The Secure Position

Sandra calls the security guards of the bank job to her office and says she’s getting a promotion to account manager. This means that the shift supervisor, Eddie, will be taking over her job as site supervisor. This also means that Eddie’s old job is available. Since I’ve been here the longest, the job was offered to me. It pays about 90 cents an hour more than my current position. 90 cents.

About a month ago, Nino and I got into a friendly argument. He was complaining about his job as an insurance underwriter. It’s a state job so he has to screw up really bad before they can fire him. He gets a slew of vacation and sick time, plus a great health insurance plan. If he comes in late, he can simply ask his boss to change his start time so that he’s never late. He gets 40k annually, and it gets bumped to 50K at the end of this year. He gets tea time, walk time, an hour lunch break, followed by yet another tea time. And when he’s in a bad mood, he can overcharge insurance clients thousands of dollars to make himself feel better. Obviously, I felt as though he had nothing to complain about, compared to my jobs at least. I reminded him of all these things, followed by a spirited description of my two shitty full-time security jobs. He responded:

“Shut up! You have a college degree and you’re running your own real estate business even with two full-time jobs. You can apply for any manager’s position and get it and you know it! Asshole!”

Hmm… I didn’t really have a retort for that because he was right. Sometimes I think about what jobs I could qualify for and how much money I could make. There are a few minority-friendly businesses that would be glad to have a token negro on board and pay me well. When I think about these things, I’m then reminded of why I chose security. It’s easy. Yeah, my pride takes a hit every now and then, but the work is very simple. The shipping depot job can be hazardous at times, but both jobs are pretty straightforward. What other job can I sneak out for a few hours to take care of real estate business and not be missed? I knew that I would have to get a job that would allow me to take care of my properties, so it had to be one with the simplest of responsibilities. I used security jobs to get me through college and my teaching years, so why not ride it to retirement for two more years?

Back to the shift supervisor position offer. I declined it. This was the third time I’ve declined the shift supervisor position since I’ve been working at the bank job. I would go from dealing with almost no problems to dealing with a ton of problems and responsibilities for 90 stinking cents?! No thanks. I’ve also declined the supervisor position once at the shipping depot. Lest I forget that accepting a higher position at either job would result in conflicting hours, preventing me from working two jobs and greatly reducing my overall income. In my world, there is no ladder to climb. There is no “moving up” at a job. There’s only work and retirement. To me, the most secure job position in life is to make money on my own. No bosses and no hours. No vacation time or sick time. No co-workers. No promotions. No need. Just me doing what I do.