In some ways, I’m close to what my day job life was like from before the pandemic. In many other ways, things are still so different from before. Different isn’t always bad and in fact, I think many of the differences from before are positive. While I am working significantly more hours than I was working before, I’m also making more money which is nice. And I am doing different things now that challenge me and make me have to think of new solutions. It was nice to have very little work and a lot of free time between clients, it is also nice to not have as much boredom during work as I did before.
It’s not just my jobs, hours, and responsibilities that are different from before. Since I started back at my box office job, my pay has been different too. I knew that I was going to have to make less money when I was asked back because things were slowly coming back. But since I was working my other jobs (and getting raises at those), I wasn’t too bothered. I knew I was being underpaid, but having my job back and knowing that it would get better soon helped. And it took a while before I finally got a raise that got me close to what my old pay rate was. But a raise is a raise and I was very grateful for that. It wasn’t that long ago that it happened, so I figured that might be it for a while. But then I got an email from my boss the other day and I was nervous to open it when I saw it in my inbox.
Fortunately, the email was only good news and let me know that I was going to be getting another raise starting this week! And this raise is going to bring my pay rate above what I was making before the pandemic! I am still working less than half the hours I used to work (that is my choice based on my hours with other jobs), so from that job alone I’m not back to my pre-pandemic income. But I’m not relying on that income as much as I used to. It’s only a portion of what I make each month, not a majority of it. And every extra money that I can make is helpful, even if it’s not a huge change in my weekly pay.
I’m seriously so grateful for this raise. My box office job can sometimes feel like my work isn’t fully appreciated because we only send messages out and don’t get a lot of feedback. But the raise is proof that they see my work as valuable and helpful to the company. And I feel like it’s a sign that they understand how hard we do work and how much we do have to juggle, especially considering that we cover over 70 different locations and they all have their own details to answer.
I’m not expecting a raise for any of my jobs any time soon. I’ve gotten a lot of pay or hour increases recently and there isn’t much more I can except for now. But hopefully sometime in 2022, I’ll have another raise or two in at least one of my jobs. Even though I’m making much more than I did before, I’m still not making a lot of money considering how many hours I work. But I do know that I’m doing better than a lot of people and I’ve been lucky even with losing work during the pandemic. So I’m always grateful for my work and for making the money I can.
There have been a lot of surprises the past year and a half with my day job situation, but getting an unexpected raise is definitely one of the best ones and it made my week last week!
You Might Also Like
Work Begets Work (Old Bosses Possible New Jobs)
Positive Thinking And Putting It Out There Worked (or Working For Another Old Boss)
Day Job News (or Things Are Getting Better)
On Hold With Work For Now (or It’s Now A Waiting Game)
Finally Back To A Full Work Schedule (or I Really Do Like Having A Stable Schedule)
Underemployment Is Frustrating (or Trying To Find The Balance Of Flexibility And Work Hours)
