Do-over

For the past 11+ years I have been working at a wholesale food distribution warehouse.

The first 9 years I was a clerk in the Outbound Office getting the invoices ready to send with the truck to the stores we service and verifying the load through our internal paperwork/computer system.

For the last 2 1/2 years I have been in the Perishable Receiving Department as the Receiving Clerk. In this job I basically run our shift. I have a supervisor who handles all of us to some extent and the more sensative co-workers when it comes to reallocating staff ro a colder part of the warehouse than they normally work in but for the most part he is the one truly unneccessary individual.I monitor our schedule of incoming loads, tweak it when possible (we are at the mercy of our idiot buyers), check drivers in, process the bills-of-lading through our computer system, assign dock doors, get the paperwork whereever it needs to go, verify that everything has been received properly, and check the drivers out. I also am the chief trouble-shooter, problem-solver, question-answerer,keeper of all records, nanny, mother, sister, babysitter, friend, therapist,and flirt to the 10 guys I work with (receivers and highlift operators)and the 4 man crew from an outside contractor who unloads the trucks. Nothing I do is rocket science. Nothing I do is particularly difficult in any way. At all. For anyone. A chimp. However, it does take a degree of talent (and patience) to do all the things I do simultaneously. While smiling. Ok so sometimes it's through gritted teeth but you get the idea.

I love my job. I love this goofy group of guys I work with. I love the guys who unload the trucks. I even love some of the truck drivers. I didn't say all or a lot, I said some (I'm not THAT crazy-I detest the idiot, non-english-speaking, IQ below 60 drivers just like the rest of the world).

The company I work for is nation wide from New England to Callifornia. I don't know how many DC's (distribution centers) or store we have but it is a lot. Of all of the DC's the one I work in has the highest productivity rating in the country. The US of A. Really! How cool is that? The guys I work with have all been at this warehouse for at least 24 years. Years. Not months.

They're closing our warehouse!

We've known of the impending doom for a little over 2 years now. The company has been very good about the whole thing. They told us as soon as the decission had been made. They have offered jobs at the newer warehouse they aquired through a merger (55 miles away and a union shop). And, they are giving us a generous severence package and we will be able to collect unemployement benefits.

But it still sucks!

As of today, I have 29 more days to work (minus 8 hrs of personal time and ~12 hrs of sick time). I had to start saying goodbye to some of the drivers last week. The ones I have to say goodbye to are the people who have been coming to our warehouse practically every week. Some are there 2 days a week. Some 3 days. Mike from Hatfield Meats is in my office every day except Thursday.

The purpose of this entry is twofold. First to just kick and scream at the whole unfairness of it all (yes, I know life's not fair). To say the pain I am feeling as the reality sets in is excruciating. But also secondly, to acknowledge the potential. The possabilities of a fresh start. The chance to say, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" And actually be able to give it some thought. It's not too late to change the answer to that question, in fact it's the perfect time for a do-over! So, with that in mind I will be starting over. I have just set up a new blog (drumroll please) Fearless-Knitter.