I am so lucky on so many levels to have a good natured son that I never ever want to take advantage of the fact he'll forgive me almost anything. Even this afternoon nonsense, he seems to be taking it in stride at the moment as I had explained to him that I had no choice but to work at least three afternoons a week until school kicks in. Yeah, I did promise him that IF this outfit doesn't cough up two morning shift runs by the end of the summer, I will go back to the school bus and keep this other job as the extra mad money job.
But with the way it all happened, is it fair ? No. I hate that I have to walk out the door at 1:30 in the afternoon and leave him to fend for himself. For some reason, even though the number of hours are the same as the morning shift, it seems to be so much worse doing afternoons. Leaving him alone during dinner and into the evening. I'm not home long when he shuffles off to bed. I told my friend Jean that I really resented the fact that the Prez, my immediate boss, and Miss Prissy are at home enjoying a freshly cooked healthy meal while my son has to settle for microwaved reheated leftovers or canned pasta and sandwiches.
The boss said one day that the other drivers are upset with what 'she' did to me. I just said it's nice to know but doesn't do me an ounce of good. And when you think about it, anybody junior to her is fair game, knowing that the bosses will let her bump them whenever the mood strikes her, and they probably realize it.
This boss, and the office manager, both called me last Friday night when I was on the phone with my friend Jean. Call waiting display works wonders. I chose to not interrupt one phone call for another. When I retrieved the messages after 11, both were calling to see if I could work a shift on Saturday. Oh well, no big deal. I couldn't have done a Saturday afternoon shift anyways. Billy and I had a date. Besides, if I was willing to work a fourth afternoon shift, I might as well have stayed with four nights a week instead of doing just three.
The phone rings the next morning at ten to six. Yep, that would be a.m. I was too tired to see who it was, let alone answer it. When I got up later and checked the missed call, it was the boss (that I want to run over lol). He calls just a few minutes later. To get him out of my hair and to quit bugging me, I answered it. He wanted to know if I wanted to work the afternoon shift but because he couldn't get a hold of me, he found someone else. Well, gee, I wouldn't have worked it anyways. He then went on to say that they were in a pinch at the last minute. Oh? Yeah, Joe had been scheduled to work the morning shift but Miss Prissy (my friend Jean's name for her) decided to 'bump' him and he quit on the spot !!
Surprise, surprise. I saw that coming and you didn't?
I had emailed the Prez when I got bumped that the precedent had been set and the fun is just beginning. Sure enough. That's twice since Miss Prissy has tried the bump thing and screwing over a junior driver. She tried to bump me out of a July 1st morning shift (my last one too) because she didn't want to work that night. Too bad, so sad. I emailed everybody on that one and said I would not switch with her, being my last week of mornings. Bump a week later and we have a driver quit. Who's next ? Me? Quite possibly. I have decided to take the last week of August off as holidays, so when I finish my shift Aug 25th, I will come home and email the three bosses (Prez included) that as of September 1st (Sept 6 would have been my next working shift), I will not be working anymore afternoon shifts through the week. I haven't decided whether to pack it in altogether or just stay on for the odd shift on the weekend until I get something else to replace it. All depends on what happens over the summer, which way I go. I had entertained the thought that if I can put up with it as a part time weekend thing until he retires, then I might go back to full time if there was a spot available. Unless the Prez finally sets things to right, gets this guy to stop with the nonsense, retire, or make the office manager the driver liaison.
The other thing this boss is trying to do is get the driver that was hired just before me fired. The stories and the attitude towards her are just pathetic. I don't know if he's doing it because she is friends with the office manager, whom he hates with a passion, or, as I suspect, it's to get her out the door so there is nothing stopping me from getting the next available morning shift. Know what sweetheart? I don't want it under those circumstances. She is a good driver and is great with the passengers. She's got a lot more patience and friendliness to them than I do. Even though I try very hard, I still get asinine complaints. She's had two. I had five in one week !!
Okay, granted, I was a tad upset when I topped the hill just through the gates on my second last morning shift and saw what I saw, why she bumped me, so I did throw my stuff out of the bus after doing the paperwork. I had three customers on board and I had asked them permission if they minded I take them to do the switch instead of dropping them off first and they were fine with it. So it wasn't like I was upset with them. They just didn't know the stuff that had been going on and what I was having to deal with behind the scenes. The boss came to me the next day and said he got three complaints about me throwing my stuff out of the bus the day before.
What ?? Okay, I can see where one might have called but all three ?? Human nature is that not all three would have UNLESS provoked to do so. And supposedly, they called him directly on his cell phone. Riiiiiiiite. When the company's office number is plastered all over the bus itself ? I doubt they called him without provocation or she called him, mentioning I had three passengers on the bus when I threw my stuff out, and he made it sound like they called him. I wanted to apologize to those passengers in such a way as to find out if they did call, but I haven't seen them. And that was just a couple days after he came to me to say that he's had calls about me not being friendly (am so, I always greet the customers friendly when they get on and when they get off) and calls about how I'm not talkative. Well !! Gee whiz J, I thought I was there to do a job and I would think the customers would complain more IF I was so busy yapping that I totally didn't see them and drove right past them without picking them up ! Then he would have a reason to come to me about a concern.
Then, while I was in an email discussion with the Prez (as he's still out of the country), the only thing he mentions being told about me is that I have a lead foot. He's never heard of any other complaints. hmmmm interesting. Okay, I do have a lead foot at times, but in my own personal vehicle, not the company one. My emails to him were along the lines of why he should retire this boss of ours, without coming out and saying that. I just felt he really had to know what we were dealing with back home. Okay, I get where he might have not wanted to commit himself one way or the other about it, but the one email I got back from him suggested I just show him some allowances as he is old and will retire on his own soon enough. Yeah? Before he drags the company down and the town won't renew your contract in two years time? He could do a lot of damage in those two years as he doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut to non-employees about what he thinks of the office manager, what our personal business is, and all the turmoil that is within the company itself. But it isn't his fault .. none of it !!
I have this countdown going. As of today, and taking the last week off, I have 18 more weekday afternoon shifts. When emailing my friend Jean, her return email had me down to 15 days (take the last two weeks off Patricia she says) and at the end of her email, she had me down to 14. After I called her on that Breaking News Story email, I told her that if she keeps it up, I won't be working past July 20th or somewhere around there lol
My cell phone is one of those pay-as-you-go things. I got it ohhhh about 6 or 7 years ago when my van broke down in the middle of nowhere, about 9 pm, and I had to baby it for about 8 miles to get to a pay phone. Not good at all. So I got this phone the next day, for emergencies. Old vehicles are prone to break down when they get tired. My cell phone eventually involved calling home to check on Billy when I was out doing a school charter. I eventually gave it to that boss and he's never abused it. If he couldn't get me at home and it was really really important, then he would call my cell phone, otherwise he wouldn't call it. I just had to remember to top it up with air time by a certain date or lose whatever balance I had left.
This transit boss ? He calls for the stupidest things. Doesn't matter if I'm home or not, he calls my cell phone. I don't have to worry about topping up before a certain date as my minutes don't last long enough. I have to top up long before. I'm lucky if a $25 top up lasts me three weeks, where it's meant to last two months !! Anyhoo, I keep my phone off most of the time, turning it on when I need to use it or if I am expecting a call for some reason, so I didn't have my phone on since I finished work last Thursday night, over the weekend. Tuesday night, I turn it on to call and check on Billy and I had three messages waiting for me ! Yep, the two that called my home Friday night, not reaching me, called my cell phone and left messages. The boss called Tuesday night while I was working and left a message about the bus going to the repair shop next Monday (injector issues). Sure enough, those three messages killed whatever little bit of air time I had left and I could not call Billy. While I am on afternoons, my cell phone is my only life line to Billy. He will not answer the phone by any other number. Only when my cell phone number shows up. So pay phones and borrowing a cell phone is out of the question. I NEED MY MINUTES. So, finding myself out of air time and being peeved about it is putting it mildly.
On a bright note, I haven't seen hide nor hair of the man, other than him leaving messages on two different phones. Wednesday night, he called and left a message (I had gone out and got more air time before work) where he says 'call me'. Oh for pete's sake. With the idea to get him to quit bugging me, I tried calling him back. Got his voice mail *rolls eyes*. Didn't leave a message and tried again a half hour later. Got his voice mail again. Screw this. I never tried again and he hasn't called me since, so couldn't have been too important.
My friend Jean suggests I look at the time I did spend working full time (three months) for this outfit a good thing in what I accomplished while doing so. And she's right. I managed to pay my mom the money I owed her, almost two grand, in full ! And that is HUGE in that with the school bus, it would have taken me a while, definitely. And I still was able to keep on top of all my bills. So, while I will miss making that kind of a pay, going back to the school bus will keep my sanity, or what's left of it, intact.
