Sacrificing Work for the Sake of Personal Life - Essay Example

The decision to quit my job to focus on my family was not an easy one; I was well aware that I could easily end up losing my livelihood and ultimately lead my family into financial instability. Given the amount of effort I had put in promoting my career at the hotel chain, I felt justified to get some time off for such an important issue but apparently by bosses though differently. As a black woman who had grown up in England my life during this period was understandably difficult and I was cognizant of the fact that I would have to work harder and longer than the average white person to get the same recognition and credit. This statement is not based on any racist idea, but simply a testament of my life experience. In a way, the decision to quit my job was made difficult not so much because of the financial challenge but the fact that like so many people my job had become wrapped up in my identity so much so that I could no longer think of myself outside the context of career. In many ways, the personal and work are inseparable this is primarily because our personal identities are in many cases underpinned by a sense of work. From the experience of factory as described by Gerry Mooney, (2009) many workers at the steel mill who were interviewed viewed their job as an extension of their lives, a permanent condition and something they could use to define their identity and individuality. The men were proud of their work and were optimistic that it would be there for their sons and in future. While I was not working in a steel factory I never expected my children to take over from me at the hotel chain, like steel workers I had come to see myself as my job defined me. The fact that I had risen to the position of assistant manager did more than give me a sense of financial security, I was proud of the fact that I had made myself into a vital part of something bigger than me. The job gave me a feeling of continuity and not just for me but my family, they could depend on me as I depended on the job and as long as I had it I was assured I could keep a roof over their heads. In addition, my working day was structured and rigid but not in a bad way, I would wake up purposing to go to work like millions of other people across the country, I felt I was contributing to my countries growth and in addition to this, there are various social events and experiences that are shaped around a working day. Sometimes in the evening, I would join my friends for drinks “after work” or join colleagues for baby showers and similar social events. In addition the working calendar enabled a many other social events which in turn give one a sense of worth and pride. Like Tony in the story who felt betrayed by the implementation of new con contracts, which meant that he had to take an early retirement, I also felt that my employer had in a way also betrayed me. Given that throughout my time in the firm, I had only taken a few sick days that I was entitled to although many of my colleagues did so quite liberally (Mooney, 2009). Had the policy on family friendly employment been in place by then, my employers could have worked out a way in which I could continue to work while at the same time meeting my personal obligations. In the past, many UK employees have suffered from the increase in intensification of long working hours, which has turned work into an extremely anti-social concept with serious consequences on the staff (Noon and Blyton, 2006). People claim that they want to work to works so they may live instead of live for the sake of work. Therefore, there has been a lot of effort by policy makers to create a family friendly working environment in which people can both enjoy their family time an structure their work around it rather than the other way round (Moony, 2009). However, this polices have not been mainstreamed and as a result in my case, my job involved fitting my life around my work, in a way it was just like I was trying to squeeze my family life in the space and time left after work. With hindsight, I believe that if the policy directives in the 90s that were aimed at organizing work around personal life were made for people like me but unfortunately, my employers were not inclined to extend the benefits to me. In addition, such directive often tended to benefit civil servants and other government employees and since I was working for a private organization, I could not have realistically expected them to let me relegate my work to second place after my family. Admittedly, under social policy analysis, work is a commonly recurring theme and it is inextricably connected to matters of social security, health and education among other things; however in my case, work has to come first and without it the other aspects of my personal life stand to be compromised. Like tony if was forced to make a choice that ultimately resulted in my world falling apart, I had spent years defining myself by what I did and gradually it had become what I was. All over a sudden, I was forced to make a painful distinction between my work and personal life although they had retrospectively merged into the same thing. This transition from work to unemployment was quite difficult and it represented a turning point in virtually every aspect of my life, I lost my sense of stability and although I was occupied taking care of my mother, I had a lot of free time in my hands and not much to do. When one stops working, it is not uncommon for their social ties, most that are related to work to disintegrate as the structure that one based their daily life begins to contrast with one’s present reality and they lose mutual points of connectedness with their friends. I realized that while my friends and I would often discuss work related issues, our meeting became strained since they had to deliberately prevent themselves from talking about the new branches that had opened up, the new manager or other work related stuff. Gradually I started feeling like a fifth wheel and ultimately is stopped meeting them as regularly as I used to until it appeared our friendships were fizzling out. In all fairness, my case was not like tony because he was compelled to leave his job by policy changes, largely I left my Job of sentimental reasons since if I had wanted I could have remained and been contented to accompany my mother to the hospital every other time. However, even considering that my actions may not have been very practical, family to me is more important than the identity i get from having a stable job. I my mother represented more than just parenting and I have always identified with her suffering since form most part she was supported by no one else. She had struggled through mortgages and held down several jobs so that she could put me through school but life seems to have been harder on her than for most people. The hallowing experience her treatment put there through awakened me to the reality of loneliness that came with suffering at an old age with no one to take care of her since she could not afford to hire a nurse from her meagre pension. Even after I handed in my notice, my employer repeatedly told me to rethink my decision since it was clearly as rash one and I may come to regret it. Even my friends were wary of my actions and they said I was acting on impulse, most importantly, my mother was the biggest opponent of my plan, and I however managed to convince her that her happiness and health was far more important than anything else could get from working or making money. Many years has passed since I made this decision and as predicted, I have had reasons to regret that I was not able to support my family economically in the same way I had in the past, my presence provided my ailing mother with a great deal of comfort until she died three years later. In conclusion, I now realize that for many working class people, and me we are enslaved by our work just as much as it defines us, although social policy in the UK proposes that people should work their working scheduled around their personal lives. This is only realistic in theory but in practice, one is often forced to make the choice between their family and work, which is a painful decision than none should be required to have to make. Reference List Noon, M. and Blyton, P. 2006. The Realities of Work (2nd edn), Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan Mooney, G. 2009. Work: Personal Lives and Social Policy. Bristol: The Policy Press/The Open University Read More