My Girlfriend Gets a Promotion

In recent weeks, even months, my girlfriend has been itching to get something new in terms of a job. She works at a retirement home, and it is not an easy job. Frankly, I do not even know how she does it. Her job is to give medicine to old people, to bathe and take care of them, often including their bathroom needs. Many of them have dementia, which makes it especially difficult to do. Often, she has to lift (or help lift) heavy patients, and this is something that has hurt her back numerous times.

This might not qualify as literally "back-breaking work, but it comes fairly close. Especially since she has had to endure sometimes severe back problems over the past year or two. She never used to have back problems and, in fact, wondered why I seemed to have back problems so often. But she found out herself, and the hard way. She had problems after lifting a particularly heavy resident at the retirement home, and has consistently suffered problems since. In fact, like me, she learned that she has sciatica, which is a particularly painful ailment when it comes to back problems, and this stretches beyond the back. Just lately, she had problems with her foot, and was limping at times noticeably. She openly wondered just how long she could keep working at the job, and there was little keeping her there, specifically, especially with how she is treated by both residents and the management.

In short, it is a difficult job, and a thankless one, to boot. I'm not kidding! You know how she and the other caretakers at the place were rewarded shortly after the holiday season? They were told that they were getting their hours cut by four hours per week. They had already gotten their hours cut earlier, I believe it was last year at some point. It was a decision made by the top brass, presumably, and they were not even told in a dignified way, like with a meeting, since people probably would have spoken out. Each employee was called into the boss's office and were then informed of their new schedules, or at least the new schedule options.

This was something that just pushed her too far. She would come home loathing her job, dreaming of leaving. She asked me to write an anonymous letter, which I did, and we were going to write that letter to the local Hillsborough newspaper.

Well, there was a position that opened up last year, and which she applied for. She asked me for help in updating her resume and cover letter, which I did. But they gave the job to another.

Apparently, that did not work out, and so she asked me to again update her resume and cover letter, which I did. Before she could even submit her letter, though, they inquired if she was still interested in the position. There was supposed to be an interview, and we went over some of the likely job interview questions, and how best to answer them.

The big boss, the regional manager of the company she works for, had asked to talk to her. That was on Friday afternoon, and so on Monday, she expected to be interviewed. When she came home after work on Monday afternoon, nothing had happened, though. She was worried.

I was feeling tired on Monday, and went to sleep a little earlier than usual. Maybe an hour into my nap (I usually take a three hour nap just before leaving for my overnight shift, after usually about four or five hours sleep in the morning), she woke me up. This was unusual, but when she told me the good news, I was very happy.

She was beaming. That big boss had called her up, and told her that the position was hers. They would go over the paperwork and other details in the morning. There would be training. But the position was hers.

The details are yet to emerge, including specifics about salaries and benefits, although by and large, they will be a step up. 

But she got the position that she wanted, and she is extremely happy. She actually was crying when her boss told her on the phone. I woke up, and we went out to celebrate with dinner, my treat.

A special night for the both of us, with this bit of good news.

Congratulations to her!