Life review: one month down!
I can’t believe it, it has been one month since I have been employed! Wow, it feels just like yesterday I was complaining about the unfair working world, and my utter hate and evident depression of going to interviews.
Yesterday, some people wanted me to do a comparison between my old job, my time off, and my current job. Well then, this will be a long post! Be warned! I will be mocking and hating something from the past!
The Distant Past
When I first started this blog, I had a few reasons behind it. Obviously, all of you know what the main reason was, but that ended thank God; however, horribly. The second reason that somehow evolved on its own, was to complain about a job that I couldn’t stand. I had a job as a computer programmer for 6.5 years straight. From when I was 21 to 27 years of age. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t the pay per say. It was the unfair treatment between all the employees in one room, and co-workers that were arrogant show offs that I could not stand. After about 3 years into the job, I was going to work every day, and praying to God that no one will say anything stupid, selfish and beyond ridiculous for once. Not only that, most of them didn’t do any work. They were there because they were there. What’s the odd of firing people that kiss ass all day, and deliver a Monet software product? Most of our software products had no real hard deadlines, and kept being worked on for years and years? Job security? You think!?
Moreover, I hate sucking up to people. I hate it, hate it, hate it! I feel that I am kissing someone’s shoe when I do that. It’s disgusting. I feel that I am lowering my values and intelligence for someone who is not worth my time of day, and I could never benefit from in the future. To tell you the truth, that last part seems selfish, but there is a difference between friendships and friends for benefits. You can tell that type of friendship right away, and I will tell you eventually in this post how I started hating that particular type of friendship altogether.
So, if you have been an avid reader of my blog for at least three years or so, you would have noticed some posts about my old job. However, those posts were removed after a day or two. It took my brain that long to realize that, oh no, I am gonna get fired! My most regretful mistake at the time was telling some people about my blog, hence, my boss and certain co-workers that read it. I was sure they didn’t read it daily, and that saved my ass! However, I told them because I felt there was a trust, and I really didn’t care at the time. Unfortunately, over time, I just couldn’t hold my anger at all. There were some days when I went home crying and telling my self, that’s it, I am gonna resign tomorrow!
And three years later, I had the guts to do it! The suffering though throughout that time was not fun. I had a serious problem with my co-workers. I did not like any of them, and I had reasons that would have made anyone dumbfounded by my patience and tolerance of such behaviors. I probably never complained about them directly to my boss, or bothered, because it was a favorites game, and I didn’t want to be a part of it. Hence, the world of IT managers is pointless! They do nothing but hold a title! Anyways, so, some of my x-co-workers over time called me fat, over weight, ugly, stupid coder, I get paid the most with full benefits and you don’t loser, ugly designer, stupid Palestinian and you should go back to your home land, and the list goes on.
I never mentioned these problems, because I decided that I rather take advantage of the stupid job. Like work part time at a full time salary, and take courses while I am at work. What job would have let me leave once or twice a day for an hour or two hour lecture? When the whole place was unfair and messed up, then anything ridiculous to the normal working work is tolerated.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to seem like I am one of those ungrateful people who should be thankful for having a job for that long. On the contrary, I benefited a lot from the job. I learned what type of people to avoid in any work place, to never be personal and overly friendly with anyone, and just do my work and keep enhancing my skills on my own.
That’s all I learned really from being there.

[source]
Self-Forced Vacation Time
I had to resign. I had to resign with my head high, and when every single ounce of patience within me has evaporated to thin air! August of 2008, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was having serious physical problems such as the famous uncontrollable heart palpitations that creeps up on me every now and then. Don’t even get me started on the psychological problems I was having for all those years. When I resigned, I felt that the world was my oyster! I did it, and I was more proud of resigning from that job than earning a Bachelor of Science degree from a famous Canadian University! I was seriously hoping for a standing ovation, and a song to be sang with the title, “Mona rules, and takes shit from no one!”
Therefore, I resigned, and I took a vacation. However, my vacation after the month of January of this year seemed to have escalated into boredom and my parents said STOP BEING A LAZY ASS, and I felt that I needed to be useful to the world. I decided that maybe I should look for a job while I worked full time as a blogger making some money from this little venture. So, I spiced up that resume, and told some companies, “Yo computer peepz! I need a job, I got the skills, so do you want me to come and work for ya?”
After a time span of conception to birth, I got a job. People have labeled me as the most patient complaining person on earth! People said, “Mona, get a job, ANY JOB!” Mona said, “I am not desperate yet! I got money in the bank for two more years and I love to complain!”
Therefore, self-forced vacation time was the best time in my life. I learned patience. I learned what I wanted from life. I figured out that being a highly skilled programmer with eccentric design skills, is better than trying to reach over the top heights so quickly. Also, being lead by some incompetent IT manager who only knew how to talk and get people to like him or her, was not on my list of future tolerated jobs.
Let’s talk about friendships now. You see, I cannot have fake friendships, and I don’t even want to seem as the fake friend. I believe friendships are meaningful, and you feel that person can understand you and accepts you for who you are. Also, that friend should not question everything you say and your lifestyle, and does not act like they are better than you and know more, and force feed you unwanted advice. When you have a friend that you feel that you need a friendship only to benefit from, then that friendship will never last. Eventually, you will start distancing your self from them, and realizing that they don’t care anyways. They will only remember you when they realize that oh, “Where’s Mona this month?”
Current Blissful State of Mind
After a month into the job, I couldn’t be happier. I don’t have an IT manager. Thank the almighty Lord for my request! My bosses are the owners of a small successful business of a particular professional niche. Everyone is treated equally. Everyone is respectful and educated. Everyone is too busy, do incredible amount of work per day, and I don’t feel like the odd one out. Everyone is nice, and says hi to me every day with a smile. Also, they want to converse with me and tell me cute stories about the weather. I don’t care if they interrupt me while I am working. I love working with people around me while I am coding. When I concentrate too much, I feel lost in a brain of Mona with many mazes. They help me get out of that with their minor interruptions.
Therefore, I work with cute busy-bee people!
Oh, did I mention the free coffee? I was sold on that one, and I had no excuse to argue salary expectations with them. Just give a programmer free coffee, and they are sold on anything!
Joy to the world, I got a kick ass sweet job! Amen!
Angry, Blah Blah, Confused, Depressed, Funny, Happy, Idiots, Random Thoughts, Ranting as usual!, They said what?, Whatever!











then sing “so much for my happy ending “
@Some…two
Good for you, you stuck to your principles and at the end you got a kick ass job, and who said patience does not pay. Enjoy and be happy.
I’m glad you resigned from your old job. Too many people get comfortable at a job they hate and it truly makes your life, as well as the lives of those around you, miserable. If you get up every morning dreading the day, its not working. Its not worth it.
As for freindships, you speak the truth. When it comes to freinds, its quality not quantity.
Mona, your old job sounds like a real horror story! Especially how abusive some people were! You know, with an experience that unpleasant at your last job, that may be part of why you weren’t in a big hurry to get a new one! I’m glad you did, and I’m glad you like it! It sounds like a perfect job too… that’s like every programmers dream job. The first few companies I worked for were small privately owned operations too, and I really miss that. Although, I never had co-workers as nice as yours sound! You are one lucky girl
You sound so happy where you are! I’m happy for you
That’s great Mona!!! I’m so happy for you!!!
I was in a similar situation once where co-workers were arrogant and complete SYCOPHANTS. They would do and say anything to OIL the boss. This kind of people has no self respect and most importantly they know that their skills level is so week that they would never be employed any where else. That is why they have no other option but to butter-up the boss to keep the job. What a bunch of LOOSERS!
Strangely SOME BOSSES like to be oiled and pampered. These bosses don’t look at employee’s work quality but instead rate employees based on the degree of sycophant-ness. After a year of taking non-sense I resigned and just like you felt good.
You have done the right think by leaving your previous job. It is not worth working for such employer. I am happy your current job environment is full of fresh air.
yr right it is a long post lol (but a good 1) if yr happy thats whats matters
salams
@Oussama
Thank you!!!!!
@Dena B
Exactly!!
@Craig
You are missing out!! Go find a new job for a small business! It’s more fun!
@Erica
Thank you!!!!!
@Lejla
Thanks a bunch!!
@khurshid
I wouldn’t call my x-co-workers dumb or weak. They just talked too much and live their life sucking up to their superiors to earn money. What a degrading life!
@Charlie Hayse
Thank you so much!! Salamz!
Do you see how you were mentioning that everybody treats you with respect and kindness? I wonder if wearing a Hijab will change that veiw. Not just for you, but for everybody who dosent wear it. Sometimes I wonder if wearing a hijab keeps you back from things.
@Jasmine
I will tell you the truth. If I wore a hijab, I would have never gotten a job as a programmer ever! I know so many girls who wear hijab and graduated from Computer Science and never gotten a job. They were very smart girls and very talented programmers, but no one would hire them. This is just reality.
I know, thats my biggest worry. My backup plan for not getting a job in Canada is to get a job in the middle east, but over there who’s going to give a woman a mans job, let alone trust her with their money ? (I’m finishing an undergrad in Commerce) Oh I know that there are tons of women in business over there, but just like the hijab, working in a mans field is another worry.
Dang Mona, I know what it is like to have people call you silly names over your ethnic origin. I really feel you on that one because I grew up with hearing stupid racial remarks. Am glad you are doing so much better where you are at and no one can put a price tag on happiness….it definitly is good for your health!
I’m catching up b/c I have a new job myself. I’ll answer all the recent stuff here.
I’m not surprised you got this job. You deserve it.
As a white guy, I mainly read this site b/c it’s entertaining and b/c I like to learn how other people think. I am interested in all cultures. The more I learn about other people, the more similar all cultures seem to me. Also, the more I see that there is no typical X type of person from a culture, but they are diverse: there are shy, happy, angry, friendly, and crazy people of all cultures.