Getting let go

 

On February 22, 2016 I decided to write about getting let go from a job, which is never easy.  Sometimes you can know it’s coming if it’s a temporary seasonal job.  Other times it can come as a complete surprise.  This happened to me five years ago.  I was working at a shoe store and didn’t have any experience in selling shoes before I started.  They told me that was alright as they would train me on the off season.  They did a few hours training at one of their other stores, and then started me the next day.

I felt so overwhelmed with anxiety as I had never done sales before.  Sure I had lots of customer service experience, but it’s not the same as trying to get someone to buy something they might not normally buy.  I’m not a pushy person and if I can tell someone doesn’t want something then I usually leave them alone.  I found that I wasn’t picking up all the lingo for learning about a description of a shoe and how one shoe might be better than another one.

I found that the best work I did at the store was when they had to do inventory, as I was great at counting and organizing things.  It wasn’t too much later after that they decided to let me go, as they felt I wasn’t learning quick enough for what they felt was their standards.  Since it was only one month at this point I was completely shocked that I’d be let go as I thought it was three months that I would be on probation with the job.  I found out then that you can be let go any time in between the three months if the employer felt it wasn’t working.

I was so distraught as I had never been let go from a job before at that point.  I felt if they had given me more time I would have done better.  They felt since it was going to start to get busy soon after I got let go they needed employees they felt they could rely on better.  I left and went home and ended up becoming self-destructive as I was so upset and didn’t know how else to cope.

Now jump ahead five years to today.  As I wrote in a previous post I had been hired at a bakery shop.  It was a mom and pop store as the store owner helped with all the pastries being made, the day to day things and anything that needed to be ordered.  It was her first store and I could tell she was really stressed out on a regular basis.  It probably had something to do with working everyday for super long hours.

I found her training style was not great.  If I made a mistake or if she noticed something wasn’t right in the store she would automatically tell me.  I don’t mind if I’m corrected on things as then I know not to do it again, but the problem was that she wasn’t training me in between those times.  I had to figure out most things on my own.  In her eyes I was making a bunch of mistakes.  Of course I would be – what would you expect when you don’t outline the description of the job.

I found out this past week after picking up a shift for the morning person that she was letting me go.  She felt that I was making too many mistakes and that a sales job wasn’t for me.  I didn’t completely realize it was a sales job when most people came into the store and would buy the desserts that they wanted.  Often I didn’t even have to suggest something to them and they would buy something.  On my last day I did try to suggest things more as the store owner had got after me the day before about that.  I actually didn’t know it was my last day until the end of my shift.

I actually had a sense though that I might be let go as just before my lunch time the store manager said “we have to talk”.  I tried not to get upset, but I got teary eyed after I found out that I wouldn’t have a job at the bakery store anymore.  I can say for sure that I handled it much better this time then I did when I lost my job five years ago.

Instead of being self-destructive right after, I ended up walking home as I knew that I needed to walk off that really upset energy in me.  I know God was with me that day as I feel He was letting me know beforehand what was going to happen so that it wouldn’t be as much of a shock to me.

The next few days I do admit that I was feeling quite depressed.  I think that it is alright to feel really down about a hard situation, as long as you don’t dwell on it too long.  By the start of this week I was starting to feel better and realized it is the store owner’s loss by letting me go, as I know I was a good employee.  It just means that God has something even better for me out there.

Patricia <3 J

 

Philippians 4:6-7    Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Here’s a song about our Saviour moving the mountains in our lives that are there and our God is might to save us.  We ask Him to take us in all we are with our fears and failures and to fill our lives again and give us a life to follow, and to help us surrender all to Him, so He can shine a light in those mountains of our lives.

 

“Mighty To Save” by Hillsong Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCZ3Kcl4uEQ&list=PL3whQX319DaB37iB8NZpJe206iSdpe3kc&index=199