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My 2nd and last salaried job was at a company where they asked me to write a
manual and help in a very unrealistic time frame. I was younger and had more
energy then. I said OK.
For 3 weeks, I worked 80+ hours a week and got a good manual and help out
the door. At the end I didn't see my kid, I had no clean underwear, I was a
very tired girl.
I went to the manager and asked for 4 to 5 days so I could sleep, wash
clothes and see my kid. He said he could give me an afternoon off if I
needed to have some "personal time". That was pretty much all I needed to
know about the manager.
I quit about 2 weeks later, making that job last for a total of 6 salaried
weeks. My first salaried job had gone like that for 2 years and I was tired
of not being paid for the hours I worked (and not seeing my kid, and not
having a personal life and not sleeping and...).
Since comp time has no legal reality in California, when the first job laid
me off, I was essentially screwed out of over 150 hours of comp time. And
that was after I took 2 weeks of comp time (80+ hours?) to go to Yucatan and
sleep. And sit on the beach and read. Feed my soul.
Some companies have a culture of LOTS of work. My company does not. We
schedule 40 to 45 hours a week, with crunch time at maybe 50. I will not
work my people into the ground. We make mistakes then and it is too hard to
fix them when you are all zombies. Fixing one makes another...
I cannot do that to people and look at myself in the mirror. My ethics. I
stumble over them a lot, unfortunately.
Sent: Monday, July 29, 2002 12:02 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Cc: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Average Hours Worked
bryan -dot- westbrook -at- amd -dot- com wrote:
> My take on the whole "Cult of Long Hours" situation is that it is just
another manifestation of our victim culture. The people who are bragging
about their long hours are really saying, "Look at how much I suffer for my
job. Woe is me. Respect me bec
ause I am so overworked."
I'm not sure. Rather than claiming that they're victims, these cultists
sound to me as though they're boasting. Some of them are boasting about
their dedication, and others are boasting about their stamina, but all
of them seem proud of what they're doing.
Personally, I take pride in the fact that I am quick enough and
organized enough that I rarely need over-time.
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