Perpetual Ruminations

Work stress before I even return...

It's been a couple of days so I reckon I better write a bit. Not that there's nothing to write about, I have plenty, but I just haven't been motivated to write about these things. Even so, writing about it always helps me put it in perspective.

The new prompt is out for the 52 Week Challenge and is fitting for Halloween, but that makes it difficult to write about since the genre is already kind of picked. Even so, I'm sure I can come up with some good story and if needed, find a way to tie it to the prompt, no matter what genre I write in. Also, I shouldn't have any trouble coming up with a good spook story that works with the prompt and the time of year;it should be kind of fun. I have to ask myself, then, what's the malfunction.

I already know, stress and anxiety over work, and I'm technically not even back until Saturday. But, it's started already, and I've had to spend part of the last three days thinking about solutions. Also, since the office is closed on the weekends, I've been waiting until today to e-mail my boss over the current problem.

Rhonda has been dealing with things while I've been out for medical problems, and doing a good job. But, now that I'm again on the schedule, unseen problems are getting presented to her to pass on to me. The biggest is the termination of one of the guards. She was told on Saturday that the store wants this guard gone as soon as we can find someone to replace him.

This was the problem when we hired this person in the spring, then it seemed to get better and I didn't hear anymore about it. The guard in question does have some problems, but since nothing was brought to my attention by the store, I thought things had gotten better. Then, I'm out for medical problems and Rhonda is holding down the fort. She directly asked about this guard and another quite frequently and was told they are doing fine, there is no problem. When it looked like we may be downsizing for the winter, she asked if the store had any preference which guard was let go A or B. The answer was, if one has to go, it would be better if it was A who left and B was kept on.

So, when out of the blue on Saturday this same person from the store told her at work that B wasn't doing their job, that he, the store person, had talked to this guard numerous times about this, and since the problem is ongoing, we need to get rid of B as soon as possible, we were both surprised.

Rhonda talked to me, and I, of course, notified the office. No warning, no communication of any problem, and when asked, everything is fine with this person, then wham, get rid of him. Apparently, this so-tore person was just waiting for me to return to my duties to drop this bomb on us.

The other person in question for letting go is very limited on what few days he can work, and is very unreliable. Saturday while discussing this, he text my work phone shortly before his shift, "I have a temp of 110 and can't work."

Policy is four hours minimum to call in, so Rhonda returned his text with a call, either get to work or you gone. He made it in on time, but since this is an ongoing problem, he likely will pull it again, and if so, he may well be on his way out. At the same time, this is the person the store said to get rid of, and keep the other guard who they now want me to fire. Crazy, to say the least.

So, stress on Saturday, lots to think about on Sunday, e-mail and talk with my director today, and like I said, I'm not even back officially until Saturday. What to do? I need to find out from a general manager what the situation is, then possibly fire a dependable, but lacking in performance employee, while having another I cannot count on that very likely will also get canned. On top of that, this not being informed of things on site, as well as the person from the store over stepping his limits on talking to guards not even implored by his company has me pretty pissed. I talked to my boss over it and have opened another can of worms about this.

Someplace in all this, there has to be some kind of silver lining, right? I say no, three years of this crap and I'm ready to throw in the towel if it isn't fixed. I know for sure, if it continues, I will give my notice and letter of resignation before I will suffer more health problems over my job.

So, not the best entry, but I needed to vent.