Me: Oh, Claire*, I'm not sure if Andrew* told you but when he interviewed me, I requested for Sundays to be off because I have church duties every other Sunday and my church service starts at 5 p.m. hence I don't think I can work on Sundays. And he told me that there won't be any problem at all, only occasional trainings that will take place on Sundays, but those trainings usually occur on Sunday mornings.
Claire*: Andrew* didn't tell me anything about this arrangement but I gotta tell you this, if you can't be flexible in working on Sundays, we can't on board you.
Me (Thinking to myself): I need this job to pay my bills, it's so hard to find a job in London and I have to have a job to survive!
Me: Ok, I will see the arrangements I can make.
I immediately quit my church duties just to be flexible and even stopped going to the church I called home for 1 year ever since I came to London, and stopped seeing the church community whom I called family.
In the above situation, I felt that I was cornered and threatened, I was not left with any choice. To make things worst, when my manager, Claire* said that, my deputy general manager was also present. They took away my right to observe my faith and made it seem right, because when I have a job in Harrods; Harrods became my life. I am not entitled to have a life outside of Harrods.
This actually left me voiceless and frustrated. I felt that my rights as a Christian has been violated and I didn't have a voice. I just didn't want my work to clash with my faith; my duty as a Christian. Why is it so hard? I thought to myself, where is my voice as a Christian? Are there no other Christians out there who work in retail, who will stand by firmly in what they believe in?
It really puzzled me.
PS. *Names have been changed.
Claire*: Andrew* didn't tell me anything about this arrangement but I gotta tell you this, if you can't be flexible in working on Sundays, we can't on board you.
Me (Thinking to myself): I need this job to pay my bills, it's so hard to find a job in London and I have to have a job to survive!
Me: Ok, I will see the arrangements I can make.
I immediately quit my church duties just to be flexible and even stopped going to the church I called home for 1 year ever since I came to London, and stopped seeing the church community whom I called family.
In the above situation, I felt that I was cornered and threatened, I was not left with any choice. To make things worst, when my manager, Claire* said that, my deputy general manager was also present. They took away my right to observe my faith and made it seem right, because when I have a job in Harrods; Harrods became my life. I am not entitled to have a life outside of Harrods.
This actually left me voiceless and frustrated. I felt that my rights as a Christian has been violated and I didn't have a voice. I just didn't want my work to clash with my faith; my duty as a Christian. Why is it so hard? I thought to myself, where is my voice as a Christian? Are there no other Christians out there who work in retail, who will stand by firmly in what they believe in?
It really puzzled me.
PS. *Names have been changed.
