A Day of Stress.

I have not yet written about the life altering event that happened at my prior job that made me realize that I needed to get out. I have been extremely embarrassed by my behavior, and didn't really want to put it out for the world to see.

I think it's beneficial for me to get it out of my system, so tonight I am going to share.

It all started with an assistant manager who decided that she needed to fall off a ladder. Hummm... perhaps that is a harsh way of putting it. She decided that she was going to be extra efficient and carry 6 boxes of shoes down a ladder that was extremely unstable. The end result was a a cut up arm, bruised ego, and a torn ligament in her knee.

This injury placed her on "sit-down-duty" for a full month while the insurance company fought with her, me, and the retail company trying to determine the best course of action. Yes, a doctor was saying there was no other option but surgery, however, the insurance company was not so sure. SO after a month of worthless physical therapy and a manager who got 40 hours a week to be a cashier, we finally got the approval for the surgery.

Problem? I was scheduled to get married and go on my honeymoon while she was gone. Bigger problem? I was told I could have the weekend for the wedding but I was refused any additional time off. So I patiently waited and hoped that the doctor would give us some good news.

Then it happened. I had a mental breakdown and almost lost my job because of it.

Here is a wonderful list of what happened to me on "Black Wednesday":

• I was on my 4th week of working EVERY single day. I'm talking 8-10 hour long days... not just short little bits here and there. 
• At least 3 of those shifts a week were "split shift" where I opened and closed in one day.
• I had a second assistant who had just called out sick, with a doctors note saying that she could not be in for 3 days.
• The store was BLOWING UP in sales because it was Back-To-School
• My first assistant called me and told me that she was 99.99% sure I wouldn't be able to go on my honeymoon because of her recovery process
• I received a phone call from my (then) fiancée telling me that gentleman that was letting us have our wedding at his house had just called him and canceled... 31 days before we were scheduled to get married at his house.
• I had a no-call/no-show
• My DM called me and let me know that the President of the company, VP of the company, Director of Store Operations, and Director of Marketing would be in my store the next day.
• I couldn't find the schedule because someone decided that they would take the WHOLE thing home.

I might have overreacted. Actually, I know I overreacted. I said somethings that I really shouldn't have said, and I made a BIG mistake that night of letting my stress get the better of me. 

I do believe that I actually had a mental breakdown in the store. It was horrifying... if I was a sales associate I am pretty sure I would have been a little frightened as well. Needless to say, I got a phone call from HR the next week letting me know there would be an "investigation" into my behavior... on the same day that I received the good news that I would get my honeymoon after all. 

So, while I was basking in the sun on my honeymoon, I got to stress over the fact that I didn't know if I was going to come home to find out I had been terminated from my job.

Yes, my mistake. However, I do believe that I deserved some help in my store... and the other DMs were VERY selfish and no one bothered to help me out at all. No one would even give me the common courtesy of calling me back. It also didn't help matters that the person who called HR made up a ton of lies that I had to listen to over and over and over again. It made me depressed... 

.... I started sleeping all the time... I didn't want to do anything... I hated what my life had become...

THAT is when I had my second "mild-breakdown" and pulled my car over to the side of the road and decided in a fit of insanity that I was done.

6 months later. Here I am.

FREE.

Oh, and for the record, I am not a crazy person. I also learned it is probably a good thing I didn't join the military... I wouldn't have done so well in long-term high stress situations.