R-E-S-P-E-C-T

How do you earn respect? Do you give respect to others even when they don't deserve it? Do you respect your elders or supervisors only because of their status or position?

Plain and simple, I'm having problems at work. The supervisor is a heavy micro-manager and it's driving me insane. Instead of trusting his employees to do the right thing, he insists on spying on them (through the computer or simply standing behind you for hours at a time). I know what needs to be done and complete it within the schedule and assure you that nobody needs to watch me work.

Honestly, I believe he singles me out of the group because I've been the ONLY one to step up to him. He is on the border line of harassment at times and uses intimidation tactics to get what he wants. I don't respect him. He lost that "priveledge" a long time ago.

Today I was told that I needed to respect him and I'm having major issues with that word. Shouldn't you earn respect (or give respect to others) in order to receive respect in return?

Surprised? Not in the least.

Today I found out that I wasn't selected for the job I interviewed for 2 weeks ago. Why am I not surprised? Maybe in the deep pit of my stomach I knew I blew it. I knew it the moment I walked in without an ounce of confidence in my body.

Now, it's time to make a decision whether to stay where I'm at (in a painstakingly boring position with no advancement) or find something else at another company. I'm tired of interviewing for positions here at this company. It seems as though they move people up to better positions who have a degree in butt-kissing rather than people who are more qualified for the job.

Update on my job interview

I just got back from my job interview and I don't think it went very well. Judging another person's facial expressions and body language is not one of my strong points. I couldn't read the woman to know if I was doing or saying the right thing to impress her. Sure they say to "be yourself" and if I'm truly being myself then I want to please her. I'm a people pleaser by nature.

The job itself sounds like it will be challenging and I'm excited about that aspect. It is a fairly new position, which in turn means some trial and error. From the way she described the job duties it didn't sound complicated, just a huge work load. That will be a nice change for me since I feel I work best under some amount of pressure.

The manager's major point was she needed someone to be there full-time. I mentioned that I have 2 young boys and I'm a single mom. They do get sick and I do have to miss work on occasion, but I don't believe it's an every other day occurrence. Maybe I shot myself in the foot, but I wanted to be honest and let her know that while my job is important to me I also have responsibilities at home that need to be taken care of.

One other person will be interviewed for this position, so I guess it's a 50/50 chance that I will get it. Fingers are still crossed. Hopefully, I find out next week when her boss comes back from a work related trip.