I finally decided enough was enough...

Journal jlanthripp's Journal: I finally decided enough was enough... 4

Journal by jlanthripp on Friday December 09, 2005 @02:52AM

I finally had enough at work and am in job-search mode.

I currently work at a new-and-used bookstore in the East Ridge TN/Ringgold GA area. My boss is the most annoying, unconsciously selfish person I have ever met, with the possible exception of a former boss of mine from when I was in college. Interestingly, both of these top two are from Northern California. Though I hate to stereotype, I have to wonder if that might have something to do with it.

In any case, here's the typical routine:

When my boss takes a day off, she comes in the next morning to find all the used books that have been traded in on the previous day cleaned, priced, and on the carts to be shelved. If a shipment of new books arrived on her day off, they have been unpacked and checked into the computer. Special orders are pulled and the customers called, and the rest of the new books have been put on the shelves. All the counters are clear and clean, the cash drawer has been counted down, and the daily report and deposit are sitting on her desk in the office. Any special orders placed on her day off have been duly recorded on the intended form with all information present, including customer name and phone number, title, author, price, and ISBN. Said special orders have been put into a draft purchase order.

When I take a day off, I come in the next day to find unprocessed used book trade-ins stacked on every square inch of counter space and the little island behind the counter. There's always a box of new books that arrived the previous day, sitting out on the floor in a customer area. Usually, there are a few books missing from those boxes, where she pulled a couple of books out and sold them without checking them into the computer. Every one of the binders, such as "used book trade credit", "customer special orders", "B&T invoices", etc. is sitting out on the counter, usually open and under a stack of unprocessed used book trade-ins. Most of the customer special orders are recorded on the intended form, though most are missing some piece(s) of vital information - like the customer's name or the title of the book. At least once every week I find where she has recorded something like "Snider - Jordan 4" when she should have recorded "Joe Snider - 555-1234 - The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time, book 4) Paperback - Robert Jordan - $7.99 - 0812513738". Sometimes all that's recorded is the first word of the title or the customer's first or last name. I am left to try and decipher who wanted what, by looking at a special order slip that may have only "Smith" written on it. Of course, she always thinks when she's writing these down that she'll remember what to order and for whom. She rarely does. As a result, we frequently fail to figure out who wanted what when trying to piece together the scanty information she puts on the special order form.

Of course, when a customer calls about a special order they placed, and we have no record of it because she didn't write the info down on the slip, I am the one who gets dressed down, often in front of customers.

Last Wednesday, the boss said she hated to take a day off from work because she felt like "nothing gets done" when she's not there.

That was the final straw.

So I started looking at the local newspaper's classified ads, and saw an ad for OTR (Over-The-Road) Driver Trainees. The company pays for the training to get my CDL, and I'm allegedly guaranteed $0.36 per mile and 2,500 miles per week. This adds up to a little more than double what I make in the bookstore. I'm also told I'll be at home "most nights and weekends."

I filled out an online application, at the end of which I was asked to call a representative. He emailed me an informational packet and told me to peruse that and call him Monday, and he believes he can get me "pre-hired" by a local trucking company. I'd start my 3 weeks of CDL training in the first part of January.

The catch: The training is in Arkansas. I am responsible for transportation there and back (500 miles each way, or a total of about $150 worth of gas in my F-150), and for my room and board for those 3 weeks. They have some apartments near the training center, and I can stay there 3 weeks for $295. The only other out of pocket expense would be $60 to the state for my actual CDL.

My uncle drove a truck for several years in the early 70's before he took a better job as a welder (and subsequently broke his back and lost the use of his legs). His training was in Kentucky and cost him $500 including room and board - in 1971 dollars. The deal I'm looking at is considerably cheaper as far as out-of-pocket expenses go, and even if I hated the company that hired me right off the bat, I'd still have my CDL. There are ALWAYS a lot of ads in the employment classifieds for people with a CDL, so I'd never be without a job that pays at least 75% more than I'm making now. And truck driving isn't exactly a job that can be outsourced to China or India.

So I ask you, O Slashdotters who actually read my journal, do you think I should do this?

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