It’s fun to marvel at the audacity of some people, and I’ve read some very good stories of such on this board. Let’s share some more!
Here’s mine: two months ago, we hired an inexperienced but smart and energetic person to develop a financially sustainable ceramics program for us. Her responsibilities included learning the glazing and firing techniques she’ll need to operate the studio, lining up suitable teachers, scheduling classes, and getting to know the local amateur ceramicist community to get a feel for what people want. As anyone who has been involved in operating a ceramics studio will know, there is a lot of hands on work in the studio taking inventory, stacking the kiln, keeping the studio clean, washing clay off tools, etc.
So, she’s been on the job for two months and hasn’t produced any results yet, but that’s okay - we didn’t expect miracles.
Two days ago, I heard, because she told someone else in our organization, that she’s going to move to Mexico in a couple of months - rendering the wages we are paying her a complete waste, as nothing would come to fruition during her brief time with us.
Anyway, I called her up, reviewed a few current work items with her, then asked if she had anything else she wanted to discuss. When she said no, I told her I’d heard she was leaving and asked if it was true. (Note I didn’t tear her a new one without hearing her side of things; I was completely polite.)
Turns out her plan was almost worse than if she were just moving away. She is planning to go to Mexico from June to mid-November. Her intention was to work remotely and have us hire “studio assistants” that she would direct from afar.
She was stunned and angry when I told her that this was not likely to work for us, and accused us of “talking behind her back.” Nowhere in her verbal response or subsequent email was their any acknowledgment that:
(a) when you’ve been in a position for 2 months that involves hands-on work, you don’t just assume you can tell your employer you’re leaving for five months and will work remotely.
(b) She takes no responsibility for the fact that she told another person in our organization about her plans, and that’s how I found out. Instead of recognizing that she bears responsibility for sharing the information before she wanted it made public, it’s all OUR fault for not understanding that she needed time until she was ready to “share.”
Anyhow, she wrote a huffy email saying she supposed that in light of what I said, she should resign. Ya think? I wrote back a supremely polite note, praising her talents and organizational skills and wishing her well.
And that’s MY entitlement story.