So I spent a good amount of time mourning the loss of a tech support job at NOA. I was let go for being confrontational. Basically I was waking up too early and being bitter at work and they like to let people go without qualms about it. At the time I was pretty sure I was the bomb because my experience at Rockstar Support gave me a leg up on others in my training class. I loved the subject material and displayed confidence and superior ability to perform my duties. But to be honest, Nintendo made the job super easy for us. I mean they really hook up their system so everything is a piece of cake. It's wonderful to be in their tech support department. 

Anyway, I ended up working in a preschool as a substitute para educator over the winter.  I ended up sending a letter to my old recruiter at Nintendo letting him know how much I missed it there and he offered me a role in their warehouse. It's a 2 month contract boxing systems. Pays well but gets me up at 4 am for an hour commute. I'd love to get back on campus. Amazing and affordable sushi on tuesdays. Sports fields, employee store. Cool people all around. My ego would love the bragging rights (posting now for a fools form of glory). 

But I had a wrist surgery over the winter and I'm experiencing spinal arthritis and degenerative disk disease out of no where. I don't feel up to the task. And honestly, I'm kinda liking the school system. Kids are fun to work with and it seems, i don't know, rewarding. Nintendo would pay more at the start but schools would jump me up higher pretty fast. I am supposed to start on monday for the warehouse thing but I'm kinda more looking forward to monitoring the playground and helping kids learn to read. 

So anyway. just thought I'd share. 

Sounds like a dream to work at Nintendo, either way, do what is best for yourself and thanks for sharing.

I know you're not asking for advice, but the teaching job sounds better. You seem to like it, pay will be superior eventually, better hours, and I'm assuming, less of a commute. Also, not trying to be a smartass, but I legit read "degenerative dick disease" instead of disk. Hope you can recover from your back problem. I hurt my back last fall, and was lucky to be rid of my pain after about 2 weeks with lots of rest, stretching, and muscle relaxers. Not the same thing, but that short stint made me grateful it was nothing chronic.

I'd say teaching job suits you better from the way you described how you were at your other job. Hopefully you arent as confrontational at your school job for the childrens sake.

With you saying that you had wrist surgery and are experiencing arthritis and things like that, teaching no matter the situation health wise.

Always try to do whats better for your health

I work in Education as well (I'm a teacher myself) and, while it is exhausting and doesn't pay like it should (at least in the United States), it is incredibly rewarding knowing you make an impact on children.

Do what makes you happy, that's the only answer. What's the point of making yourself more stressed when you've already had health issues in the past? Better pay is always great, but at what cost you know? If you love education, stick with it. The kids probably need you more than those boxes do.

Like others have said, your heart seems to really be in teaching, so that's likely where you'll ultimately end up happiest. The Nintendo job may pay better but:

-The Nintendo job is only temporary. What will you do after that?

-Don't gamble on a bad back. If you can't move, you can't work, and the warehouse job seems more blue-collar.

+You said the teaching position has more room for growth. At the very least, the benefits have to be better than any job on a two-month contract.

+You said you had trouble with your previous job because you aren't a morning person. Waking up at 4 a.m. to drive an hour to work doesn't sound like your type of hype either.

+MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL: You can't put a price on peace of mind.

I was making about $5 more dollars an hour with another organization a few months ago than I am making now, but I was in an extremely toxic and stressful work environment with two bitch bosses that constantly held the Sword of Damocles over our heads. Now I'm in a small department with a bunch of cool, laid back guys. Every time I think about it, I ultimately come to the decision that I'd rather be in the latter, where I don't have to wonder from week-to-week if this is the week that security takes my badge and walks me out, or if I get screamed at because bitch boss is on warpath that day. You can't put a price on happiness in your career and peace of mind.

We do, but as with any legal system, it can be bullshit, and it favors the company over the individual. I was being written up for things that, I will admit that they are mistakes that I made and shouldn't have made, but ultimately were pretty minor and trivial, especially considering other people were doing similar things and getting away with them scot-free. I could go into specific details, but I'd rather not right now, as the post may get pretty long, and I may get pretty emotional or frustrated when thinking about it.

Here in the U.S., we have a thing called "at-will employment" in most states. The Internet could explain it much better than I can:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment

but the gist of it is that an employer can get rid of you at any time without a reason. Most companies do have a disciplinary or probational system in place to give employees a warning or a chance to patch things up before doing so, but you'd be amazed how often this is just a legal front to just to discourage potential lawsuits or have paperwork in place when making a case to block unemployment benefits. If your boss wants you gone, then you're toast.

On the subject of teaching, please be aware that being a substitute teacher/para is a very different experience than doing it full time. That doesn't mean you necessarily won't like it as much, or more, working at it full time, but just be aware that there is way more pressure going on when you work full time.

Do you worship aliens?