He went out to the curb of our ER drive and picked up what looked like an abandoned briefcase and then brought it inside.
When I asked if he knew to whom it belonged, he said no, whereupon I commenced to chastise him (in private) by telling him it was a stupid thing to do, and he could have lost his life and/or someone else’s if the damn thing had had explosives inside.
Nothing harmful inside the briefcase. Just papers.
He wants to quit his job.
I feel like hell.
Merry Christmas.
Q
Does he want to quit because he’s embarresed by his poor judgement, or becuase he thinks you were unfair with him?
BTW, I think you were right to chastise him, and the fact that you made it a point to do it privately speaks volumes. Good job.
Don’t you think you over-reacted some? I mean, really, a bomb?
He’s embarrassed. I had him in tears. He’s a young man with a new baby, and I’m an old shithead.
We left it that nothing would be said to anyone about this, but he took it hard.
I didn’t get to see him before I left this morning, to cement our agreement, so I hope he will be okay.
So sad that it has all come to this…
"Hey Sir! You forgot your brief…BOOM
Sorry. I’m taking this hard too.
Quasi, I’d have to disagree here. I’d be pretty depressed if I thought I was living in a world where people wouldn’t pick up and hold something that I forgot somewhere for fear it was a bomb.
I can just picture myself saying to some guy who comes looking for his brief case a few hours later, “sorry, yeah, I saw it on the curb there, but a few hours ago some random person picked it up. Why didn’t I bring it in? Well, it might have been a bomb, man. Tough luck, you shouldn’t be forgetting things like that.”
Oh, and especially on reading your second post, I’m not knocking you, just the situation that made you feel it was necessary to be affraid of a briefcase.
If he can’t take a little criticism from his boss, he’s going to have a tough time in the working world.
I could maybe see a point if you had ridiculed him in front of everyone, but you didn’t. I also trust you were professional about it and explained to him why. If so, he needs to grow up.
My point was that he should have been cognizant of a possible threat to a building that is frequented 24-7 by the public, and that he, or someone nearby or even inside could have been hurt or killed. He might’ve called our Police Department, but he chose not to do that!
My point was not: “Awww, somebody forgot their briefcase! Let me pick it up, bring it in and see if there’s a number where I can reach the owner.”
I am not his boss. Just someone who works at the same damn hospital and likes to see people coming out of it feeling better and not in pieces.
Okay. I overreacted. It wasn’t full of explosives. It could have been, but it wasn’t.
And that makes me, what, paranoid?
I help save lives. I don’t like to lose them.
I also don’t like to see otherwise responsible young men in tears.
Jesus.
Unfortunately, it has gotten to that point - where people have to be careful of picking up ‘left behind’ items.
This is something I’ve learned here in the UK. Everywhere I go there are signs warning about suspect packages - don’t touch, report to authorities kind of things. You just never know when it could be an explosive.
Twice now the building I was working in was blocked off and the bomb squad called in for such a thing. One package turned out to be shopping (thank the gods) but the other ended up being detonated.
You never know.
I won’t touch anything now that has been left behind - bags, briefcases… nope nope nope
Just a quick question, what is the facility security policy on abandoned items? I get the feeling you don’t have one. In that case jumping down his throat was completely unwarranted and unsupported. Further it didn’t sound like you are on the security staff or involved in the supervision of this employee.
I similar situations I have responded rather aggressively to unsupported criticism from those not my direct supervisors.
If on the other hand if the facility policy is to treat all unattended items of that size as potential bombs then his actions were certainly contrary to the policy and deserving of a dressing down.
Quasi, you didn’t overreact, IMO. As an ex-EOD tech, there is no way I would have picked up that briefcase, even before 9/11. You did the right thing, and hopefully this guy learned a lesson without losing his life.
Jim: Since 9/11 we in our hospital have all been trained on unattended items, but you are correct, I am not his immediate supervisor, but as he was the only security person there, and we had known each other for years, I felt warranted in talking to him as I did.
I am not on the security staff, Jim, but I do work at that hospital and am a “first responder”. I don’t like anyone anyone creating more risk than we already see in our ER.
You take that any way you like.
I wouldn’t feel bad.
Security breaches that cause loss of life are results of things like this.
The fact that there was nothign wrong with the briefcase doesn’t matter. He’s security and that briefcase is an ‘unknown’. He’s been trained he should know what to do.
Then again I guess one’s attitude on this depends on where you work… Where I work we would have bailed work fast.
You did the right thing, Quasi. Since 9/11/01 we have all had to live in a “heightened state of awareness” - this man is a security guard. He didn’t secure anyone/anything - he endangered it. It was a mistake but it could have cost him or someone else dearly. Don’t feel bad or doubt yourself.
Eonwe you’d do well to not forget a bag or brief case at an airport then - you most likely won’t get it back, and EOD (bomb squad) will probably be called. And though a hospital isn’t an airport, it could be a likely terrorist target. If you take a large hospital out of commission, you can bomb some place else and there would be little to no immediate medical care available. Unfortunately, that is the world we live in today.
This is a good point. I work on a military base and was active duty prior to my current job. Being “aware” is drilled into us. I have to show ID several times each work day and it’s not unusual to have Security Police with M-16s doing the checking. We are also subjected to car searches from time to time.
Where you work?
No freakin’ kidding.
Don’t feel bad Quasi. It’s an ugly world and you have to be careful Even ten years ago governemtn offices, hospitals and police stsations have to be more vigilant than the average workplace.
My mom worked for the Children’s Aid Society (dunno what they
re called now). They’d been firebombed by a woman whose infant had been taken away from her because she almost killed it.
A week later, a mysterious, unmarked box appeared early one morning at the back doors staff-only entrance.
The police were called, the area was cordoned off and the bomb squad came and detonated the package. Doll parts and stuffed animal guts flew everywhere – they’d detonated a charitable donation. Stuffed toys blown to bits.
Sure it’s silly, but the charitable good samaritan should have known not to leave a suspcious looking package at the back door of a previously targeted building.
Hospitals, government offices etc. can’t take anything for granted. Not now, not ten years ago.
Poor security guard. He’ll get over it.
I wouldn’t feel too bad about having pointed out the man’s error. For one thing, you’re right, and his actions could have had terrible consequences. Not only that, but HE’S the security! He’s the one supposedly protecting hospital staff and patients. It’s his job to assume an unattended briefcase could be dangerous.
I appreciate Y’all’s comments, pro and con. Guess I’m not much for this Tough Love stuff, am I? 
I drove to his house (our families are old friends), this afternoon, ostensibly to see the new baby, but really to see him.
I didn’t want to leave things as they were, and I sure don’t want him to quit his job, and I convinced him not to. He won’t make that mistake again, he assured me. and I believe him.
Also, the baby’s an angel. She grabbed my finger and smiled at me, and never even suspected I was a Curmudgeon (or however you spell that!:D)
Thanks and love Y’all!
Quasi
Very good of you, Quasi. Glad you worked things out.