Why my blog is subtitled "it's not much, but it's all I've got!!!"

Two or three jobs ago, I was working for a privately owned company.  I could spend hours and hours and many, many blog pages telling you about the characters who worked there.  [If I was ever interested in writing a book...  my goodness, it would be a bestseller for sure!] 

There was a day when there was a very severe snowstorm, so severe, in fact, that 40' tractor trailers were spinning out on the road in front of our office.  When I saw that, I left early to go home.

Early = 4pm.

Instead of 5pm.

I'm not talking about noon, or immediately after I got to work, people!  I'm talking 4pm.

I was called into the vice president's office the next day; he also happened to share the same last name as the owner of the company.  He was the owner's son.  I was called in and he sat there, behind his desk, and told me that he had spoken to F, the owner's secretary, and he told me SHE was authorizing the payroll department to dock my pay an hour for leaving early the day before.

I was a salaried employee.

To this day, I can feel the heat rise in my face, burning my ears.  But rather than tell him to F off, I very calmly, although my voice was shaking, told him he could do whatever he wanted.  He could okay the paycut, but "I had a life, it wasn't much, but it was the only one I had," and I wasn't risking it to stay another hour at work during a snowstorm when tractor trailers were spinning their wheels in front of the building...  I reminded him that I was salaried, that when I worked extra hours or didn't take a lunch, I was NOT compensated, and that I'd be happy to change over to an hourly employee if he or F would prefer to pay me for the hours I worked.

He knew he was wrong.  He knew F was wrong.  He simply placated me, though, saying he understood my position but it really wasn't fair to pay me for time I wasn't working.

I reminded him again of the definition of a salaried employee, excused myself, and went back to my office where I didn't do a lick of work for the rest of the day (but got paid as if I did), created all sorts of new and anatomically impossible curse words, and complained to all in the vicinity about F, who thought the boss' money was hers to manage because...  Oops, I'm not going there...

Suffice it to say that I was NOT docked an hour.  He decided he had a pair and stood up to the secretary. 

But I never forgot my comeback:  "I have a life, M.  It may not be much to you, but it's all I've got!"

And I thought it summarized my blog rather well.  I will never have hundreds or thousands of readers, but I have you guys and while I might never be the most interesting blog you read, you'll be reading what really goes on in my little ole' life, no holds barred.  Admittedly it's rather boring most of the time.  We don't travel a lot.  We are not fighters.  We don't do anything real exciting most of the time.  It's usually just breakfast, work, lunch, work, dinner, tv, sleep.  And then start all over.

But I'm really happy in my life.  I have family and friends who love me.  I have a job I like (even though I'm playing the lottery and hope to win and retire early!).  I read a lot, watch TV and scrap, and that occupies my free time.  We are blessed enough to have a vacation home which is why we don't go away very much.  I live in a safe and boring neighborhood, but we like it.  It reminds us of when we grew up, when we knew all the neighbors and the neighbors knew us.

My stories aren't edge-of-your-seat-exciting, but they're my stories, and they're my real life.  Not much, maybe, but it's all I've got!!!