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Should I Stay or Should I Go
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Everyone’s idea was to take your annual leave now and be back just in time the project critical stage has kicked in and no turning back up to the handing over of the project. Should I stay or should I go.
Logical it may seem, and our Project Manager is in chorus with the rest of the staff. And so, more than fifty percent of the project staff has filed their vacation leave, one or two weeks between each other so as not to totally affect the day to day operation of the project. Should I stay or should I go.
Three weeks into the vacation frenzy, as others are anxiously waiting for their turn to leave for vacation and the others are sorting out their itineraries for a country hopping grand vacations, the Project Director just turned off the party’s music, changed the music and raises the tempo. Break your back before you take a break.
He just issued a memo informing everyone that there will be no more vacations until the project is completed.
Lucky are those who had and had just left, they are now enjoying their well deserved vacations. For those who were caught up by the emperor’s order, it looks like it hit them with an ice cold tsunami with their sand castles washed on the shore.
The country hopping plans has to be put on hold and make the most for a desk-hopping, pencil-pushing and paper-sorting frenzy in the meantime.
Some has managed to salvage and bargain for a shorter break by making their own personal alibis that only them can tell if it is a legitimate excuse or not.
As for me at the time of the new memo, I just started to decide for at least two weeks break. In any case, I was not that worried about the new memo as I have a “godfather” to sort out things for me.
I filed my leave when my immediate superior was in town for his bi-monthly visits and explained to him the current moratorium on vacations. I also explained to him the urgency of my leave as I am trying to catch up with my kids during their school holidays, which ends by the first week of June. My leave request was signed. As an assurance my boss told me, “just let me know whoever rejects your leave request”. One down, two more to go.
The Project Manager rejected my leave request and refers me to the Project Director’s memo. I did not contest, as I was not still sure if I should stay or should I go. The financial aspect is what’s holding me back, as I am still repaying my loan from the company, proceeding with my plans may complicate matters for the worst.
Two days after I failed the second hurdle, I decided to go for the approval of my leave request, I will decide later if I should stay or should I go.
Serendipity works on my side, the same day when I decided for the kill, the Project Director visits our site and at the same time I received a bank notice informing us a payment has just been credited to our account which amounts to more than QAR 6,000,000. The opportunity had just presents itself.
I took one transparent envelop, put in the bank notice on the facing page, the second page is my leave form. I knocked at the Project Director’s office and in I go. I handed over to him the envelop I was just holding and told him we just received two notices. He examined the paper, and then his face starts to glow like a boy drooling at the sight of a freshly opened ice cream. He smiles from ear to ear.
Turning to the next page expecting the second “notice” to be much better, still his face glued with his wicked smile, he tried to comprehend why the “notice” looks different. I told him, “that’s my leave application, seven (7) days would be enough”. Too late for him, he cannot shrug off the smile on his face no matter how he tried he said, “Ok I’ll give you ten (10) days”.
Trying to recover from his weakness, he said, “But subject to the finalization of the variations at Diwan Emiri project”. I said, “It’s a deal and consider it done”.
Mission accomplished in regard to my leave approval. But I am still in a dilemma, should I stay or should I go.
Logical it may seem, and our Project Manager is in chorus with the rest of the staff. And so, more than fifty percent of the project staff has filed their vacation leave, one or two weeks between each other so as not to totally affect the day to day operation of the project. Should I stay or should I go.
Three weeks into the vacation frenzy, as others are anxiously waiting for their turn to leave for vacation and the others are sorting out their itineraries for a country hopping grand vacations, the Project Director just turned off the party’s music, changed the music and raises the tempo. Break your back before you take a break.
He just issued a memo informing everyone that there will be no more vacations until the project is completed.
Lucky are those who had and had just left, they are now enjoying their well deserved vacations. For those who were caught up by the emperor’s order, it looks like it hit them with an ice cold tsunami with their sand castles washed on the shore.
The country hopping plans has to be put on hold and make the most for a desk-hopping, pencil-pushing and paper-sorting frenzy in the meantime.
Some has managed to salvage and bargain for a shorter break by making their own personal alibis that only them can tell if it is a legitimate excuse or not.
As for me at the time of the new memo, I just started to decide for at least two weeks break. In any case, I was not that worried about the new memo as I have a “godfather” to sort out things for me.
I filed my leave when my immediate superior was in town for his bi-monthly visits and explained to him the current moratorium on vacations. I also explained to him the urgency of my leave as I am trying to catch up with my kids during their school holidays, which ends by the first week of June. My leave request was signed. As an assurance my boss told me, “just let me know whoever rejects your leave request”. One down, two more to go.
The Project Manager rejected my leave request and refers me to the Project Director’s memo. I did not contest, as I was not still sure if I should stay or should I go. The financial aspect is what’s holding me back, as I am still repaying my loan from the company, proceeding with my plans may complicate matters for the worst.
Two days after I failed the second hurdle, I decided to go for the approval of my leave request, I will decide later if I should stay or should I go.
Serendipity works on my side, the same day when I decided for the kill, the Project Director visits our site and at the same time I received a bank notice informing us a payment has just been credited to our account which amounts to more than QAR 6,000,000. The opportunity had just presents itself.
I took one transparent envelop, put in the bank notice on the facing page, the second page is my leave form. I knocked at the Project Director’s office and in I go. I handed over to him the envelop I was just holding and told him we just received two notices. He examined the paper, and then his face starts to glow like a boy drooling at the sight of a freshly opened ice cream. He smiles from ear to ear.
Turning to the next page expecting the second “notice” to be much better, still his face glued with his wicked smile, he tried to comprehend why the “notice” looks different. I told him, “that’s my leave application, seven (7) days would be enough”. Too late for him, he cannot shrug off the smile on his face no matter how he tried he said, “Ok I’ll give you ten (10) days”.
Trying to recover from his weakness, he said, “But subject to the finalization of the variations at Diwan Emiri project”. I said, “It’s a deal and consider it done”.
Mission accomplished in regard to my leave approval. But I am still in a dilemma, should I stay or should I go.
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