Thursday, June 04, 2009

Support in numbers


Things have been pretty hectic lately with graduating, trying to find employment, and holding together the house while finances are an issue. In that quest to hold everything together I have really noticed that when you ask for help and support, you truly get it. I really appreciated the other day when I blogged about my husband's moods and how they affect me when everyone let me know where they were with it. Some wrote about how they understood because their husband's were going through similar moods and I really appreciated when people could help me understand where Anthony is right now.

Here is a little more into the issue. Anthony has been working for AT&T for about 2 and 1/2 years. He loves his job in that he enjoys making his customers happy and seems to get fulfillout out of the actual work. The politics of work are not so exciting for him. He came into the company when U-verse (their new television service) was not even on the market yet. He was on a temporary contract since they did not know if the sevice would work out. He did not care as it was the first job he had ever had that really fulfilled him while also paying well. We all look for that combination.

Just about 6 months ago things started to get very difficult. Their contract ended and they were working for a permanent contract and every 5 minutes it seems they threaten to take away benefits, change the job description to require more of the workers yet not pay them any more for their work, and then the guys talk about striking. In this economy that sounds like a nightmare to us. Not to mention I just graduated and it takes a little more time to start to be a therapist than people would think. We require a number from the Board of Behavioral Sciences to even be able to make money at it and that all requires a lot of filing of paperwork...Back to Anthony.

So as the company beared down and started requiring all of these nonsensical things from the workers it started to make Anthony have a lot of anxiety. He does great work there and even has gotten several calls from customers telling managment how wonderful he was to them. I am very proud of Anthony for always doing quality work. Sadly, the company seems to devalue the quality work and overvalue the quickness of work. If you want to do your job well, you can't be in and out of a customer's house. Every single house is wired differently and to make sure they have the best television service possible, you have to do a quality job. Every month the productivity numbers get harder and harder to meet without doing a crappy job.

This is not what we believe that God wants from us as a people. We are both very set on doing the best job we can do and honoring God with our work. Anthony feels like he is scolded on a daily basis for doing quality work and leading with his personality. I am saddened that he has to go through this every single day. It certainly comes home with him too as I am the one person who affirms him for doing a good job and pleasing his customers. My heart is in that as I am therapist and my job is entirely about people.

All of that to say, it's been hard for me to watch him be in agony some days for doing what he feels God wants him to do and not receive any affirmation about it at work. I really appreciate the input everyone gave me as it certainly made me feel more normal as a wife and helped me look over the issue well and respond to Anthony very well. I love that guy and really want him to have fulfillment in all he does. I forget sometimes that I can't save him from what the world really is. He still really likes his job and enjoys the people he works with so I am praying that soon...that will pay off for him.

Anyway, thanks for reading the new installment on this issue...I will try to keep everyone posted on what I learn through this.

1 comment:

Terra said...

I completely understand where you & Anthony are coming from with this. Toby's job is riddled with problems, but the biggest is that he works for people who are unethical and who take no pride in a job well done AT ALL. "Half-assing" a job or lying to save face goes against everything in Toby. It's hard as his wife because the work environment is hammering against many of the things I fell in love with in the first place - the ethics, the morals, the hard-working nature, the honesty...etc.

As I have told Toby a million times (not that it makes his days any easier): it may not feel like it today, but one day he will be rewarded for being the kind of man he is...and as for the others - well, karma can be a very nasty thing :)

Here's to thanking God that we got to marry to one of the "good ones"!!