[nok]

Today was a really bad day for me. I had to do a very, very difficult thing ( for me, anyway) : I quit one of the two jobs that I'm working at right now.

I've been there for quite a while, gave it everything I had and than some more, sacrificed my free time and vacations in order to substitute for the other teachers that couldn't show up, did extra tasks in order to help out the boss ( such as making tests for classes that other teachers were teaching but didn't have time to make their own tests, going downstairs and asking the staff for extra copies of sheets even though it's the students' job to ask for additional sheets, etc.) so you can imagine how difficult it was for me to tell the school this morning that I'm quitting. Anyway, I did it and now it's finished. I know I did the right thing but I still feel quite sad because I'm kind of attached to the place and the people there: that happens to me when I work at a place for kind of a long time. It just kind of grows on me and becomes a part of me.

I think the receptionist who took my call this morning was a bit surprised. After I told her I wasn't coming in to work anymore, she said, " What did you say ? " kind of like she didn't hear right so I repeated the same statement to her again.

I know I've done the right thing by quitting because I haven't gotten my salary there for like 5 months now ( yes..... you heard me right. Five months.). The boss said that the school wasn't doing well and they didn't have any money to pay the teachers and that this was just a temporary problem that would last only 1-2 months. So, I stayed for 2 months, working there without any salary. The third month, the boss said that the economic crises was taking its toll on the school, the fourth month, he said next month everybody will get paid for sure and the fifth month ( which is this month), he avoided mentioning anything about money except to say that the school was reducing its tution fees so that all the teachers would get their salaries but so far, nothing. I thought, well, it's been 5 months already so enough is enough. The work load at school is very heavy, I have to do a lot of lesson preparations, I spend several hours at the school, I have about a hundred students, I have to conduct 4+ classes weekly, teach everyday, etc. so, enough is enough. It's time to say bye-bye to this crappy school and stop wasting time doing so much work and not getting paid for it. To make matters worse, the boss keeps piling me up with more classes and more work ( as if I'm not doing enough work for him already ! ) . It's almost as if he's forgotten that I haven't been paid for 5 months now. I have pretty much lost a lot of respect for him as it is.

I know I did the right thing so why do I feel so sad ? Why is it everytime I stand up for myself and do the right thing, I always feel so sad ?

Since I quit, nobody at the school has called me up to say goodbye or to wish me well so that makes me even sadder. It's like everything that I did and everything that I sacrificed for the school is meaningless to them. The boss hasn't even called me to apologize for lack of payments.