I have just celebrated 20 years since I got my first job. In 20 years I haven't been unemployed not even for one single day. Which means that except for 20 days of holiday that I get each year that I have been working constantly for 20 years.
Almost all my coworkers have 2 children which means that they all had two breaks of one year when they completely changed their daily routine. There hasn't been any change for me.
I am dreaming of doing something else. Like taking a sabbatical year (very uncommon here). Or just quitting. But what I am truly afraid is that when I would start looking again after a year, nobody will want to hire a woman who is approaching her 50th birthday.
Not that now is a good time to quit the job... we urgently need all money possible to finish building of our house.
But it is still lovely to dream.
***
In order to finish the house we have to sell our apartment. There were very first visitors yesterday. A young couple in early thirties, they are expecting a first child. She loved the apartment, but I guess they will buy the apartment is some cheaper part of the country. She walked around the flat, focusing on the room that was in the long past a room for a child, for the last 15 years has been used only as a clutter room.
I wasn't sad watching that young woman. It is a lovely apartment with perfect location for a young family. Perhaps it is time that there is children's laughter again.
It will be - at least for me - hard to leave this flat. I know that those walls heard lots of my tears, but looking back, what really stayed in my heart are our happy memories. And there were so many of them!
Deep in my heart I know it is time for us for a fresh start. We are both looking forward to it!
Dear Klara,
ReplyDeleteI am very happy that you are getting a fresh start with your beautiful new home!
Dreams of a sabbatical - I very much understand them! Even though I have had changes in my routine thanks to going back to school, I could use a real break. So I have been thinking about taking one, but I don't want to give up my job... not sure I will ever find one like it again!
I think it is wonderful that the happy memories stay with you more than all the tears shed in your apartment. And I am glad that it didn't bother you that a pregnant woman visited you.
Wishing you a lovely weekend,
Elaine
dear Elaine, yes, I am so happy for you that you went back to school. Change is a good thing!
Deletewishing you a lovely Sunday.
I never got to take maternity leave, but I would have loved to take a sabbatical. They were starting to offer them at my company, but most of the people who took them were executives who knew the right people to sign off on them. One of my high school girlfriends worked for a provincial government for many years -- she was able to defer part of her salary on each paycheque and then take a fully paid six or 12-month sabbatical every few years. I remember she extended her maternity leave that way one time, and then several years later, she spent an entire summer driving across Canada & back with her two teenaged daughters, which was quite an experience for all of them.
ReplyDelete20 years is a long time to stay on the job without a break (I was at my job almost 28 years before I was let go)... but you are right, it's not easy to find another job as you get older (especially as a woman). On the bright side, you will probably have a great pension when the time comes to retire! ;) I hope the new house provides the fresh start you've been looking for!
dear Loribeth,
Deletethe entire summer driving across Canada... that would be awesome! Me and my husband are still dreaming how lovely it was the train from Toronto to Vancouver with a stop in Jasper & Banff National park. Breathtaking beautiful!
Great pension - no, when I am there, there will be no such thing.
When I resigned from my full-time job to become unemployed, I had been working non-stop for only 16 years. I then had 11 more years of on-off part-time work, sometimes earning a lot, sometimes earning very little, and I really liked the balance of that. Since then though (five years ago, when we quit everything for our Italy/Slovenia etc trip), I've struggled to find any work. Work I've been very well qualified for (perfectly qualified for, if you ask me!) has been given to younger people, or always to men. Sigh! It is definitely harder for women to find work in their 50s, though with your skills and language abilities, I would hope you would be fine. Could you arrange a sabbatical through your existing company, with an option to return if you wanted to? Though if you have a very clear idea of what you want to do after the sabbatical (I never really did), you might be fine.
ReplyDeleteStart with the new house, then consider your options. And yes, dreaming can be fun too! (I have big plans for when I win the lottery. lol)
dear Mali, in our working society is like that. When a man gets grey hair, he is charming. When a woman gets grey hair, she is just plain old.
DeleteNo, there is no possibility of a sabbatical where I work. A coworker asked recently for 3 months of unpaid leave and the company said there is no possibility. If he wants to have 3 months off, he can quit.
But as my granny taught me - one thing at the time. First we have to finish the house.
Yes, winning the lottery would be nice. But first I have to buy a ticket :)
I am very excited about your new fresh start! I am happy to hear that you have happy memories from your time in your apartment. And 20 years! Wow. That's what I would like with my next job, for it to work out in the long-run. Jobs are jobs and work is work, but I still look forward to putting some roots down somewhere. Your employer is lucky to have you and I wish they would recognize the time you have given them and give you some time off in return.
ReplyDeletedear Phoenix, I have changed 3 jobs in 20 years. But in my last one I stayed over a decade... and I just know it will be good for me if I find something new...
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