 7, and with a 97% service average.

4) Future plans. Scott has a plan to give us paid vacations (we currently have none); bonuses, and hiring additional drivers for peak season. His ultimate plan is to have a dedicated driver doing all of our late pickups, so we won’t be out so late.

5) Stability. As much as I’d like to go back to Norcross, the fact of the matter is, I want to have at least 1-year continuous service at one terminal. That way, it looks better vs having two short stints on my commercial driving resume.

6) The final reason has to do with the customers I deliver to on a daily basis. They all love how reliable I am, and I am a breath of fresh air from the last guy who used to treat the customers like crap.

At the end of the day, I owe it to my friend who saw my initial FedEx picture and has wanted me to work for her and her husband ever since last October. I’ve known this girl since middle school, and she remembered how nice and friendly I was back then. That carried over through last year. Needless to say, Scott wouldn’t stop telling me over and over how much he needed me and wanting me to stay. That makes me feel wanted and not minding driving over an hour to get to the terminal.

Anyway, I’ve made this entry long enough lol. Hope you guys have a great weekend!