The fact that I and other outside hires did not come up through the ranks does not make us any less of a driver or employee. In my case, there is no way that I would have been able to provide for my family at $8.50/hr and then wait 3-5 years (or longer) for an open driving position. I was lucky to get hired during a period of growth and was FT in 11 months. This clearly wouldn't happen today--we haven't had an outside hire in at least 5 years.
I have already conceded that coming up through the ranks would have given me a greater appreciation of how hard these kids work for as little as they are paid but it has been clearly established that you don't need to know how to load them to deliver them.
I may not have "earned" my spot but I certainly "earn" my paycheck each and every day.
You could have supported your family with a full time job during the day after your PT shift at UPS. Many have; many still do! And if that second job has a rotating schedule that includes weekend work there may be periods of 12 days straight where you are working one or both jobs. And forget about trying to coordinate a vacation between those 2 jobs and the one that your spouse works because that's not happening. So you never get to take a vacation, so what. Three to five years wait would have been a walk in the park! For years you are at your first job,or your second job, or eating supper, or asleep.
That's the only 4 options; nothing else! Now, just for kicks let's include completing a four year degree by taking only 1 class per quarter for several years after the core work was finished. Chronic fatigue! If I thought I could squeeze in a 20 minute nap between jobs I would set a kitchen timer that counts down to zero. That way you didn't have to think too hard about the proper set time.
You have
no idea what some people have done to
secure this job. Did you notice I didn't say
earn because you like to mockingly put that word in quotation marks.
The last two outside hires at my center are gone. One had so many accidents we lost count; the other walked out shortly after the Preload Assist Program was implemented and she realized she could no longer control her own dispatch. My point being, they did not value the job because it was handed to them like a gift.
You like to point out that you are a provider for your family. A good family man.
Would you be working for UPS today if the
only way you could have "secured" the driving job was through this degree of personal sacrifice?