Roasted and Salted

Every Wednesday at 5 pm, I have my weekly meeting held on Teams with my Boss. He lives in Washington state. I have only seen him on camera and that's far and few. In fact, he was out of the office for my original interview. I have never met him in person. My Wednesday around 4:59 pm he will send me an email telling me to call when I am ready. If he doesn't type a message he will send a gif. Well, today he typed, "good afternoon, feel free to call anytime, day or night. Operators are standing by."

 

I took a swig of water after finishing up a handful of pumpkin seeds and called him. He answered on the 4th ring. I always say Hey <his name>! He also says well Good Afternoon in his jovial voice. After we asked each other how we were doing, he said that he had a rough day but he was looking forward to our meeting. He said regardless of how you feel Terrie, you always bring energy to our calls. I was looking forward to that to cheer me up. He said every Wednesday that we meet it makes him feel happy. He inquired if it was a Southern thing or the fact that I'm a mom. I said to myself--- SHEED Kailee be getting it!🤣

I gave homage to my first full-time job after college; Suncom. I told him how we were provided mirrors that we hung on our cubicles and we were trained to smile while talking. That brought enthusiasm to the call. We went on to discuss the pros and cons of customer service. Those customers called me everything except Sadie and Jerry's third-born. Those customers that I wanted to turn their phones off and roll by their houses. But one key thing that we both agreed on was that anger from those customers was already there. As a rep, I just happened to be in the wrong place and at the wrong time. My reaction depended on which way the conversation would go. At first, until I got it...I was nasty. But then I learned the nice, nasty way of doing things.

In fact, it reminded me of a customer at another job that I took the call from a now-deceased co-worker. He made threats of coming to our place of employment. I told my co-worker to tell him I will meet him in the middle of Hwy 17 with some flip flops and a tank top before he transferred the call to add a little humor to the situation. After I took the call, I tried to be reasonable with him. But the yelling and all that continued. I finally said to him, that neither myself nor my coworker had done anything to him. When he was ready to talk in a calm, reasonable matter and was ready for a resolution, he could call me back. I provided him with my phone number and disconnected the call. 

He called back several minutes later, apologized and the issue was resolved. He explained to me the "why." Needless to say, a few days later, my department received some gourmet cookies from San Francisco. Now you know I grew up in a house where we talked about roots and all that stuff. I passed on the cookies.

I'm sitting here eating my pumpkin seeds as I type this message.  On the label of the package, it reads "Roasted and Salted" We have to learn to not take things personally and learn from our experiences.  We must not always feel the need to "ROAST" an individual because we feel "SALTY" about a situation.  These pumpkin seeds are small in size, but rich sources of things that are essential for survival. At times we can't reciprocate what's being given to us in some situations. Sometimes walk away and revisit. Other times do nothing. The people that we look for the most praise may never give it to us. But it's the people that we least know when they give us praise, it's greatly appreciated. Take this seed and use it as a source for your peaceful bloom. Use Good Sense.

#AGirlWorthFightingFor

#WeBlogg

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One

Today marks my one-year anniversary with my employer. On December 31, 2020, my employer of almost three years laid me off, due to my project not being renewed. I was told that I could go to another project, but that didn't happen. Dates kept getting pushed back. Communication became null. For the first time in decades, I found myself without a full-time job. Sad that I left a job where I worked with an amazing group of people. I actually had I job that I liked. But there was truly nowhere for me to go and maintain that level of enjoyment. Sometimes we're at jobs or in situations, where it requires us to look beyond the good to realize the bad.

I had great job leads, interviews, and offers. I declined certain jobs because I remembered past jobs and vowed never to repeat that cycle. I was on a mission for PEACE at this stage in my life. I had worked hard for organizations and disrupted my personal life. I made sacrifices all for the sake of being labeled a good/hard worker for companies that definitely deserve it. In fact, I referred to them as "plantations". I stayed out in the field doing most of the work. I never had the desire to be "with the house crowd" which is usually the reason why people often question who did I think I was. I didn't think but knew who I was and what I did and could do. So I continued my searches and endured the rejections.

Most importantly, I remembered my prayers and his promises. For years I always said, I desired a work-from-home job, my baby to attend college without paying a dime, and my declaration of love with someone who gets me and got me.

For one job I interviewed for, I did everything by the book. They loved my personality and were impressed by my skills; I never heard anything. I recall a prayer for me, and the words weren't "give her this job" but "give her the job that you see fit."

Not working gave me a time of reflection and availability. Things fell into place. I never skipped a beat with anything. I started doing some consulting. I found myself revisiting some old bridges, only to realize that nothing changed. In actuality, it was time to burn that bridge to ensure that I never crossed it again. I discovered a new me that saw a different me and I liked her.

During those few months, my support was amazing. There was never a conversation that didn't start off with asking if I needed anything and before the dial tone, the assurance to call if indeed I did. It was during this time of so-called defeat, I experienced many victories.

Then low and behold, while being petty on Facebook, I was contacted by a friend. They asked if I was working, and I said, "no." Weeks later I was offered a job working in higher education and at home. Those who know me, know how I love higher education, particularly the student side. I'm a motivator, but I give it to you straight with no chaser. I want to see you succeed. But at the same time, if you don't want my motivation, I conserve my energy for those who do. These days, it's easier to walk away from certain storms, Instead of weathering them.

I type this post while sitting in front of my work computer in my office at home, waiting on my coffee to finish brewing. Cheers to perseverance, tenacity, and faith. Thanksgiving to those that saw fit to whisper my name in a prayer. I am a true and living testimony that "I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread." To anyone reading this long post and you are in a season of uncertainty, hold on. Someone is watching. Someone is standing in the gap for you. It's a temporary setback for an enormous comeback.

#itsmyanniversary #ContinuedBlessings #continuedprayers #bestillandprosper #agirlworthfightingfor