I have worked at the same job for the last two years and some months. Right around the time school started back up, I decided that I needed a break, that I was getting a little burnt out and needed a change of pace. The following five months were miserable. I got a new job doing box store retail, it paid decent and my coworkers were nice but it was boring. Very rarely was I excited to go into work, to put my hands on the product and engage with the customers about what we had.
Part of my unhappiness was that I knew the product we were selling was sub-par at best. I knew from 10 plus years of personal experience and two plus years of professional experience that what we were selling, should almost never be allowed to go out the front door.
When I asked about product training, I was met with blank or panicked faces the whole idea of being knowledgeable seemed to be a foreign concept. When I broached the subject of ways to make things more efficient or to ask if we had certain tools, I was usually met with an excuse or a straight up "No." It was beyond frustrating to have to explain to the people in charge why exactly that particular product was unsafe and why it should not be allowed to leave the store with the customer. Those five months made me long for my old job back. The saying "You don't know what you got till it's gone." has never been more true.
Right around the time that I was reaching the end of my rope at the big box retail, my old job gave me a ring. Never in my life have I ever been so relieved to go back to a place I had once been. My first day back, I actually hugged the building, with tears of joy in my eyes, I walked in and looked around.
I was constantly saying how much I missed my old job but it didn't really hit until until that first day. It was like coming home. There was a feeling of comfort and serenity and security. This is were I am meant to be, it is were I fit in best, where my wealth of knowledge is not only used and accepted but sought and appreciated.
Everyday I go to work, excited to see what will happen. Excited about who I may get to take under my wing and teach. Excited about give my absolute all with every single customer I come into contact with because I want them to share my passion. Excited to see my coworkers who are more like my family, we joke and argue and piss each other off, but we apologize and hug and love each other.
This job offered me a home when I needed it most and I'm so grateful that they let me return. Eventually, I will leave this job for good but that won't happen till a very long time from now. I still have too much love and too much passion to share before I am ready to call it quits on a place that has become my family.
