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 adrug
Registered: 02/04/03
Posts: 15,769
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 The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? 
#7625419 - 11/12/07 11:00 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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Yes, I have reached the breaking point. I'm wondering what the appropriate response is for this situation? Because honestly what I feel like doing is quitting my job, retreating into a hole, and never coming out.
I have been seriously overworked, under-paid, and under-appreciated. I get paid the same wage working as an Art Director that I got as an assistant manager in a pizza restaurant. I haven't had a single evaluation or pay adjustment in 15 months (not that I haven't been asking for one). I have successfully learned more new printing methods and processes in 2 years than my predecessor did in a decade, and have put these new methods into practice, thereby increasing our workflow significantly. I have turned the fucking art department AROUND, into an organized well-oiled machine, and now they are literally trying to break me.
I had another artist helping me out, she did good work. Her only problem was, she didn't like to come to work. My boss asked me for months if he could fire her and I said I didn't want her fired. I liked her, and I didn't mind if she was gone once in awhile as long as she had a good excuse. She wasn't "getting along well" in the office. But then one day, she called in sick, and I was at her desk, taking care of some of her work. I happened to glance at her calendar on her computer to see what day of the week a certain day was, and she had marked down that she was going to a Halloween party that afternoon. So obviously she wasn't sick. Finally I couldn't argue with my boss anymore, and he fired her.
So now, its just me, running the art department for a company that does 7 figures every year, taking on EVERYTHING in the art department, stressing myself out to kingdom come, and not getting any help or sympathy from anyone in the building.
Today is just about the last straw. My workload is insane right now, and I was practically crying, shaking, begging my boss to just hire someone to help me. And he says no. I insisted, he said, try to make it through this week and then we'll "talk about it next week". Which definitely means we'll never talk about it again until I run into his office freaking out like I did today. And then he'll just say no again, or put it off even longer.
Something has to change. I haven't walked out the door yet, I can't, I NEED THE DAMN PAYCHECK, but when I get all tingly and shaky in my extremities like this, SOMETHING is going to happen. I can feel my heart pounding and my breathing is extremely labored. So yeah, what is the appropriate response to this breaking point? Am I having a nervous breakdown? In a few minutes, I have to leave my lunch break and go back to finish off the day. Can I do it?!? WE SHALL SEE....
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 RoosterCogburn
Fearless,one-eyed U.S.Marshall
 
Registered: 08/25/06
Posts: 8,508
Loc: Dirty South, NJ
Last seen: 8 months, 10 days
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7625447 - 11/12/07 11:06 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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I'm in a similar boat... My bosses are tight with the pursestrings, and we need help. Everyone is overworked, and about to quit.
I'm starting a web design / ecommerce consulting business and working it from my office. Once it's up and running, I'm quitting.
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JonnyOnTheSpot
king of thedicks!
Registered: 01/27/02
Posts: 11,262
Loc: lost and found
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7625451 - 11/12/07 11:07 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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tell him you're going to quit unless he gives you a raise, hires someone else, or both. it sounds like he can't really afford to lose you. tell him you want to talk about it now, and that you want it resolved immediately or else you're leaving and he can take over the workload personally.
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ZippoZ
Knomadic
Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 12,096
Loc: Pongyang, North Korea
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: JonnyOnTheSpot]
#7625463 - 11/12/07 11:11 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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walk in, demand a rase, or say that youre quitting.
you have to mean it or it wont work.
and make the raise worth your while. tell him that since youre doing your assistants job as well as yours you want 75% of what her pay was added to your check. then negotiate with him, but dont let the percentage get below %50.
with the mood your in right now, you have a damn good chance of pulling it off. if they truly need you as much as you say, they will have no other option.
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PEACE
 zippoz
"in times of widespread chaos and cofusion, it has ben the duty of more advanced human beings - artists, scientists, clowns, and philosophers - to create order. In such times as ours however, when there is too much order, too much m anagment, too much programming and controll, it becomes the duty of superior men and women and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption"
"People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."
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Senor_Doobie
Snake Pit Champion
Registered: 08/11/99
Posts: 20,146
Loc: Wexico
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7625467 - 11/12/07 11:11 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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Put in your notice. F that guy
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At midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do
And they bring them to the factory where the heart attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders and then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles by insurance men who go
Make sure that no one is escaping from Desolation Row
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sam420
CertifiedReptilianOverlord
Registered: 01/14/05
Posts: 3,143
Loc: Scotland
Last seen: 1 month, 22 days
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: Senor_Doobie]
#7625499 - 11/12/07 11:19 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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you deserve a raise, if you don't ask you don't get
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i'm a spy huntin rap dinosaur from the future
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Silversoul
Holon
Registered: 01/01/05
Posts: 22,562
Loc: Mostly harmless
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7625553 - 11/12/07 11:33 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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I reached my breaking point a month ago. My whole department was micromanaged by this dumb bitch from our corporate office in Florida. We had daily teleconferences to discuss what we were doing that day(which was the same shit as every other day). I was supposed to have my 90-day review last September, but didn't get it until June. I figured they owed me 6 months back-pay for that, but no such luck. I also got a stellar year review in September, but no raise. Shit finally hit the fan when they fired a valuable member of my department. The rest of us quit. It was a tough decision. It was all so sudden, and I didn't have another job lined up. I'm still looking, and the job search can be really frustrating, but I just knew that something had to give. It's amazing how well I've managed to take care of myself during this period of unemployment. I know that things will work out. They always have before.
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CherryBom
Rock Gypsy
Registered: 12/26/98
Posts: 9,925
Loc: Ontario
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: sam420]
#7625555 - 11/12/07 11:33 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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This sounds like the kind of situation that is not going to get any better. You can't force someone to appreciate and respect you. In all honesty, your upper management sounds like a bunch of assholes who are trying to get everything they can out of you for as little as possible.
One thing that I have learned is that it's usually not going to get any better. Usually. You can threaten to quit, but that is not going to mean anything to anyone until you do it.
I think you should start looking for a new job. You're smart and you have crazy skills. Finding a new job isn't hard to do...even if you can find something at the same pay temporairaly while you find your dream job. You just can't let people walk all over you... You have to take charge of your life.
Good luck!
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wps
Well-PaidScientist
Registered: 09/22/07
Posts: 577
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: CherryBom]
#7625565 - 11/12/07 11:38 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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shhhhhhhhhhhhhh
the economy is fine and everyone is getting paid what they should. no one is overworked. Anyone in America can find work if they want it.
stop complaining, you're making us look bad. 
but seriously, just devote a portion of your day to looking for a new job. channel all your frustration into that. Then, when you find one and get hired, leave your boss wallowing in the mess he created for himself.
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"America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you've lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn't belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don't care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve."
- Tom Morello
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GGreatOne234
Stranger
Registered: 12/23/99
Posts: 8,946
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 Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7625628 - 11/12/07 11:55 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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I would get my thoughts together, until I felt calm and rational, and then tell your boss to meet you in his office to talk. Just be cool and friendly. Give him a brief explanation about how you feel about your job, then tell him you either want a immediate raise in pay, or a two week notice of your termination with the option of only working half days for him so you can have the time to find another job. If your boss decides on the latter than just be a complete slacker for the two weeks and watch the place turn into chaos right in front of your bosses face. Then he might even reconsider a raise for you.
Either way, you are obviously stressing way too hard over this job, and doing way too much work for them than they deserve from you.
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BIGSWANG
oakridge gang, beotch
Registered: 02/18/02
Posts: 18,678
Loc: Iwishanigga woods
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7625644 - 11/12/07 12:02 PM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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demand what you are owed, or walk the fuck out
no one knows what you are worth unless you tell them
hope all is well schnookums
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Admin Edit: Your signiture is inappropriate and has been removed. Do not harass other members in your signiture. Also refrain from posting links to scat pornography. If I see anything like that here again, you will be banned.
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wrestler_az
PsiLLy BiLLy
Registered: 08/11/02
Posts: 10,580
Loc: day dreams of a mad man
Last seen: 2 hours, 52 minutes
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7626067 - 11/12/07 01:42 PM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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hes gotta give you a raise
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how's your WOW?
Edited by yageman (04/20/06 4:20 PM)
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ZippoZ
Knomadic
Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 12,096
Loc: Pongyang, North Korea
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: wrestler_az]
#7628807 - 11/13/07 01:47 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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so what did you do?
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PEACE
zippoz
"in times of widespread chaos and cofusion, it has ben the duty of more advanced human beings - artists, scientists, clowns, and philosophers - to create order. In such times as ours however, when there is too much order, too much m anagment, too much programming and controll, it becomes the duty of superior men and women and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption"
"People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."
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40oz
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 29,799
Loc: Sandy Eggo. Ca.
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7628828 - 11/13/07 02:05 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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adrug, your skills are BEYOND amazing.
whore yours skills out there!
put out ads in the paper, online, etc. etc.
offering graphic design, etc. etc.
stop working for someone else & start working for yourself.
take a small chuck of your time EVERY DAY
whoring your skills out until you get off the ground.
it's bound to happen if you devote the time & effort into it.
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 - - - -     
 
tiny_rabid_birds said:
"your avatar is dirty."
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Toddo
Stranger
Registered: 07/09/04
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7628832 - 11/13/07 02:08 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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If you have an updated demo-reel/resume then start sending that shit EVERYWHERE! That might be your only ticket out of there...and the way things sound, its not worth what your being put through.
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Oracle Of Delphi
I, Phantom
Registered: 06/23/02
Posts: 1,135
Loc: State of Disrepair
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: adrug]
#7628876 - 11/13/07 03:17 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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the economy is in the toilet.
people are being forced to work 3 jobs ON THE SAME JOB.
start looking for another job - the one you are at is a dead end. they are already cut to the bone - you will never get a raise - (im sorry to be so negative- but this exactly like ,y last 3 jobs, and it never got any better - )
I am an artist too, and no one is hiring. at least no one who is willing to pay me what i am worth, so I do other things....
I am the customer service manager of a huge co thats been open for 25 yrs- and I make $14.50/hr in NEW YORK CITY (Thats shit money BTW) but there is nothing else out there.
keep looking - try to not hold in your feelings (that's bad for you anyway)- I just cried in my bosses office (im a chick and so is she) because after telling everyone how i feel doing 3 jobs - no one cared - so i had a meltdown - all it got me was a few hours off on Friday and the promise that she will help me get a better job. 
i feel your angst - get it out - tell a friend who will listen - but know that things are so bad now - be happy you are working
- keep looking - and make a lot of connections - maybe afoaf can help you get a better job. Thats what I am banking on.
Ood
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LucidDream
Hungry BlueFiend
Registered: 05/09/03
Posts: 1,488
Loc: Planet of the Stupid Peop...
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Re: The appropriate response to my "breaking point"? [Re: Oracle Of Delphi]
#7628905 - 11/13/07 03:55 AM (4 years, 6 months ago) |
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I feel your pain. I'm a graphic designer, and since my assistant left two years ago, they keep me chained to my desk.
I know what that pressure is like. You need a break before you implode. Sounds like your boss is a jerk of the first water. I hope they get you some help or cut you some slack. But it doesn't sound like they will.
I have days where I think: I could be flipping hamburgers. And it sounds so nice and relaxed compared to what I do.
Good luck, man. Give them hell.
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