I Got Fired! There Is No Future For Me!

Hello everyone and welcome to my , unfortunately, not a happy post.

Today I got fired from a Pet Center Shop, so with great grief and pain I will explain here what happened in last 12 months while i was working.

So what is the reason I got fired?

Let´s begin with how did I started working there. I started looking for a new job after I got fired in a gas station(almost same reason as below). It was 4 months after when at the time thought that my dream job is finally here. I got a call from Pet Center asking me if I´m available for the job. I was so thrilled and happy when they said when can I go talk with them in person, I replied with "I´ll come right away". I´m never afraid of work, always looked for new opportunities to learn and I thought that day how this is going to change my life for the better, now that I can finally provide a financial support for my family and me.

First days of my new job.

It was terrible. I did not know anything and was barely keeping up with the amount of work we had. So many customers asked for advice and I was too inexperienced to give them a proper council. I always had to turn to veterinarians or other more experienced workers who clearly knew a lot more then I did. But, little by little, I have learned so much about my work. I learned which size of grains corresponds with the size of a dog, how to deal with squeamish cats ( not forcing them to eat what I buy, of course :D), how to manage food nutrients depending on animal species and assortment and literally how to train your pet. I learned as much as I could from my co-workers and even some customers gave me good tips on how to take care of your pet depending on his/her personality, habit ( it´s always best to train your pet in early stages of life, like washing teeth or giving him a haircut, because that is when he will get accustomed) or medical needs. It was hard work, but it brought with it enjoyment and pleasure.

6 months later

I felt like a vet, always here for anyone who had any problems with their pets, started to feed and take care of animals( you can see that in my previous blog ).

I felt like I was in paradise, with so many different animals and breeds, but at that time everything was starting to go downhill. After I learned a lot, I noticed some of my co-workers, especially my shop manager, are not doing their job right. It went to the point where we had reports that someone gave a wrong advice, gave a pet medicine without a prescription( at first I did not even know that you need prescription for some of those medicines) or even ignoring a customer´s plea, like trying to obtain what he specifically ordered or telling them that it will be fine when it´s certainly not. At that time I was brought in a new Pet Station where I had to deal with a new manager who did not know what she was selling. She was more of a secretary, telling that she did the job while asking her workers to do it for her and she didn´t even cared for those pets. Every co-worker who was on her good side could go and do what they want, going to smoke a cigarette 7-8 times a day or just standing at the cash register doing nothing. I was not the type of guy to suck up at someone´s ass, so I was just continuing to work, hoped that my dedication and commitment will prevail in the end. I had no choice because I need the money. After some time, I tried to talk with them that we really need to organize, to help upgrade our business and bring new ideas. But the majority did not like that. Those were the questions i heard:

Why should I do more then I am paid for?
Do you really think this is worth?
Why should I care about how other people treat their pets?

Now the last question got me infuriated, and after that it was never the same.

Last day of my job

I thought I was doing good. I had good criticism from the customers and my shop manager quit her job 3 months before this day. But suddenly, co-workers were starting to get fired. Good people with enough experience that he could talk or write about pets for weeks, just disappearing without words. 2 moths before one of my previous colleague said that I should brace myself for the worst. I thought he was joking, but he was so sure in himself which really got me thinking. Then I started to notice, when new workers arrived, that they all came through some connections with a head director. "People From Above" told the public they do not need workers, told US workers that we are understaffed but it was always manageable. Then one friend from work told me the previous shop manager was a close friend with a head director. That was the day when I started to feel scared for my career. But I said to myself that nobody would fire me. Why would they? I was working in 3 different shop stations in Zagreb and everybody said that they will not find a good worker like me. I got so many praises and compliments from people inside or outside of Pet Center community ( I´m really not bragging) that had any serious problems. Even if there were some things I didn´t know, I wouldn´t go and tell customers whatever I felt saying, I just asked someone more competent then me, I even called other stations for help. Sometimes I would work with a customer so long( I had 1 working with more then 4 hours) until I could finally be able to help him. But it didn´t matter. Today the head director arrived, bringing me a notice that he will not extend my contract. I asked for a reason, but I was not given any. "It just had to be done" and " That is for treating my friend": she said. I cannot believe it. After 1 year of hard work and study I got thrown out of the shop and told to never even step foot in there. I am depressed now, thinking that I will finally settle here, but it was futile. This is the 3rd time i got fired like this.
I think there is no more future for me in this country.

How should I feel when I cannot even get a full time job to live on?

Now I´m not a good writer, but this is not about that. I wanted to show you guys what is like to work for "common" people in Croatia. From every corner of this country screams corruption, but people really( believe me on this) just don´t care. They just talk and don´t do anything. Most people are already gone because they see that they cannot change this unrighteousness and gross negligence. Productions that were on the top ladders of best quality stopped working because this country steal their money for their own benefits. 80% of those productions and shops were sold over to another country. Only 5% of our traditional production and economy is left. People on high spots will often employ a friend or cousin who never had any service accrual over a graduated and fully capable worker. This is why this country will not be Croatia soon, but will be divided by other powerful countries. If people won´t bring their voice out, nothing will change.

So what should I do?

I...don´t...know. My childhood dream was to become a firefighter, but because I have an undeveloped nerve in my left eye I will never become one. That was 9 years ago when many ophthalmologists said there is no operation that can save my eye. I know today you can transplant a nerve in your eye, but those operations costs too much. So for now while I´m on a indeterminate vacation, I will just do the other things I like: gaming and streaming.

At least I will not stop living, and neither should you.

Hope you are not having the same or similar problems. I just had to bring this somewhere because I couldn´t keep it in myself for long. Even now I cannot find words to describe how I truly feel.

Maybe I will...... one day....