It’s currently 5:18 AM. I should be at work right now.
I’m not.
I have been feeling “off” for a few days now. Yesterday, my insomnia came back hardcore. By 7:00 PM, I knew it was unlikely I’d wake up to my alarm, assuming I actually fell asleep. So, I asked my sister and her boyfriend to make sure I was up by 10:00.
Either they forgot or I woke up and went back to sleep and don’t have the slightest recollection of them waking me up. And, I forgot to set my alarms.
I just woke up, right at 5:00.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.
I called work. My supervisor didn’t yell at me. He didn’t really need to. There’s not much he could say that would make me feel worse than I already do.
I’ve never done this before. I’m shaking so badly right now. I hope they’re not mad at me, but I really can’t blame them if they are. I just got off of probation too. My first blemish on my record and it’s from something so stupid, and so preventable.
Well, I have at least an hour before my sister and her boyfriend get up for work. Oh, maybe not. Their alarm is going off. Any way, I have at least four hours before my nephew gets up (he’s on vacation). I can’t go to work now.
Well, I still have some free hours now. I obviously need to relax.
You work the night shift, I take it? Can you check in with your doctor to see if there is anything you can do to get some rest? I hope things turn out ok with your job.
It was actually just yesterday that I couldn’t sleep. I’m on nights primarily because I sleep better during the day. But, my nephew is on vacation (the other kids are visiting family) so I have to fulfill my half of the barter arrangement by watching him. I am allowed to sleep while he’s here, and usually I can. The feeling “off” I think is mostly due to the backache I’ve had for the past week (from a strained muscle). I’ve been to the doctor and a masseuse but nothing they do can change the fact that I have a crappy bed and I naturally wake up in very awkward positions. I am not a still sleeper. I’ve been sleeping on the floor quite a bit lately. I should have done that yesterday.
I’m sure my job will be fine. They like me and I like them. I got off probation on schedule and I haven’t done anything stupid like this before.
It was after 5:00. I get out of work at 7:00. I work in manufacturing. I was supposed to be “relief” last night. That means, I was supposed to give breaks and clean. Breaks should be done around 5:30. There was no point.
Ya know, when I was younger, I used to have cool nightmares about being chased by monsters or Gremlins or Freddy Krueger. For the past ten years or so, my nightmares have (mostly) consisted of the exact scenario described in the OP.
Sorry to hear you missed work; can I go back to the good dreams now?
Well, my boss that I talked to is actually one step below my BOSS. I didn’t talk to my BOSS. I don’t know if he was even there. I don’t know if my boss was actually ok with it or if he just realized that there wasn’t anything to be done about it at that particular time. I’ll find out today. Somehow I think I’ll be ok though. They’ll probably just tell me to not do it again. I highly doubt I’ll get in trouble for my first offense.
I ALWAYS have nightmares about doing exactly what I did last night. It makes for many restless nights. Ya know, sometimes I think I’d prefer to not have a job I like. I never worry about sleeping through work when I dislike my job.
I talked to my sister’s boyfriend. He said she went to bed early (most likely assuming he’d get me up). He fell asleep on the couch. He woke up right before 10:00 and saw my nephew watching TV and the light on in the bathroom, so he assumed I was awake and getting ready. He fell back asleep. When he got up again at 11:00, he saw the light was off and went to bed. Apparently my nephew left the light on and turned it off later. I don’t know why he never said anything about the fact that I hadn’t gotten up.
Of course it would have helped if I had remembered to turn even one of my 3 alarms on. Though, with the lack of sleep I had, I probably wouldn’t have heard them anyway.
Can you get an alarm that continues to sound until you shut it off? With instructions to people that if you haven’t gotten up/shut off the alarm in <X> time, to come get you up/check on you?
Of course. But, if I neglect to turn it on, it still wont do me any good.
My sister has mentioned that she can tell I like my job because I actually get up when my alarm goes off. I have slept through alarms in the past (sometimes for hours). But, I haven’t done it since I started this job, because I actually like going to work. But, they don’t work when they’re off.
If I were in that position, and I really liked the job, I’d offer to make the time up - even if I were not going to get paid for it - by working an extra hour each day until the missing day had been reclaimed.
From a former supervisor’s point of view: If you’ve never done it before and otherwise have a good work record, no worries. These things happen. The further into the past it gets, the more it’ll be seen as that crazy time Congo forgot to come to work, knees will be slapped, bellies will shake and you will be teased.
On the other hand, if you go in to work tomorrow (or tonight, whichever) and they fire you on the spot … well, good luck with that!
