"Oh. Well, I... okay."

I asked Stacy yesterday morning if I could meet with her some time this week. She wanted to do it that same day, so we settled on a 15 minute break that I had... one of two, other than the 45 minute (a canceled client) that she was going to be busy through. The clients before that break were having their Spa Lunch and were not told to come out to the waiting room when they were ready... so we got started fifteen minutes late. So much for my meeting.

Then as I was checking out to leave for the day, Stacy finished up whatever she was doing and asked if I had a minute to talk. I hesitated to say yes, simply because it was already past five and I needed to go home to pick up my school stuff and carpool friend before going to class at 6... but I answered in the affirmative.

I started off acknowledging that I came in during a busy time at the spa and that I don't know what the rest of the year would be like... but that I'm really worn out and can't handle a schedule that continues the way it has been. After the horror stories I've been hearing concerning the girls who have quit, for all the folks I hear complain daily about the work load, I didn't have a whole lot of hope that she'd actually give me the Mondays off without a lot of begging and pleading, if not, "Well, it won't be like that all the time. Will you stick it out a few more weeks for me? Then if it's still a problem, we'll talk again." Or, "Actually, I'd really prefer that we split it up over a few days; I really need you to be in at least a few hours on Mondays." Instead, she asked what it would take to make me feel better about the job I was doing and I admitted that I thought it would do a world of good to have two days to recover from the Friday-Saturday rush. She said, "Okay, let's look at your schedule. It looks like the first week you don't already have clients booked is for March 10. So you want to do that? March 10 will be your first week with the new schedule?"

I was stunned. No fight, no pleading, just, "You need some more time to yourself? That's fine. Communication is key; you just have to tell me how you're doing."

God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for bosses who will listen and for jobs that pay enough to allow for a little cut back in hours.