So it starts

Last week, our general manager announced that all salaried employees' annual pay raise (usually 2%, whoopdeedo) would not be issued in January, but only in July. Unionized employees, of course, still get their raise on time, but whatever, that's what a collective bargaining unit is for, I get it.

Anyway, raises postponed to July is soooo last week's news. This week's news was announced today: no raises in 2009 for management, period, effective throughout our entire national company.

I know, I know, I shouldn't be complaining about my lost 2% when I still have a job, but DAMN. See, you have to remember I work in sales, and a lot of what ends up in my pocket every two weeks is my share of the banquet gratuities. And a lot of what ends up in my pocket at the end of each quarter are sales bonuses. Well, that's not quite true: a lot of my quarterly earning used to be tied to sales bonuses. It's not that I am making fewer sales or anything like that, it's the fact that every single year the company "revamps" their incentive plan for the sales force, makes the guidelines completely impossible to understand, and makes the targets more and more unattainable.

Now, I'm not a fool, I know I can't count of bonuses, but let me put it to you this way: from 2004 through 2008, my annual take-home "pay" has dropped by several thousand dollars EACH AND EVERY YEAR, despite the fact that sales continue to grow and despite that 2% I started complaining about way back up at the top.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I understand I have to tighten my belt, that we all do. But I am now five years into making small changes in my daily life, not five months. And I don't know about the things you buy, but I can assure you the thing I do don't cost what they did five years ago.

Okay, enough bitter grumbles for one night. ( Because, again, at least I have a job. I have no right to complain.)

The upifting part of my day was also related to things starting: my garden seeds arrived today. Funny how a handful of little lumpy envelopes can make me so happy.