Yesterday Zack took me out to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. I had been having a bonafide craptastic day and he wanted to make it better by taking me to a place where I could get one of the greatest margaritas that ever existed on this planet. He’s a nice guy that way.
My craptastic day, if you want to know, stemmed from the fact that I got a phone call from my new employer regarding my salary at the job. I had been told by 3 different sources my my salary would be X. Then I was informed that since I have experience in education, my salary would be X+! If I just did this paperwork! Then they would tell me what the + is! So I did all the (miserable, exhausting, ridiculous) paperwork, turned it in, and waited. Then someone called me (on Friday) and told me that my salary, with experience considered, would be NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR LESS THAN THE AMOUNT ALREADY QUOTED TO ME. NO BIG DEAL.
I was like, no no no. That’s wrong. Me and the guy went around in circles for a little while, and he finally agreed to call me back when they got it sorted out. YESTERDAY AT 4, I finally got a call back from someone asking if, “anyone had contacted me about the salary discrepancy.” I was like, NO. NO ONE HAS. TAKE YOUR SWEET EFFING TIME, PEOPLE. IT’S ONLY MY LIVELIHOOD. (I really just said “no.”) That’s when the lady lays it on me that the first salary, the one that was NOT bordering on MINIMUM WAGE-ESQUE, was quoted incorrectly. By all 3 sources. And the actual salary for this position is 3.4 cans of pinto beans/year.
I couldn’t believe it. No apologies, no nothing. I was in shock. I have turned down other job interviews because I didn’t need them! I had a job! No big deal! I have spend an entire Summer sitting around on my laurels, hanging out, because I knew that I was going to start work in August and make plenty of money. By the time I got off the phone with the unapologetic lady who treated me like I was a stupid 3rd grader, I had to pull my car into a parking lot. I felt so incredibly worthless and disposable. I pulled the keys out of my ignition, preventing myself from ramming my car into a brick wall, or launching it off a bridge. I was infuriated. I called Zack and told him all about it. He offered to come get me, but I was feeling less impulsive after talking to him. I called my dad and told him about the whole situation. He was just as shocked and enraged as I was. He quickly told me how close the actual salary is to minimum wage, and I wanted to scream. Dad was like, “Well, how are you? You know, other than this UN-EFFING-BELIEVABLE STRING OF BAD LUCK YOU’RE HAVING?”
So that’s why Zack took me to get a margarita. And as the waitress set the frosted mug down on the table, lighting the 151-soaked sugar cube on fire, she said, “Don’t forget your wish!” I closed my eyes and wished, “Please let this bad-luck streak be over.” Then I opened my eyes, blew out the flickering flame, and used my finger to bump the sugar cube into the margarita.
THE HOT FREAKING SUGAR CUBE WITH BUBBLING, MELTED SUGAR THAT HAD JUST BEEN ON FIRE.
As I was cooling my burnt finger on the side of the margarita glass, I informed Zack that I had never had a more swift answer to a wish, but unfortunately, the answer was “No.”
Are you still taking the job?
That really blows! You could have potentially dodged a bullet with this one though…do you really want to work at a place with so many incompetent people? Imagine leaving work every day feeling like you did when you got off the phone.
ah geez. that doesn’t really express all that i’m feeling for you, but its a start. you are neither worthless or disposable. i promise.
Kathleen –
I don’t know. I called the principal of the school, a very kind and gentle man, today and talked to him about the situation. He had no idea any of this was going on. He apologized over and over again, saying that he would call HR and see what could be done about it. He, of course, is limited when it comes to budget stuff by the ISD themselves, but who knows.
Zack says that I should tell them that I’ll still take the job, then look for something else. Then, if/when I get a different job, say “Oops. I made a mistake. I won’t be working there after all.” I don’t want to do that, though. The truth is, that won’t hurt the HR department. That would hurt the principal and the school, and they have been nothing but kind and gracious. I’d hate to leave with a knife in their backs
Mary – as I’m sure you’ve figured out from the statement above, the clowns in this situation are in the administration, not people that I’d have to deal with every day. I doubt I would feel like that every day.
At least, I’d hope not.
Sending hugs.
If any of their original salary quotes were in e-mail (as opposed to over the phone) then you should take it to an employment lawyer. They will probably have to stick to any written offer, even if it’s an informal writing.
IANAL.
love you dearie. call me first if you ever decide to ram your car into a wall
Oh, boy… Unfortunately, that seems to be common in education… and you’ll most likely have to work very hard at that slightly-above-minimum-wage job.
Hope you’ll find a better paying job soon. Maybe we can job hunt together when I’m in DFW, but hopefully you’ll have something better before then.