How dare you not come in during a SEVERE storm?!!

[bigjimaz]

The problem with my last job was that they knew I only lived 7 minutes away...walking time. Some days during the last winter I worked there, I was the only one to show up and that included the owner and supervisors. Did I get a call telling me not to come in? No.

[Horsetuna]

I once quit a job because they expected me to walk half an hour to work.

during winter.

in -40 degree weather.

up a VERY steep hill rigth alongside the road.

They yelled at me over the phone and told me I had to apologise to the other two who DID come into work. And also yelled at me for not calling a fellow employee to get a replacement.

Firstly: I walk. No, I'm NOT going to try and take the bus, as the busses were running once every half an hour, and the bus stop is just as far from my house as work was.

Secondly: They said I could've taken a taxi. They dont pay me enough to AFFORD a taxi.

Thirdly: Nobody GAVE me a list of phone numbers of fellow employees, or even the manager! (we're supposed to call in a half hour before our shift. When our shift is the OPENING shift, who the heck do we call?)

They also wouldnt give me my paycheck till I wrote an official quitting letter, even though I'd only been ther ea week. So I wrote one, apologising for 'not being willing to risk frostbite so someone can have their fatty Whopper at 9 am.'. I got my paycheck though.

I hate places that dont realize that just cause OTHERS can make it in, so can you. I understand they need SOME discipline to avoid people just calling out, but if you live alone, no car, and you're snowed in and its -40 below, already making minimum wage flipping burgers...

I got upset at a job once cause they wanted me to get a doctor's note cause I was sick... if I was well enough to drag myself out of bed in the rain, wait for the bus, go for 30 minutes to see my doctor then wait an hour to see him, I may as well have come to work. I finaly started going to work ANYWAYs and just going home sick within an hour or two. But it was still frustrating.

Right now I'm trying to deal with the fact that I've had NO HEAT for over 24 hours now. The plumber came by, but the only way to fix it is to get into the apartment NEXT to mine... and she comeshome at like, 10pm at night. He managed to get me SOME heat by turning off everyone elses' but couldnt just leave them without heat either.

Its just absurd. I'm typing as we speak dressed in my full snow gear, with boots, snow pants and snow jacket on :cry. My pets are all in the bedroom smothered in blankets with a space heater, and its hardly keeping the room lukewarm. The blue tack holding the posters on the wall is hard and brittle. I just have no clue what to do.

[Jester]

In Florida, we have a different problem: Hurricanes.

Back in 2004 (or was it '05?) when we got hit with 4 hurricanes in a row, I called in when I was working at RadioShack.

So I called in, was chastised for not coming in, and was told I had better be there OR ELSE!

2004 was Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, all of which hit the mainland. That is probably the year you are thinking of. (2005 was Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, some of which hit the mainland but all of which hit the Keys, Wilma being the worst for the Keys.)

That being said, in the 8 years I've been here, every job I've had (5 establishments) have had meetings around the start of hurricane seasons in which management has told staff that if we feel the need to evacuate/leave town when a hurricane is/might be heading our way, we can do so with no repercussions....our safety comes first. That has been the same at every single place I worked at: the corporate chain restaurant, the fine dining restaurant, the Landmark Luxury Hotel, the Waterfront Bar, and The Bar. While I myself have never evacuated, I have appreciated the fact that each and every one of my employers made it clear that, during a hurricane, we should not have to worry about our job security over our health and well-being.

They also never said that if we stayed in town we would be required to work....just that anyone that DID stay AND worked would be very much appreciated.

Your Radio Shack management sucked. Period.

[PhotoChick]

Right now I'm trying to deal with the fact that I've had NO HEAT for over 24 hours now. The plumber came by, but the only way to fix it is to get into the apartment NEXT to mine... and she comeshome at like, 10pm at night. He managed to get me SOME heat by turning off everyone elses' but couldnt just leave them without heat either.

Do you rent? Cause if so the apartment manager show be able to go/let people into the apartment next door to you for repairs without them being there. Its usually in the lease. Talk to your apartment manager.

[CaroPhoenix]

In February, 2003, we had a really bad snow storm. I was about 4-5 months pregnant, and hubby & I got snowed in (it started on a Sunday night & we didn't get our street plowed out until Thursday morning. )

Anyways, I was working at the Gaming Store at that time (I quit a week before I gave birth and have just recently returned). The store was open the entire time the rest of the city was stuck in the snow. How did that happen? The then-assistant-manager "S", had gotten snowed in on Sunday evening and opened the store every day until the owner could come in which wasn't until Tuesday or Wednesday. Talk about dedication!

[MadMike]

Back when we still had the asshole manager at my current job, we got hit with a nasty snow and ice storm, and my one coworker tried to call out because of it. The asshole manager made him come in anyway, and on the way there, he hit a patch of ice, skidded out of control, and ended up blowing a tire somehow.

Needless to say, he was not happy. He angrily asked the manager if the company was going to pay for a new tire, and he got some useless, non-committal response like, "I'll look into it."

[myswtghst]

We just got the email from management letting us know that we're expecting 4-6 inches tonight, and possibly more overnight/in the morning, so everyone should pad their travel times and be prepared to come in tomorrow. I appreciate that, and find it somewhat funny, since it's basically their way of saying, "Don't be too late, because we warned you to pad your time, so you have no excuse!"

Granted, I work in a call center that supports 911 and police radio equipment, so we do need to be here to keep them up and running, no matter the weather, but it does still suck that some people basically have to risk life and limb to be to work, no matter the job.

[LizaMarie]

My fiance worked at a cumberland farms a few years ago during the biggest blizzard we'd had for years and years. He was closing that night, wasn't allowed to close the store early, and almost had to sleep in the fucking building because he stayed too late and the weather was so horrible. He told me when he thought about staying the night there it made him want to punch kittens, so he braved the storm. There was a big hill on his way home that was covered over with ice and his car actually slid backwards at some points. I seriously wanted to kill that manager.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Needless to say, he was not happy. He angrily asked the manager if the company was going to pay for a new tire, and he got some useless, non-committal response like, "I'll look into it."

That's corporate-speak for "Piss Off."

I"m sorry, but unless you're job involves life and death (emergency services/police/fire/hospital/electricity repair, et al) there's no need to risk life and limb.

And people wonder why there's so many wrecks during inclement weather: it's because of the idiots who can't drive being on the roads. If you hear the weatherperson saying "Don't go out unless you absolutely have to," then take heed and stay home.

[myswtghst]

And people wonder why there's so many wrecks during inclement weather: it's because of the idiots who can't drive being on the roads. If you hear the weatherperson saying "Don't go out unless you absolutely have to," then take heed and stay home.

Exactly. I live near Chicago. We get snow *EVERY YEAR* without fail. And yet, every year, when we get said snow, everyone forgets how to drive. And every year, without fail, I wind up on the road, stuck between a jackhole in a pickup who feels the need to go 5-10+ mph over the speed limit just cuz he can, and a little old lady going 25mph in a 45mph zone who is scared to death of the snow. I know what my car can and cannot do in the snow, and I respect that, so I'm a good winter weather driver. I just wish other people were.

That is the benefit of working second shift, however - there was almost no one on the road when I drove home from work a little after midnight last night - and the snow was SO pretty I almost didn't mind driving somewhat slowly the whole way home. Plus, the roads were all clear by the time I woke up to go anywhere today.