Good news or bad news

[Ozzy]

Well before I get to what I have to tell you, I think I need to give a quick review of the last few months of my life.

A few years ago I became dedicated to saving as many cp sites around South eastern NC as I can, especially the Green Swamp. I was living in another state so what I could do was very limited.
Last month I moved back to NC. There was many reasons I moved back but one of them was to do what I can to save cp sites and the Green Swamp.
After moving here I started looking for a job. I'm an electrician and it seemed that all the jobs in this area was residential, like houses and condos. I really hate doing residential work. I would much rather be wiring a big store, factory, or industrial plant. I couldn't find anything but residential work so I took a job with a very good company wiring houses and condos. Last week I found a website of a company that is looking to hire electricians in this area for industrial work. I filled out an online application. I got a call the next day to schedule an interview. We setup a day and time and then he gave me directions to the jobsite. When he told me where it was I realized that I knew the area very well. It's in the Green Swamp.
The interview was today. I got there and it was just where I thought it was. About a half mile off the main was a cleared area, with what will be a pump station for the new sewer system for Brunswick county. This area has been on my list of places to search for cp's.
The interview went very well and I was offered a job, starting off making over $100 more a week than I'm making right now. Within two weeks I can be making $350 a week more. So I can make way more money doing something I like doing instead of something I hate doing.
This job has better benefits, saving me another $100 a week.
Now for the down side. I like the company and the guys I work with now. The owners of the company are really good people and I hate to quit on them. The job I have now, I work 4 10 hour days. I'm off on Fridays, and I have been using that time to map Cp sites. The new job, I'll be working on Fridays.
So with all the info I gave here guess what I did. I'm not going to tell you yet. I want to hear everybodies true feelings, and if I tell what I decided to do I think it could change what some of you have to say.
So tell me what you would do and why.

 

[Clint]

so they are going to develope the green swamp?

i think you turned it down.

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

since you're earning more money, you can help out CPs better. By working for them you're not harming the CPs since you're not the one making the decisions or anything. If you quit they'd just find another person. You can also at least try (I know it won't work... but it doesn't hurt to try) to talk to them.
so the way I see it, if you quit, it doesn't help CPs. If you stay, it could help CPs. So I say there's no reason to quit.
Yes, it might feel bad working for them, but think of how you can help CPs better.

 

[Ozzy]

Let me explain a little more. They have been devloping the Green Swamp ever since White men settled the area. There is 16,000 acres (I think) that is preserved by the Nature Conservancy. This construction site is about a mile from the preserve.There is nothing I can do short of buying all the land myself to stop it from being developed.

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

and will quitting/not accepting/whatever do anything to help CPs?
Will more money help you protect CPs in any way? maybe not the land being developed but in some other way?

 

[Ozzy]

But it'll also take one day a week away from my work with cp's.

 

[StifflerMichael]

darn, always seems like life throws you a curve ball, when you least expect it. Geez, I would think if you took the job, it would break your heart all day to know that you are somehow taking part in the ruining of the Green Swamp...it probably wouldn't affect the other guy who would fill your place. Maybe it would help to tell the people hiring you, that you would not accept the job because of its implications...unless they have any inclination towards conservation. Who knows, maybe they do. Best of luck with your decision.

 

[LauraZ5]

What would I do I'd most probably stay put with the residential electrical contractor working four 10-hour days with associates and owners whom I enjoyed. The one thing that would stop me would be the benefits. Disability and Health insurance benefits would be critical mass for me. If the benefits provided by the commercial electrical contractor were more comprehensive (not necessarily more affordable), I'd have no choice but to accept that position working Mon-Fri hence foregoing the opportunity to pursue the mapping of CP sites which could be pushed to weekends. My husband and the boys come first. Money isn't everything but one definitely needs enough to feel comfortable as well as reasonably confident that one won't lose a home or end up in bankruptcy court as a result of an illness or accident. Twenty years ago, I would have gone for the higher pay hands down as it would have afforded me other philanthropic opportunities and a nicer car and home.

 

[Ozzy]

The higher paying job is with the commecial job and better insurance.. Which I would enjoy doing more than the residential.

 

[Trapper7]

Oh boy,this is a toughy.Well first of all, congrats on getting a job offer doing something that you love.That's great! But...now I don't know what to say,lol.Um...money isn't everything.It seems like your heart is set more on the CP's.That's just what I got from your post,and also just from talking to you and reading all your other posts.And if you enjoy the company that you're with now,and the people that you work with,then I would stay put.And hey!You never know,there might be another job offer just like this one,but not in the Green Swamp.Wouldn't that be perfect!

Good luck Ozzy,I will support whichever way you go. ~Niki~

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

Quote[/b] ]But it'll also take one day a week away from my work with cp's.

oh. Well that changes everything.
I say do what's best for CPs. Unless one full day a week away from your work with CPs isn't bad in the long run, I would not accept.

 

[cockatielmother]

Ozzy:

I heard someone say once, always go with your heart! Money can never replace loving what you do.

I KNOW of what I speak. I was qualified to be a "human resource manager" by education. I wound up working for minimum wage in a floral section of a big box store until the Doctors said, no more.

I live on worker's comp/retirement now at a level the government considers low income. I have all the TIME in the world to research plants, etc. Just can't DRIVE anymore to go visiting them. Still, I am mostly content because I can write about conservation issues at my website and maybe have more impact than I would have in some high powered job.

I spend about 3 hours a day reading through all the old CP posts for example.

DO YOU WANT TO SPEND FRIDAY'S MAPPING CPS OR WIRING BUILDINGS?

 

[firewired]

I would have turned it down as well. It seems like you would have kind of a guilty feeling that you were taking part in destroying the swamp. I always try and go with my gut feelings. It's a big deal liking who you work with. They can make crappy jobs turn into fun jobs. And a 3 day weekend every weekend would be great.

So........which one did you choose?

 

[Clint]

well in that case i don't see anything wrong with working there.

 

[Capslock]

I'd take the new job. Not only will it help your finances, but it's doing something you love. Yes, you lose one day of cp work, but there are seven days in a week. This new job makes four of them better, and one of them worse. And you like the work better. And it pays better. Take the new job, and thank the old guys profusely, you might be going back to them eventually. (I can't tell you how many times in my carreer that not burning bridges and staying friendly with former employers and people has come back to help me!)

EDIT: I had another thought: it would be good to have a cp advocate among the crews working in the area! Like you say, the work is going on regardless, and would really benefit the cps and the community to have someone with knowlege to help with rescues and alternatives among the crews working there.

Capslock

 

[Clint]

can you rescue any cp's you come across on your day off? or the day off before construction?

 

[PlantAKiss]

Hmmm...I think you should take the new job so you can be an on-site advocate for the plants, get permission for rescues and have a legitimate reason for being on the site. You will still have 2 days to map CPs in other places. And the extra money and benefits sure won't hurt.

 

[Finch]

well whats that saying? i had to destroy the town to save the town?

 

[endparenthesis]

Keep your enemies closer, right?

 

[Est]

Quote[/b] ]well whats that saying? i had to destroy the town to save the town?

I've been seeing a lot of posts like these: the general assumption being that you'd be killing CPs by working for the industrial place. It would appear that people have been overlooking something Ozzy said:

Quote[/b] ]This construction site is about a mile from the preserve.

That's a good point A. The site is outside of the preserve, bringing up the question: Are there carnivorous plants there to BEGIN with??
While this question still stands and remains relevent, there is point B which addresses the truth a bit more, also a quote from Ozzy himself:

Quote[/b] ]There is nothing I can do short of buying all the land myself to stop it from being developed.

Ok, so this addressed, I'd say to you, Ozzy, that you should go with the new job. You said that the area will be for a new sewer system and this brings up a few points:
1. Maybe the sewer system will prevent contaminated (especially with nitrates as most sewage is) water from entering or even potentially interfering with wildlife within or around the preserve. While I do feel that it may be a more than slightly Romantic thought, it's a possability.
2. Not working on condos is good for two reasons in this case: you said you don't like working on them, and because I think that a condo being built in this area would be a much bigger threat than a pump site for a new sewage system.
3. Environmental impact reports are pretty darn strict where I live, so I'm hoping/assuming that they are the same there ESPECIALLY since the preserve is so nearby, so hopefully the construction will do minimal damage.

Furthermore, as PAK said, it might be good to be an "insider," that in no way implies that you need be unethical, shifty, or unloyal to your employer, but merely that you can keep a tab on what's going on. Still, the preserve is very close, as you said, you could play this as a plus: I'm not sure if you've been mapping inside of the preserve or outside, but if it's within, then if you aren't too beat one day after work you could go afterwards (seems a bit unrealistic, but it's possible.) Heck, you could even take a colleague on a tour of the preserve some time and get them interested in the conservation issue as well.

Like Capslock said, you REALLY will want to leave your old job (should you choose to) in a manner that leaves to bitterness behind. For instance, what if you were for the new people, you find out they're doing things legally but unethically/irresponsibly or even illegally, then you could always make more of an impact by quitting than you ever could as an electrician for the residential people.

Even if/though the site has already been cleared, by working with these people you'd have grounds for going to new sites and rescuing what you can. All in all, you'd have a lot more leverage about what's happening as an employee to them than someone that they've never heard of.

I know that it's your decision in the end, but my thoughts are that you could do more for for helping both carnivorous plants AND yourself by taking the new job. If you're happy (ie not unhappy with work,) and have the money to do so, I think that your CP site searching would go a lot better. Hey, maybe they'll even cover the medical costs of getting attacked by a man-sized chigger.

It's a life decision and this is just my opinion, I hope that whichever route you take that you will be happy and feel content with the choice that you have made. No matter what the choice, you're a good person for doing so much and caring so much about these wonderful plants.

P.S. Sorr that this is so darn long.