stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2019-11-05 10:20 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2019-11-05 10:20 pm
Albion, After the Interview
(The Albion saga continues . . . )
Darwin put on his interview suit and walked from the hotel to city hall for the interview while I packed up the room and found breakfast for us. He came back and reported that the interview had gone very well. Later, we watched the videos of the interviews on-line and agreed that Darwin would get the job.
That was when the complications arose.
We returned home to wait. The council was going to choose their finalist the following Monday evening. But during that wait, another city called and asked Darwin to come in to interview. And then another one did. Both of them were within easy driving distance of our house.
I was in agony. Either of these jobs would make our lives so much easier. But Darwin was reluctant to schedule an interview until he knew what would happen with Albion.
And we had another problem: my retirement.
We were figuring that if Darwin got a job far away from Wherever, he would take it and I would retire early. However, I'd recently learned that the penalty for early retirement was far stiffer than I had thought back when Darwin first started job hunting. Suddenly it wasn't economically feasible for me to stop teaching.
I could hunt for a job with another Michigan public school system, and in the current teacher shortage, I could probably find one fairly easily. However, moving to another school would cut my salary in more than half and additionally make me into a first-year teacher in the district's eyes, with all the attendant extra evaluations, required workshops, and lack of tenure. Finally, Wherever Schools has in its written policies that it does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Vanishingly few schools in Michigan have that policy, and at this point in my life, I'm not willing to put my currently-secure career into the hands of someone who might fire me because I'm gay. Another job isn't very feasible.
So I can't retire anytime soon. But if Darwin took the job in Albion, we'd have to live apart for several years. I don't like this prospect, for obvious reasons. Yes, it's true that we'd see each other on weekends and on holiday breaks. Over summer, I could live in Albion with him. And yes, it's true that lots of spouses live separated. Military people and spouses of traveling salespeople spring to mind. None of this makes the idea palatable, and I begged Darwin to give serious consideration to turning Albion down if they offered the job.
We were caught between awful choices. It was 99% sure the Albion job would go to Darwin. It wasn't near as sure that Darwin would find another job, at least not right away, and our savings were dwindling. Should he take the sure job and the security that came with it, or hold out for a better job that might not materialize?
Monday evening, I was in Ann Arbor for an unrelated function, and Darwin called me. Albion was offering him the position. But there was a snag--before Albion would begin contract negotiations, they wanted a confirmation that Darwin did want the position. Darwin told them he needed to talk to me first.
I was distracted by the event and couldn't give my full attention to what we were talking about, but I wasn't happy about Albion's requirement that he give a tentative yes. I've been involved in contract negotiations for decades, and I've never in my life heard of such an outrageous request.
"What do I tell them?" he asked.
I wanted to tell him to refuse it and go for the other jobs. But I didn't want to be the one who wiped out a secure job at a town Darwin liked. So I said, "Do you want to take it?"
He paused a moment. "I do. I like the town, I like the people. Everyone is so nice and friendly and kind, the exact opposite of Ypsilanti. Albion has a lot of potential, and I want to work there."
"Okay," I said. "Tell them you'll take it."
This Darwin did, which touched off an explosion of emails welcoming him to Albion. Most of them said things like, "You were the only candidate we wanted," and "We're so glad you're taking the job," and "Sue!"
Darwin also emailed the other cities to withdraw his applications. Almost immediately, a city councilor emailed back praising his qualifications, begging him to reconsider, and all but offering him the job. Darwin turned him down. I was in agony again, but said nothing. Forward to Albion!
Contract negotiations took almost a month, but finally they were ironed out and Darwin settled on a start date in mid-October.
This meant we had to find a place for him to live.
Darwin put on his interview suit and walked from the hotel to city hall for the interview while I packed up the room and found breakfast for us. He came back and reported that the interview had gone very well. Later, we watched the videos of the interviews on-line and agreed that Darwin would get the job.
That was when the complications arose.
We returned home to wait. The council was going to choose their finalist the following Monday evening. But during that wait, another city called and asked Darwin to come in to interview. And then another one did. Both of them were within easy driving distance of our house.
I was in agony. Either of these jobs would make our lives so much easier. But Darwin was reluctant to schedule an interview until he knew what would happen with Albion.
And we had another problem: my retirement.
We were figuring that if Darwin got a job far away from Wherever, he would take it and I would retire early. However, I'd recently learned that the penalty for early retirement was far stiffer than I had thought back when Darwin first started job hunting. Suddenly it wasn't economically feasible for me to stop teaching.
I could hunt for a job with another Michigan public school system, and in the current teacher shortage, I could probably find one fairly easily. However, moving to another school would cut my salary in more than half and additionally make me into a first-year teacher in the district's eyes, with all the attendant extra evaluations, required workshops, and lack of tenure. Finally, Wherever Schools has in its written policies that it does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Vanishingly few schools in Michigan have that policy, and at this point in my life, I'm not willing to put my currently-secure career into the hands of someone who might fire me because I'm gay. Another job isn't very feasible.
So I can't retire anytime soon. But if Darwin took the job in Albion, we'd have to live apart for several years. I don't like this prospect, for obvious reasons. Yes, it's true that we'd see each other on weekends and on holiday breaks. Over summer, I could live in Albion with him. And yes, it's true that lots of spouses live separated. Military people and spouses of traveling salespeople spring to mind. None of this makes the idea palatable, and I begged Darwin to give serious consideration to turning Albion down if they offered the job.
We were caught between awful choices. It was 99% sure the Albion job would go to Darwin. It wasn't near as sure that Darwin would find another job, at least not right away, and our savings were dwindling. Should he take the sure job and the security that came with it, or hold out for a better job that might not materialize?
Monday evening, I was in Ann Arbor for an unrelated function, and Darwin called me. Albion was offering him the position. But there was a snag--before Albion would begin contract negotiations, they wanted a confirmation that Darwin did want the position. Darwin told them he needed to talk to me first.
I was distracted by the event and couldn't give my full attention to what we were talking about, but I wasn't happy about Albion's requirement that he give a tentative yes. I've been involved in contract negotiations for decades, and I've never in my life heard of such an outrageous request.
"What do I tell them?" he asked.
I wanted to tell him to refuse it and go for the other jobs. But I didn't want to be the one who wiped out a secure job at a town Darwin liked. So I said, "Do you want to take it?"
He paused a moment. "I do. I like the town, I like the people. Everyone is so nice and friendly and kind, the exact opposite of Ypsilanti. Albion has a lot of potential, and I want to work there."
"Okay," I said. "Tell them you'll take it."
This Darwin did, which touched off an explosion of emails welcoming him to Albion. Most of them said things like, "You were the only candidate we wanted," and "We're so glad you're taking the job," and "Sue!"
Darwin also emailed the other cities to withdraw his applications. Almost immediately, a city councilor emailed back praising his qualifications, begging him to reconsider, and all but offering him the job. Darwin turned him down. I was in agony again, but said nothing. Forward to Albion!
Contract negotiations took almost a month, but finally they were ironed out and Darwin settled on a start date in mid-October.
This meant we had to find a place for him to live.