So I’m going to quit one of my part-time jobs. I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks and now I reaslise that I need to have some free time in my life. At present 6 days a week I leave home by 7 and get home after 8 and It isn’t worth it.
My mind was decided last week when my boss thought it funny to pay me 200元 less than I was meant to get. Now 200元 may not be that much - when I first came to China I would have let it go - but not now. If he is going to mess with me then I’ll repay him with the same courtesy.
I get paid by the hour so he knows exactly how many classes I did, yet when I told him he said I was mistaken, he simply didn’t listen to anything I had to say. It’s strange because I have had a good working relationship with him previously, I have never had any complaints. Why would he try this on?
I told him in as many ways possible that he still owed my the 200, then I told him in Chinese, I asked him to him to ask the students whether I was there or not. He still continued to disagree with me. I think he must have really been short of cash or something (by skimming the 200yuan) because he knows that if I quit on him he is in a difficult situation. He also knows that there are lots of other places I could work and that I don’t have to work for him.
I will tell my boss after I get paid this week that my price has gone up. So If he wishes to retain my services he must pay me more as my time has now become more valuable. If he doesn’t agree (and this is what I really want) I will endeavour to find him a replacement teacher but I can’t guarantee anything. He knows how difficult it will be to get a replacement at this time during the term, especially as his classes are during the week and most teachers in Changchun work during the week. But this will be his problem not mine.
By forcing his hand I will either get a raise or I will have some free time to do the things I want to do. Either way I can’t lose.
Ultimately though it’s the students that will suffer. It’s very sad but that’s how it is. The administration at this university desn’t care abut the welfare of its students. I do care, but I can’t let that feeling put me in a disadvantageous position especially when it comes to salary. If I say that ‘I can’t quit because I owe it to the students’ then I cut my own throat as effectively it means I can’t quit. It’s tough but that’s just the way it is here.
