February 2003. I was first year of university. Our reading break was coming up and I wanted to fly to SLC and watch the Jazz because I felt this was going to the John and Karl's last season. I worked at a convenience store and had 3 shifts a week. One of the was opening the store Sunday morning. My boss wouldn't let me take it off because no one else could come in. I thought about saying "**** you" and just doing it, but I was 19 and I thought I was now an adult and should show responsibility and accountability so I came in for the shift. Plus, he was an friend of a friend of my dad's.
John did retire a few months later and Karl went to LA. By June, my boss had lost the store. Corporate took the franchise back because of financial irregularities. I never got my last two weeks' paycheque, because my boss had to "look after his own family first."
What a ****ing idiot I was. I can't believe that at some point, I actually believed in hard work and accountability. It took me another 5-6 years to realize that only people at the bottom ever do. Bosses don't give a ****.