I was never in the military or anything like that, but in 1992, when I was still in college, I worked two jobs. When I graduated, one became a full-time job, as an aerospace contractor, while the other, a job at a department store, gave way to a part time job delivering pizzas when I needed more money (bad marriage, divorce, plenty of debt). I probably hit my peak in hours back in 1996, when sometimes I'd crack 80 hours in a week. I'd work my day job, which was 7:30-4 or 8:00-4:30 (sometimes varied) and then work Monday 5-11+, Tuesday 5-11+, Thursday 5-11+, Friday 5pm-1am+, and Saturday 5pm-1am+.
I'd be so wiped out that on Wednesday when I got home from the full-time job, I'd usually crash right then and there. I'd usually sleep on Saturday until it was time to go into work. And on Sunday, if I woke up before noon, it was a miracle.
Over time, I gradually dropped down in hours. I switched from Little Caesar's to Papa Johns, and then the money really started pouring in. I finally started contributing a bit to a 401k at work. Then I started investing in mutual funds again. I had sold a lot off and stopped regular investing when I was married, and after we split concentrated mainly on paying down the credit card bills. Finally, the credit card bills were paid in full, so I ramped up investing.
Finally, I was down to just Thursday/Friday/Satuday at the part time job, but I closed every night, so between that and my full-time job I was still usually pulling down 65+ hours per week.
And then, one day, I got fed up with it. It was in November 2000. I was at an all-time high when it came to savings/investments. The stock market had gotten sluggish over the past few months, but I thought it would soon take off again (silly me). I was getting fed up working with these 16-18 year old kids that were more interested in their booty calls and goofing off than doing their job, and the district manager was being a real jerk. So I figured that I didn't need the extra job any more. Finally got fed up one Saturday night, when we were already short-staffed, and quit on the spot! They had to close down the store because of that, something that I'm still kinda proud of!
I kept thinking about all this freedom that I was going to suddenly have...weekends off completely, a good 25 hours or more of free time every week, and so on. I thought I had made the big time at last! But then, something happened. I couldn't believe this, but I got BORED!! I actually MISSED delivering pizzas! After about 2 months I went back, but on a reduced schedule. I think I was still doing 3 nights a week, but I wasn't closing any more. However, it just wasn't the same. I wasn't making as much money since I wasn't closing, but it still felt like I was wasting my evenings. I lasted all of 3 months, and then quit again. I think I would've stayed on longer, but management was getting really bad by then, and when you really don't have to deal with people like that, it's easy to just walk out again.
After quitting the second time, which was April of 2001, I actually made it through the summer, but then started getting a bit bored again. Once summer was over, I thought about going back again, to make some extra money. The first time I had quit, back in November of '00, I was actually cutting it a bit close financially, especially once the stock market started to tank. But then I got a raise in January of '01, and then another one in July, so I was pretty much set. But I figured it would be good to pick up some more spending/investment money.
Well, this time I went back on September 10. We all know what happened on September 11. That tragic event scarred our country forever, and had far-reaching consequences. While some areas, like car sales stayed strong with 0% financing and such, other areas, such as air travel, tourism, and even pizza delivery took a nosedive. Plus, by this time, we had yet ANOTHER manager in the store. They put someone from corporate in there to run the store, and also to figure out why this store went through managers like some people go through underwear. Well, he was worse than any of the others. By this time the job really was more of a hassle than it was worth. Plus, there was too much water under the bridge, and while I thought I was bored, I was realizing that going back to this was NOT going to make me happy. So by Columbus day of that year, I was gone again.
I guess my problem was that I just tried to wind down too quickly. My full-time job is actually pretty boring. About the only stress I get is eye strain from looking at the screen for too long, or getting achy from sitting too long, or getting irritated from hearing my co-worker gripe (one of the few things she's good at). But in delivering pizzas, I was always active, running around, and just fast-paced in general. Plus, it was pretty sociable. I had regular customers that were always happy to see me, and often even requested me. And I was friends with most of the co-workers, and a couple of off-duty cops that would hang out at the 7-eleven a few doors down from us.
Maybe I just needed longer to "De-Tox" from it? One thing I do know, though, is that now enough time has gone by that I don't think I could EVER go back to doing it! I guess it was a good life lesson though, and maybe an indication that when the time comes that I'm truly financially independent, that I shouldn't just quit from this job, cold-turkey?
