Being a grown up

   Dear Diary, it appears I have let myself down. I took a job through a friend to help out at a small accounting office for tax season. I rejoined the dark side, just when I was hoping to get away. Even seasoned, published writers have told me not to quit my day job, not that I've had one lately. The problem is that neither has my spouse -had a job - that is. It's wearing on us, as a family because we are using too much of our savings. I'm not making enough money to live on, far from it, but I was hoping this would have helped out with groceries and gas.
  The position I took was an administrative assistant type of position answering phones, scheduling appointments, and scanning documents. I received 2 nasty emails from my boss within the first 5 part time days of me being there. How do you continue to work for someone who clearly doesn't want you there? It would appear that I'm not friendly enough on the phone, yet somehow too chatty off the phone. The only thing that seems to help is to acknowledge that the owner doesn't know what she wants from one day to the next and that anything I say can and will be misconstrued and used against me.
   Funny how I was told I need to be more professional by someone who has no problems sending rude emails to subordinates and handles questions from new hires like it's a royal pain! The question is whether or not I should stick with a job that is not worth the aggravation and stress to help someone who is not a good person. Would quitting send the wrong message to my daughter? Is it worth the time and gas when you don't want to stress over what may have imploded on you while you were gone?
     Well, it turns out the decision was made for me when my phone rang and her majesty decided that she did not want my services any more. That afternoon I met a friend for lunch and we toasted to the end of "shit jobs". I emailed my hours and have not heard back. We are assuming that if I get a check at all, it won't be correct.
   I mentioned that I was worried about the message I would send to my daughter if I quit this job (now hypothetically). A wise friend pointed out that tolerating poor treatment from other adults is the way wrong message to send to a girl! The fact that this was a business relationship didn't matter and he was right. I explained to her that while I didn't quit just because something was hard, the person I worked for did not behave the way a boss should and I wasn't sorry I lost this job. It's easy to forget how much a kid can puck up on when you are wrapped up in your own grown up issues.
   I try to see what I can learn from disasters like this and the first thing that springs to mind is to not bring in any more personal things than you can fit in your pockets. The other lesson is that sometimes, you need to fire your boss.  I just hope I get my mouse back.