Announcement / Stories #1: Rob's New Job

Well, it's been a while.  I'll discuss why in a later Announcement/Story.  But this one today is all about Rob's new job.

Announcement:  Rob got a new job!

It's for the same company, so not much changes.  He still works from home.  He still travels.  We're not moving.

There are a few perks.  It comes with a sizable raise in base salary and opportunities to get quite a bit more in commission.  On top of that, they offered him a company car, a Toyota RAV4, which he accepted.  So we will in short order be selling our 2011 Chevy Cruze.  We are excited about all of these things.

Story:

Back in March or so, Rob's sales partner for the US region he's over (it's called Central and includes the Midwest and parts of the South.  Think Nebraska to Florida, but not Texas) quit.  So just like that Rob was doing two jobs for the price of one.

At first the idea of sales kinda freaked him out.  Would he be good at it?  Did he even want to do it?  But during his little trial run, he found out he had a knack for it.  By the time the sales job officially came open, everyone assumed he would apply and that, if he did, he would get it.

But Rob didn't want to apply.  Or so he said.  He hemmed and hawed over it.  He would adamantly say no, he wouldn't apply, and then question it.  We had many talks about it, most of which went something like this:

Rob:  I'm not going to apply.
Me:  Okay.
Rob:  But maybe I will apply.
Me:  Okay.
Rob:  Well, what do you think I should do?
Me:  Rob, it doesn't really affect me in any way.  If you want to apply for it, great.  If not, great.
Rob:  Oh.  Well, I'm not going to apply.
Me:  Okay.
... and repeat

When the job was posted, and for two weeks after, Rob told everyone in the company that he was definitely not applying.  People were shocked, but understanding.

This brings us to a Saturday morning.  We were driving in the car to the temple and I thought it was the right time to confront Rob with the reality of what I was seeing:  He actually wanted to apply for the job.  We went through all of his objections:

This will ruin my family. ...  Nope.
I don't know if I'll like it or not.  ...  You've been doing it for months.  You have liked it so far.
Maybe I won't be good at it.  ...  -roll my eyes-
This will ruin my career.  ...  I doubt it.
Tamra, you wouldn't apply for it.  ...  It's not me who's applying.
We don't need the extra money.  ...  No, we don't.  You're right.
Tamra, make this decision for me. ...  Umm, no.

When it was distilled down to the very essence of his struggle, we realized, together, that Rob was fighting The Unknown.  Rob hates change.  He knows that he likes his current job, and he thinks he'll like the new job, but WHAT IF...  And those what if's eat him alive.

So, kudos to Rob, he defeated the What If monster and applied for the job.  Last week he was offered the job, and today is his official start date.

Also, kudos to me for being an awesome wife.  Seriously.  I rocked that one out.