No More Sunday Work

I thought there would be some announcement or something, although I don't remember past announcements of previous hires.  But my co-worker back on Monday said that the department hired a new person.  She comes from the lab, and I saw her escorted around our area a few weeks ago by my boss.  She began training last week.  In a reply to asking him where he needs me next week, he said that her training is going to be stepped up; she will be filling in on tasks I filled in last week.  Eventually, she will fully take over the position that was once that "wraparound" job from Saturdays to Tuesdays, which I think my boss modified because the schedule was just too funky to attract people.  But that schedule will include Sundays, and my slot; in that same e-mail, my boss said he expects her to take over Sundays by around Memorial Weekend.

First of all, I will say that I don't think we need to fill this position -- at least I don't think.  Right now there are two of us who are jacks-of-all-trades, going through what eventually will be four departments.  The other three departments I understand; there could be a third person there, especially in filing, since there is a position open there and filing really needs someone.  But she, like us two, will mainly be out in the main department, and there has been enough people to key all the forms there that finishing on time has never been a problem.  We in fact have been cut early once each of the past two weeks.  That is an indication that enough people are working to take care of the forms that come in each day.  Another body is just going to get the work done faster, and raise the possibility that we all will get cut sooner.  I don't get that.

As for Sundays ... hey, I've got to admit that ever since I volunteered to take over Sunday afternoons -- only four hours a day to take care of a job that someone has to be there to do during that time of day -- back in the fall, I've come to enjoy it.  It gives me a good reason to get out of the house, first of all.  Also, I like going to work without having a boss there, at least usually.  I have gotten into some pickles about not prioritizing the responsibilities I needed to prioritize, and there have been a couple occasions where the machines have broken down and I didn't know what to do.  But there is a big difference going to that job when you know there isn't an authority figure there.  My boss doesn't hover or anything.  But it still feels ... liberating to be able to do your job without him even there.  Moreover, there are fewer people there on Sundays, so the atmosphere is much more relaxed because of the quantity of people.  I can turn on the radio that the night shift turns on and I'm not invading anybody's space because no one else is in the department.

Also, I have grown to like the half-days off I have needed to take in order to stay at 40 hours per week.  I have usually "made up for" working Sundays by taking off Friday afternoon.  That makes me feel as though I am starting my weekend early.  Yes, in that sense that means that my workweek starts on Sunday.  But I'm comparing myself to the others working there; namely, I am getting off of work when they still have to work Friday afternoon.  I have to admit that I feel "better than" other people when I leave work early.  And that feeling of superiority will be gone by next month, and I'll be boxed back into that five-day, eight-hour-per-day restraint.

It's those two things -- a less stressful work environment and taking off an afternoon while my co-workers continue to toil -- that I will miss most once I stop working Sunday half-days.  Yeah, the upside is that I will have Sundays all to myself now, and there won't be any conflicts once Vikings season begins.  And, with most things, I'll eventually get used to my old schedule and even see the bright side to Mondays-Fridays again.  But right now I won't.  Right now I feel as though something has been taken from me, and I am sad.  Crestfallen, even.