It's been a while since I've written, I know. That's what happens when Real Life intervenes. Ironically, my "Real Life" adventures have been of the unreal variety, in the sense that I have started going to the SCA for fencing practice on Sundays and Wednesdays and archery on Tuesdays. I have bitched long and loud about the SCA before, so this may surprise some of you; and to be sure, the marginal personalities still thrive in abundance. However, not everyone is like that, it's an opportunity to get some much -needed, cheap exercise, and as a friend of a friend once said: "The SCA is like AOL: you know it sucks, but all your friends are there."
I have no doubt whatsoever that the SCA will furnish me with material aplenty (in fact, it already has), but this post is dedicated to the on-going bullshit at my place of employment. It may startle many of you that my issue is not with Teeth this time. Even more startling is the revelation that, since we had a little chat, Teeth has been relatively pleasant to work with. A couple of months ago, she called me into an empty office and said that Head Office Boss Lady had shared some of my concerns with her, and suggested that we talk about the way her behaviour has affected. I gave her kudos, frankly, for having the balls to chat with me in the first place.
And what became astonishingly apparent as the conversation progressed, is that Teeth has never received the kind of feedback I was giving her. Because her behaviour had gone unchecked, and because our industry is not typically prone to "corporate culture", she had no clue really that other people view her as a bully and a ditch pig. So, we came to the agreement that I would lower my standards somewhat if she raised hers. And so far, it's working quite well.
What ISN'T working is the woman I formerly referred to as The Biller I Like. One of the things I like best about where I am is that our supervisors don't pay any particular attention to when we show up five or ten minutes late, and they aren't at all strict about days off for medical appointments, sick days, etc. It is understood that we are on the honour system, and it is hoped that the system is not abused.
But of course, it only takes one fucking twat-waffle to fuck it for everyone else. Enter The Volunteer. That's what I call her now, because she obviously views her job as some kind of volunteer position with the added bonus of a paycheque. She acts as if she is doing us all a huge favour by showing up. This woman routinely wanders in half an hour late, leaves early or doesn't come in at all. Her absenteeism is so prevalent that she hasn't done a full week's work in eight consecutive weeks.
Her excuses range from, "I have a migraine" (even though she is able to text messages to her co-workers throughout the work day and was seen driving around her small town just after work hours had ended), "My daughter's schoolbus went into the ditch" (we later found out that her daughter drives to school), to "My grand-daughter is sick" (whoopee). Oh, and let's not forget the mother-daughter pap she had scheduled that took all day (prompting many of us to speculate if perhaps the gyno hadn't fallen in). (And who the fuck schedules mother-daughter pap tests anyway? Isn't that an indication of being overbonded to your child? Gross.)
And because she thinks we're friends, she tells me quite frankly about all the times that she has lied in order to score extra days off. For example, the husband was coming home on a Monday after working out of town. She told Head Office Boss Lady that there was a banquet she had to attend for her daughter's participation in the Winter Games: she admitted to me before the weekend started that there was no banquet. She just wanted to do the nasty.
Not only does she abuse a really wonderful system, thus endangering it for the rest of us, but The Volunteer has also displayed flagrant insubordination. A few weeks ago, Teeth was away in another city for a training seminar (possibly in how to flirt on the phone with the East Coast drivers so as to score a replacement for her current partner, who is a dick). In Teeth's absence, the emminently capable Hitler is in charge.
On the Thursday afternoon, The Volunteer left at 2:30 in the afternoon for some kind of appointment. Then on Friday at lunchtime, she announced to me that she was going to Jasper (a mountain resort town about four hours away, for those of you who are not local) to meet up with her husband, who has been working there for the last couple of months. She said she was leaving at 3:00, because she wanted to be on the road while it was still light. But she hadn't told Hitler yet.
So about 2:00, The Volunteer sent an email to Hitler, asking if she could go at 3:00 for the reasons stated above (and let's not forget: The Volunteer had left early the day before). Hitler said no, indicating quite reasonably that there was still work in The Volunteer's work queue that needed to be done, and the other employee trained in that work had booked the afternoon off for a physio appointment. The answer was clearly "no".
At six minutes after 3:00, The Volunteer gathered up her things and walked out of the office.
I was floored. Obviously she feels that she is entitled to this time off (she's not, especially given that she's never there anyway), and that she is not constrained by the same rules as the rest of us. To ignore a direct order from her supervisor is, as far as I'm concerned, grounds for immediate dismissal. Hitler was taken aback, but didn't feel that it was worth her while to confront The Volunteer about it, and if she told Teeth about it on Teeth's return, nothing was said to The Volunteer.
It is extremely damaging to morale to sit at one's desk busting one's hump to meet a deadline or resolve an issue or get a report out and know that someone else is getting paid exactly the same (or more!) despite not being there, because they are staying home to fuck. Part of the problem is that we don't have a supervisor on site with any real authority, which is actually a good thing, if we're talking about Teeth, who I doubt has the emotional maturity to not abuse any power she's given. It has been EIGHT WEEKS--two entire months--since The Volunteer has put in a full 37.5 hours. In the meantime, Hitler and several others (myself included) have occasionally stayed late to get stuff done.
So we (Princess Anne and I) complained to one of the managers who asked us to compile all the data we could, which he would then share with Head Office Boss Lady. We took him our eight weeks worth of evidence, but he told us to keep going. Well, fuck, how much longer is this going to take? How much more do you need?
I have applied for another position in the company that will take me out of Billing and into a whole other department, one that pays better and has more challenges to it. But it's been over a month since I applied and there has been no indication of an interview, so my hopes are rather dashed.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the SCA will furnish me with material aplenty (in fact, it already has), but this post is dedicated to the on-going bullshit at my place of employment. It may startle many of you that my issue is not with Teeth this time. Even more startling is the revelation that, since we had a little chat, Teeth has been relatively pleasant to work with. A couple of months ago, she called me into an empty office and said that Head Office Boss Lady had shared some of my concerns with her, and suggested that we talk about the way her behaviour has affected. I gave her kudos, frankly, for having the balls to chat with me in the first place.
And what became astonishingly apparent as the conversation progressed, is that Teeth has never received the kind of feedback I was giving her. Because her behaviour had gone unchecked, and because our industry is not typically prone to "corporate culture", she had no clue really that other people view her as a bully and a ditch pig. So, we came to the agreement that I would lower my standards somewhat if she raised hers. And so far, it's working quite well.
What ISN'T working is the woman I formerly referred to as The Biller I Like. One of the things I like best about where I am is that our supervisors don't pay any particular attention to when we show up five or ten minutes late, and they aren't at all strict about days off for medical appointments, sick days, etc. It is understood that we are on the honour system, and it is hoped that the system is not abused.
But of course, it only takes one fucking twat-waffle to fuck it for everyone else. Enter The Volunteer. That's what I call her now, because she obviously views her job as some kind of volunteer position with the added bonus of a paycheque. She acts as if she is doing us all a huge favour by showing up. This woman routinely wanders in half an hour late, leaves early or doesn't come in at all. Her absenteeism is so prevalent that she hasn't done a full week's work in eight consecutive weeks.
Her excuses range from, "I have a migraine" (even though she is able to text messages to her co-workers throughout the work day and was seen driving around her small town just after work hours had ended), "My daughter's schoolbus went into the ditch" (we later found out that her daughter drives to school), to "My grand-daughter is sick" (whoopee). Oh, and let's not forget the mother-daughter pap she had scheduled that took all day (prompting many of us to speculate if perhaps the gyno hadn't fallen in). (And who the fuck schedules mother-daughter pap tests anyway? Isn't that an indication of being overbonded to your child? Gross.)
And because she thinks we're friends, she tells me quite frankly about all the times that she has lied in order to score extra days off. For example, the husband was coming home on a Monday after working out of town. She told Head Office Boss Lady that there was a banquet she had to attend for her daughter's participation in the Winter Games: she admitted to me before the weekend started that there was no banquet. She just wanted to do the nasty.
Not only does she abuse a really wonderful system, thus endangering it for the rest of us, but The Volunteer has also displayed flagrant insubordination. A few weeks ago, Teeth was away in another city for a training seminar (possibly in how to flirt on the phone with the East Coast drivers so as to score a replacement for her current partner, who is a dick). In Teeth's absence, the emminently capable Hitler is in charge.
On the Thursday afternoon, The Volunteer left at 2:30 in the afternoon for some kind of appointment. Then on Friday at lunchtime, she announced to me that she was going to Jasper (a mountain resort town about four hours away, for those of you who are not local) to meet up with her husband, who has been working there for the last couple of months. She said she was leaving at 3:00, because she wanted to be on the road while it was still light. But she hadn't told Hitler yet.
So about 2:00, The Volunteer sent an email to Hitler, asking if she could go at 3:00 for the reasons stated above (and let's not forget: The Volunteer had left early the day before). Hitler said no, indicating quite reasonably that there was still work in The Volunteer's work queue that needed to be done, and the other employee trained in that work had booked the afternoon off for a physio appointment. The answer was clearly "no".
At six minutes after 3:00, The Volunteer gathered up her things and walked out of the office.
I was floored. Obviously she feels that she is entitled to this time off (she's not, especially given that she's never there anyway), and that she is not constrained by the same rules as the rest of us. To ignore a direct order from her supervisor is, as far as I'm concerned, grounds for immediate dismissal. Hitler was taken aback, but didn't feel that it was worth her while to confront The Volunteer about it, and if she told Teeth about it on Teeth's return, nothing was said to The Volunteer.
It is extremely damaging to morale to sit at one's desk busting one's hump to meet a deadline or resolve an issue or get a report out and know that someone else is getting paid exactly the same (or more!) despite not being there, because they are staying home to fuck. Part of the problem is that we don't have a supervisor on site with any real authority, which is actually a good thing, if we're talking about Teeth, who I doubt has the emotional maturity to not abuse any power she's given. It has been EIGHT WEEKS--two entire months--since The Volunteer has put in a full 37.5 hours. In the meantime, Hitler and several others (myself included) have occasionally stayed late to get stuff done.
So we (Princess Anne and I) complained to one of the managers who asked us to compile all the data we could, which he would then share with Head Office Boss Lady. We took him our eight weeks worth of evidence, but he told us to keep going. Well, fuck, how much longer is this going to take? How much more do you need?
I have applied for another position in the company that will take me out of Billing and into a whole other department, one that pays better and has more challenges to it. But it's been over a month since I applied and there has been no indication of an interview, so my hopes are rather dashed.
5 comments:
I once worked for a security firm and had a coworker who had taken not-working to a level of Mastery ...
1) - Arrived at work and spent at least 1/2 hour trying to find his coffee cup every morning
2) - Idled in the coffee room for another 1/2 hour poised with a paper towel in hand, and if someone higher up the food chain walked in, would commence cleaning furiously, complaining that other people left a mess.
3) - Spent the better part of the day walking swiftly from hiding place to hiding place with piece of paper in his hand and a look on his face which made him appear dedicated and driven to accomplish a vital task.
4) - Hanging out where I worked in the secure alarm monitoring station [literally an underground bunker with every security feature known to mankind] doing nothing but irritating me while keeping an eye on the video monitors to keep an eye out for approaching higher-ups. If one showed up he would stand, wait until I had buzzed them in and as they entered would say something like; "Excellent. Thank you Aaron, I'll include that in my report." and exit.
I never did understand what his job there really was.
I once worked with a woman who would read magazines at her desk all day (pre-internet) and then "heroically" work overtime at time-and-a-half to get the production out. This happened over and over again.
I swear that Debbie and I must work with the same person!
Wow. I was just in a stewarding workshop about discipline and dismissal, and time-theft is like Teh SRS infraction.
Are you guys unionised, by the way?
Batgirl,
Hell, no! If this was a union shop, I'm sure this would have stopped long ago!
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