First the house, then a job.... Almost

I went to visit my old boss Mike today. He was surprised to see me because he didn’t know I was back in town. But I had stopped in to visit in the past, so he wasn’t completely surprised.

We chatted for a while and he told me he had done some “housecleaning” last week. Turns out one employee had blown up at another employee and threatened bodily harm. He was fired. Then the good news – my old manager had been fired too. Mike said that on the same day he fired the other employee he decided to fire John too. Said he realized he had just had it, he couldn’t deal with John anymore. It was about time too. John had always been a problem, but Mike didn’t have it in his nature to fire him sooner. So now Mike is down two employees. And I’m looking for a job.

You do the math.

It was lunch time at the shop and his remaining four workers came out of the shop to get their food. I knew two of them and chatted a bit with them. Mike then introduced me to one employee I didn't know. “Hi, I’m Laura, I used to work here.” “Nice to meet you. Are you going to work here again?” he asked. “I don’t know. Mike and I hadn’t gotten to that point in our conversation yet.”

Which was really a nice segue way. We talked a little bit, but I didn’t want to pressure Mike, so I said “well, think about it and call me if you’re interested.” He replied, “I don’t need to think about it, I’d love to have you back at the shop. But I don’t have enough work right now.”

I was very complimented. No need to convince him to re-hire me. I had a job if I wanted it, I only had to wait. And even though he couldn’t hire me right away, I figure that even if I have to take a crappy job, I can always drop it when a position comes available with him. So it was a good day.