As she says about herself, she is a “woman with a pesel”. For over a decade she worked as an internal auditor in an international corporation. This meant frequent delegations and life on suitcases – I liked it, at least for some time. But at the end I was acting like a machine. In the end I realized that I don't want to live like that anymore.
The decision to leave the corporation was influenced by several factors. The first was the monstrous burn and the feeling that its values began to dismantle with the company's values somewhere. The second, continuous travels. Wioletta, as an auditor, spent up to three days a week on a journey around Poland. When during one of these trips she answered the phone with information about her daughter's accident, she knew that she never wanted to be far from home and family.
It was an event that poured a bit of bitterness. Three months later she made a notice without having any emergency plan. After a week, she enrolled in a category C driving license course. Today he runs a tanker with air fuel.
– At the beginning I didn't see it at all as such an amazing volt. For me it all seemed natural, obvious, cool – says Wioletta, who is known as MRS on the network. Driver – it was only the environment that began to make me aware of what I did.
Garbage truck driver? This work is inherited
She had no plan. She returned home and told her daughter: “Listen, now you have an unemployed mother.” But the idea quickly turned out. “It was something that I had on my mind for some time.” I liked to ride the most from all my audit work. New places, movement, meeting new people – it fueled me. Some do a course for captain of a glider, I dreamed of a truck – he explains. In addition, when browsing job ads, she noticed that this is a deficit skill.
Just a week after submitting the notice, she enrolled in a category C driving license course. One of the instructors had a second job – on the garbage truck. – He said that it was a quiet job, that he was getting up in the morning at 13:00. It sounded good. Przedsiębiorstwo Usług Komunalnych I have one and a half kilometers from home. I wouldn't go far to work anywhere in my life. Secondly, I would be at home every day. These were my most important criteria for looking for a new job.
It quickly turned out that it is not easy for such work. She heard that she was either inherited or gets inherited from a garbage truck.
– But one day an advertisement appeared. I thought: I will send your CV, they won't call at most.
“Do you even know where you are applying?”
He still mentions the first job as a professional driver to this day. The gentleman from the transport company called surprised, but he even offered that he would arrange her lighter route. However, a day later they called with a knocking with a competitive offer. She went to the conversation by a motorcycle to arouse respect.
– Mr. President looked at me and asked if I was aware of where I was applying. “Do you really know what she will do? Garbage trees are a little different people than those in the office with whom you have been dealing so far,” she heard. When she confirmed that she was determined, they immediately signed the documents so that nobody would change their minds.
“This garbage truck cleared me”
The first day on the garbage truck was terrifying. She got a region in the center of Gdynia, on which no one wanted to ride. It was the baptism of “Świeżak”.
– The impression is similar as to lead the passenger car back, over and over again. Only the car is larger – he describes. She returned with a shield, did not hook anything, she did her job. She was pleased with herself, but she realized what she got into.
He points out that the team accepted it warmly. Colleagues had patience-they usually finished their work at 12: 00-13: 00, they often returned with her after 15:00.
“Nobody ever told me a bad word.” I really got a lot of support. And for me it was a school of life – he says.
Working behind the garbage truck wheel gave her an amazing sense of agency. She realized that she was finally doing something useful for society. Not for the company, not for the president, but for his community. “I had to come for this rubbish, because if not, it would be a disaster,” he says, not hiding emotions.
Free man
The reactions of the environment were different. The daughter was delighted. – She said I should do what was playing in my soul. My mother's reaction was less enthusiastic. “She was a bit ashamed of what I was doing,” says Wioletta.
There were various comments on the street. – I remember two elegantly dressed ladies in the center of Gdynia. They stood at my height, one says with a snack: “No job is disgraceful.” I replied: “I agree with you, thank you, I wish you a good day” – laughs Wioletta. But there were also positive meetings. People approached, talked, children waved from the windows. It gave her energy to work.
Resistance to stinging comments and remarks of others is the result of a strong character, but also hardening. Wioletta says that the work of the auditor was also not associated with the title of Miss popularity. These are difficult tasks, sometimes leading to the end of cooperation with paragraph 52 of the Labor Code. Man turns off, cuts off his emotions. It can't be otherwise. After the change, she could finally free man.
– This garbage truck cleared me. Together with the garbage that I took to the dump, I cleaned my head and soul – he explains.
New chapter with aviation fuel
After a few months, she decided to change. Reason? Money.
– The garbage truck was an amazing adventure and interesting stories, but unfortunately poor money. And this was the main reason for my next decision to change work – he explains.
Few people from outside the industry are aware of how long, complicated and expensive procedures for acquiring professional driver's rights are. Wioletta immediately did the rights to transport hazardous materials. This opened her door to a new chapter.
Now he rides a tanker with aviation fuel, which he calls affectionately a “sausage”. It happens that he gets up at one o'clock at night to be in the refinery for loading, and the fourth at the airport. He does two or three courses a day on the Rafineria Gdańsk-Gdańsk airport (32 km). But in the afternoon he is already at home.
– financially comes out like in a corporation. I just don't have a company car anymore. It was problematic at the beginning, but later I bought a red mini. Now I am a happy man – he laughs.
Dark sides of work behind the wheel
Driver's work is not only driving a car. Wioletta discovered the reality that is rarely talked about.
– In the 21st century there are no toilets for women. Imagine that you are eight hours in the city and there is nowhere to deal with basic needs – he explains. – There are two citybat in Gdynia. In restaurants or cafes, they don't really look at someone in Drelich. I admire the girls who decide for weeks in distant routes. I can't imagine it – he says honestly.
A mandatory work outfit also does not provide for a women's size. – I even have gloves, like a heirathe, size 10 xl – he laughs. – I don't look feminine. If one of the ladies already decides to do so, he must forget that she will be able to present herself and feel feminine. It is unlikely to pass. But employers try very hard to match everything as much as possible.
“I'm happy like never before”
Today he talks about everything lightly, but he admits that the period of burning and maturing to change was a terrible time, full of fear, uncertainty and sadness. However, he does not regret anything.
– I really don't regret it. This work taught me, above all, respect and humility. In the corporation I was active on the machine – go, do, write a report, write a reprimand, come back. Zero emotions, no joy – he explains.
Now he has what she was looking for: she is at home every day, he has contact with his daughter, he does not feel such stress as it used to be. – my head rested. I began to live as I wanted – not under the dictation of teams or subsequent meetings, but in my rhythm – he explains.
Plans for the future? He writes a book, studies at the report of reportage, runs the blog “Mrs. Driver” on Facebook.
– I really don't know where I will be in five years. After what happened in my life – it is also an incredible metamorphosis for me. Maybe I will be able to tell the world through the book – he replies and adds with a smile: “Sometimes people cannot accept that someone lives in their own way.” The world was not ready that the unemployed, lonely woman would be happy. And I was and I am happy like never before.
