How to lose your job just before the Holidays (kinda long)

Long, rambling pointless post - my apologies in advance.

The story

Last Thursday evening, one of my lackeys working the evening shift (7pm-7am)came in an hour late, stayed for about 45 minutes, then left (without letting his coworker know he was leaving). No call to me saying “I’m sick & going home”, as required by policy (and drilled into every lackey’s head from Day 1 - if you’re gonna be late - CALL ME 24/7 - if you’re sick and can’t come in - CALL ME 24/7 my cell phone is ALWAYS ON blah blah blah CALL ME). So, I got a call around 9:30pm or so, after the guy who WAS working discovered his associate had left him high & dry (he had assumed he was getting stuff from the production floor), and called another worker to come in (following set procedure) to cover for the deserter. This all happened on the last day of a 7 day shift. I called the lackey for an explination on Friday, but got an answering machine. I left a nice message to call me when he had a chance.

Cut to Wednesday, the start of a new shift week, now on days (7am-7pm). Still no word from lackey, and he’s a no show. No call, nothing. Then I find out from another manager that said lackey had been asking him about working a day job (no nights), since he had to take another job (I’ll assume that was at night) because he was behind on some bills. The other manager didn’t know about the incident the prior week or his absence Wednesday (different department), but lackey had called him on Tuesday asking about the other (day) job. Um. Okay. He’s on the verge of being canned by not calling his own Dept Head (me), but he’s asking another Dept Head for a job?

Cut to today. Again, no show, and no call. That’s it-game over. Email sent to all Depts, stating lackey is no longer an employee, cancel passcards, escort from premises etc. I actually had to state in the email that the lackey “may not know that he no longer works here”, because we can’t contact him!). (Former) Lackey has successfully “resigned” his position by leaving / not showing up, all while attempting to get a different job IN THE SAME COMPANY (Figure the odds on that happening). The other Dept Head wasn’t about to take him in either, once he found out what he did to my Dept.

I just don’t get it. This guy loses his job the week before Thanksgiving & the Holidays, 3 weeks before the Company Xmas Party (Gifts, Prizes, & Bonuses aplenty) all because he didn’t make a goddamned phone call. He technically quit, so he can’t collect unemployment. Maybe he got another job? Am I missing something here? Why do this now?

He obviously needs more free time; that meth isn’t going to smoke itself now is it?

He might be depressed. Some people, when depressed, just lose hope and figure they may as well just let everything drop. What does it matter, their life sucks anyhow, why WOULDN’T they lose their job?

It’s too late now, but does your company offer therapy benefits or anything?

Well, at least he’s living up to his lackey title. Hopefully, he actually quit and didn’t just land himself in the hospital or worse.

I’d be willing to bet that he found another job.

He’s a chicken shit for not telling you, though.

His emergency contact was his Mom, and we called her yesterday.

I’m thinking he doesn’t give a shit. Not even a little one.

I got laid off on Christmas Eve one year, and they liked me! I got over it.

This is why I hire minions. They have much better skills than mere lackeys.

I ‘lost’ a job once at a small business where I had wanted to work partly because they promised all workers at least ONE, if possible TWO of Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years off. Christmas and New Years that year happened to fall on two of the four days of the week I normally worked. When they also scheduled me for Thanksgiving, I pointed out that they had a policy of not doing that. They denied it, even as I was holding the piece of paper that said it. The job sucked for other reasons, so I put in my 2-week notice, was told the next day simply not to come back, and went to go visit my parents for Thanksgiving anyway.

Couldn’t tell you what this guy was thinking, tho’. The odds are exceedingly slim that you are as big a jackass as my (former) boss was. :smiley:

What the hell?

I can attest to this. We hired a new shipper a couple of months after I started working there, and he was working out great for the longest time (aside from the occasional inability to understand that packing lawnmower blades on top of crushable inline fuel filters and carb repair kits wasn’t the best idea in the world). Over this past summer though he became extremely depressed. (I think he was always suffering from it, but his meds were longer doing the trick.) He took leave for a while, and tried to come back a few times but just couldn’t manage it, so he was sent home each time. Ultimately we just couldn’t hold the spot open any longer so we had to let him go. He did do the responsible thing and keep everyone informed though – but he’s a responsible adult with a wife and son and all that stuff, and not a kid, so that might have had something to do with it.)

Technical question – In practical terms, what’s the difference between a minion and a lackey?

A minion has a higher level of commitment, sometimes rising to the level of “loyal minion.” Sure, you will every so often find yourself a “trusted lackey” but these are very thin upon the ground.

Minions usually wear uniforms, often with helmets, and may carry weapons. Lackeys usually have that bowl-cut 'do and if they are wearing anything on their heads it’s probably a dung-shoveler cap.

Quick pointer: if the word “sniveling” seems like an applicable adjective, it’s probably a lackey.

I prefer minions myself.

I feel **Labtrash’s ** pain – and frustration. I was a manager at a call center for a huge multinational corp. until several years ago. We came to the conclusion that today’s young employee comes to work only when he/she has nothing better to do. Today I teach part-time at the local small college, and my colleagues have the same experience with students. It’s all about lifestyle.

There was a time when we workers took care of our employers because we wanted to be worthy of the money they were paying us. I won’t go on the rant, but standards and values have changed, and I think not for the better. Maybe geezerdom has set in. Or maybe it really was a better time.

Minions know how to work the death ray, lackeys just stand around in the background to make the place look busy.

When I read your OP I to thought “depression” too. There are times in my life when I just take a time-out with everything, and I end up hurting no one more than myself. I don’t believe it to be a reasonable excuse though for abandoning responsibilities, just sharing that sometimes this is just how people feel.
Also, I just wanted to say that I’m really happy that this wasn’t a story about how you lost your job.

Maybe my terminology is messed up

There are 3 sets of lackeys - we’ll call them A, B & C

they work 12 hour shifts from 7 to 7

For Example: starting on Wednesday, Team A starts Days (7am-7pm). They work 7 days straight, have a couple days (well, a day & a half, anyway) off, then start nights on the following Friday night. They work 7 days, then are off until the Following Wednesday, when they start back on days. So each Wednesday a new set of lackeys starts this cycle.

This gives them either a 48 or 60 hour week, which means shitloads of OT, and every 3 weeks they get a 5 day weekend.

The lackeys seem to like it. :slight_smile:

I should point out that the term “lackey” is used with all due respect to minions, flunkies, followers, groupies, hangers-on, parasites, meat-puppets, stooges, subordinates, and toadys.
Also wanted to point out that this lackey also has a wife & kids, and is in his mid 30’s.

But his emergency contact was his mom?

My guess is that either he was offered a better job out of the blue and just didn’t know how to tell you so he chose not to say anything at all or he absolutely hated the job and couldn’t stand to be there for another minute. I can’t say why he wouldn’t have told you about the other job and left on a better note but some people are like that I guess.

If he hated the job though that much I can understand. I used to have a job that I hated so much I cried in the parking lot before work and when I turned in my 2 week notice there I only worked one day of it. I wanted to do the responsible thing but every time I woke up to go to work I just got angry and sad and cried on the way there, so not working my notice and being mentally sound was more important than doing the responsible thing and showing up every day.