Worth It

The phone rang. The new boss wanted to talk about the upcoming burnout training.  

“The customers want a discount,” The New Boss said. “We do a lot of business with them. I’ll have to reduce your cut by 25%.”  The company kept two thirds of training fees. I kept the other third as an incentive to drum up more business. I assumed the company and I would both lose 25%.

“I don’t know Boss,” I said shaking my head. “Are you ok with losing 25%?”

The New Boss smiled.  “We won’t need to. Just lowering your part got us to a price they accepted.”

There was a time, when I first got sober, that I would have said OK.  I was beaten down, feeling like I deserved whatever fate dealt me.

For many years after I got sober I struggled financially.  I might have been forced to take less, knowing I was worth more. I would have fallen back on that line from the Serenity Pray “…to accept the things I cannot change.”  

That day I was in a position to bargain.  If I just accepted the pay cut, I’d be denying my worth.  “How about we share the cost of giving them a discount?”  We negotiated from there.

Today I will know my own worth.

Burnout Training ©2018 by Ken Montrose

Burnout Training is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/