1.24.2012
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there are times when i lose faith in small businesses. i thought that they had to have more humanity, more caring, a greater respect for their workers than big business. that their charming shops were a reflection of their owners. that they couldn't possibly be bad to work for. that because you could put a face to the position of power at the top, and that they could put a face to you, their worker, that they couldn't possibly treat you as less than nothing, as a doormat, as someone they could disregard, whose life outside of work doesn't matter. i lose faith because i have been that person far more often than i like. that because i choose to be nice, to be generous with my time and ideas, that i like to be helpful that it means i can be pushed around, be lied to, be cheated and robbed of my workers' rights, to be shushed. for all that big business likes to be bean counters, to see its workers in terms of numbers, i have never been treated with such disrespect and inhumanity during my time working for them that i have experienced in the occasions i have found myself working for a small business. i don't understand the greed, the lies, the selfishness that i come up against. it pains me to have my faith crumble and turn to dust. it turns my empathy to antipathy, and i wonder if life will always be an uphill battle in the workforce and that hard work, a love for what one does, ultimately counts as nothing.
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not all small business is like that but good ones are the exception. all my family has been small business people, my mother had friends all her life that had been employees at one time - and my ex and I had employees that stole from us and actually stole customers and worked for them on the side. As a single woman I've had employers who were unbelievably bad with hardly a good one amoungst them, but treating employees badly is unacceptable. It wears you down and destroys your faith and trust in people. big hugs!
ReplyDeletei've had good relations with many small business owners, i've just never worked for them; which makes it all that much more difficult when i come across the bad ones. you hear a lot of the horror stories, and i can see both sides.
ReplyDeletei've always thought i had good work ethics; show up on time, do your job to the best of your ability, separate home life from business life, do the job you agreed on in the interview. in exchange, you get paid what you agreed on, you aren't expected to work beyond your schedule without being consulted first, your worker's rights are respected, you aren't suddenly told to do things which weren't in your job description and to not get paid a fair wage for, and you aren't lied to about things which relate to your pay, time, or personal life. i'm up front with my expectations and abilities during the interview, i expect the same on the owners part.
i know this is ranting, but sometimes it's easier to "move on" when you vent a little. thanks for the hugs, i need them!