I’ve hated my job so much for so long, I’ve mostly lost the will to complain.
Yes, that’s the bit that gets me! It’s like, even if I were inclined to help him – and I think the week’s handover of walking through, answering questions, etc, more than discharged my duty there – I would have no possible way to fix his problem! “Mate, I’m not trying to be rude and I don’t want to blow you off, it’s just that I have no power over and nothing to do with the things you are complaining about.”
Ha! I wish I had done, but only in that wish fulfilment world where passive-aggressive actions don’t have consequences and everyone lauds you for putting up with crap. I just replied going “Sorry! I assumed since it was a question about how to do your job you would want me to pass it on to your manager.” I’m trying to straddle that line of passive-aggressiveness but with plausible deniability and cheery presentation, which I think is the hat trick. 
I just suffered through a staff education day where I had to attend a “form your life plan” workshop. The rest of you have nothing to complain about, seriously. If gnawing my leg off like a fox in a trap would have allowed me to escape, you’d be calling me Stumpy today.
First off, I pray that never happens.
We’re human, mistakes are made. I’ve had to send out a corrected report now and then when I enter a result wrong, but it’s usually nothing life-threatening. Things like not correcting the white count when there are NRBCs, etc. Mostly all that’s been affected from our current situation is our turnaround times - it’s taking longer to get results out. Maybe if it eventually takes too long, doctors will start complaining, which might help because they’re the only ones hospital execs ever listen to! I don’t think our error rate has gone up, which speaks to how good our crew is.
Lately, I just feel like I’m more disorganized. Silly things, like losing scraps of paper I’ve got notes on, or having to look up a patient three or four times because I’m paranoid I’m misremembering the blood type that I just did on a patient, before I take a unit out of the fridge to crossmatch it. I’m getting very OCD because I’m overwhelmed. Checking everything again and again just in case. Yeah, I was always checking stuff before, but I do it more than necessary now because I’m on edge about missing something. Sometimes I am in the middle of the blood bank literally spinning in a circle because I’m not sure what to do next. Thaw plasma? Answer the phone? Issue that unit to the floor? Call the Red Cross for platelets for that OR case? Take that paper off the fax and see who needs more units added? (spin spin spin)
So, yeah, I’m terrified of eventually making a big mistake. I’d like to think that if I ever do mess something up bad, my superiors will have my back because I’ve been damn good at this for as long as I’ve worked there. But who knows. Hopefully I won’t ever need to find out. Despite all this I truly love what I do. My family hears my stories and thinks I’m crazy, but I wouldn’t want to do anything else. It’s funny but the more I complain about the situation in our lab, the more passionate I get about the work. We deserve better than this.
One of the old biddies from customer service was in my supervisor’s office yesterday, and told him that I had not informed her that she needed to send a certain report to her customers. Bullshit, you old bitch! Not only did I tell you last month (you responded by showing me your copy of the report that you had stamped “for information only”), but I also told your cube neighbor since he shares some of your customers!
The kicker on this one: she told me about it during another conversation…she thought it was funny. :mad: My supervisor has yet to mention the issue to me.
Yeah well, I can see their point. I have many, many sign ons, and in the case of even my user name (Oh , just use your name) it’s “Dr Deth” (caps and space needed) drdeth, ddeth, ddeth1, ddeth7, doctordeth, etc. As to passowrds, some allow special characters, some require special characters, some can’t use special characters- same with numbers. And then, password restes every 2 months, which actually reduce security as they require staff to write passwords down- which all of this does. In fact, I somethimes think that IT dudes dream of stupid-ass passwords rules to 1> Ensure them a job, 2- make fun of users, 3- allow them a sense of superiority. Dude, The guys "wandering the wilderness and climbing power poles " ARE the job, you’re just fucking support.
In my opinion, you need to make keeping your ass covered your first priority in this awful situation they’ve created. The first person under the bus is usually the one with the least power.
Have I got the boss for you guys!
I hate to tell you, buddy, but the reason people don’t like you is not your dry sense of humor*. It’s the profound stupidity, unwillingness to accept blame for your own mistakes and tendency to push blame on others, laziness in avoiding the shared tasks that we’re all (contractually) supposed to be doing, and total inability to deal with a frustrating problem without serious anger. And finally, personal stuff should be talked about on personal time, with personal friends, and definitely not at company meetings. Oh, and we all know (though you seem not to) that you’re gay. Just come out. It’s painful to watch you pretend that you’re straight, and the rest of the gay men in the group are sick of you transparently not-hitting on them. Divorce the wife (we know that you hate her, because you trap us and tell us all about it) and become a happier person. Please. I promise, the SoCal theatre industry is accepting of gay men. It won’t hurt you.
You have, however, brought the rest of us together in our mutual dislike of you, so that’s something, I suppose.
*I’m not sure what you think dry humor is, but it’s sure not something that applies to what you think is humor, unless you’re drier than anything I’ve ever heard of.
Can I do an honorable mention of a job I almost had?
I was all pumped this week, because I had a shot at a job in Manhattan with benefits. Well, I blew that shot. I got the boys & their backpacks & lunches into my car. I did the Lincoln Tunnel traffic duck & weave. I paid a HUGE amount of money for two whole hours parking. ("…$38? Really…!?") All to find out as I opened my trunk that my briefcase with my resume & references were left behind in my front hall.
…
OK, lets not be down. I’m a professional & adversity is what I’m hired to handle right? I still have myself, a nice suit, an I touch, a cell phone, a flash drive, and a good cup of coffee. I still got to the meeting early , found out the receptionist had the cutest little dog. (She was Such a Good Girl Too!!! She needed her ears scratched & she almost followed me into the conference room.) Yes, my experience was semi light, but I battled valiantly anyway.
One of the guys had a real resemblance to a famous actor. He was really nice, but I almost found myself interacting more with the other interviewer because I was really scared I’d slip & mention it. Really nice guy, would have been a great boss. The CEO interrupted us twice. Once to shake my hand, once to drop off a subpoena to the CFO and then to relieve himself in the private bathroom right off the conference room. Behind me. With the door open.
Q: Ever try to list your work experiences with that distinctive light sound of liquid pouring into water right behind you? No…? Well, OK then. Maybe this just isn’t the job for me.
They set me straight about that whole “street parking” thing the recruiter mentioned. It was non-existent. But, they were nice enough to let me know that the girl who had the job I was rying for was leaving for ‘artistic differences’. In a bad economy. After 6 months. :dubious: And that I could get all my work done in 40 hours in a week as long as at least 24 of them were on the two days before payday. :smack:
Ever feel like you just dodged a bullet? Still, I did f/u my chance to get my foot in the door in Manhattan. But, at least I wasn’t late to the job I have now afterwards. I may* have seriously passed triple digits passing Newark Airport on the Tpk, but I made it to work on-time. (Planes took off on the runway next to me in slow-motion) And when I got home, Patty had made Fillet Mignon with Béarnaise for me (everyone else had eaten) and was very supportive.
“I’m so glad your career isn’t taking you into Manhattan. Because I *just don’t know *who’d drive Michael to school next year if you didn’t.”
(Please, someone just kill me now…)
So… How was your day…? 
*I wuz doin 55 for both of us. Thats my story & I’m stickin with it.
I’ve had a couple of cats who would press the “Play” button on my answering machine. If you have a cat, this could be your excuse…“Whoops, didn’t get that message, sorry, the cat must have pushed the button and I didn’t check the old messages.” If you don’t have a cat, either get one or invent one. They’re very handy. Seriously, just don’t acknowledge that you’ve checked your phone messages, or that you received that call. Make it her problem.
Yeah, I’ve had a couple of bosses/coworkers like that. I could get along with most of them, but a few really needed a good slap upside the head now and then.
And a lot, though not all, of the other professional staff like physicians, nurses, etc. view us as not much more than monkeys in lab coats punching buttons. For once I’d like to be treated at least as a monkey with a four year degree and a lot of technical skills it took me years to acquire.
My hospital has run through two complete sets of third shifters this year. Now, I’ve seen entire shifts quit before at my previous job and it usually doesn’t cause a huge commotion because it happens often enough that it’s not a big surprise, especially with midnight shifts sucky hours. But when all the people we hired to replace them quit about four months in it kinda made an impression on human resources. Second shift was left to cover the lions share of the work of course, not that anyone asked us or anything. We all had to do mandatory thirteen hour stretches for weeks on end. And at one particularly delicious point the lab manager thought it would be a good idea for us to come in even earlier to help cover dayshift as well since some of the dayshifters were leaving early. Because they had come in earlier to cover the shortage on the second half of third shift. Yeah. Why not just chain us to our benches with a bucket beside us and be done with it. Fortunately the second shift supervisor told the manager to stuff his idea, politely of course.
Tired has become a way of life lately down in the dungeons. (Why are labs so often in the basement anyway?
We really do. But I don’t ever expect it. My previous lab had the brilliant, cost-cutting idea to make ONE tech run the lab on second shift weekends. Including Blood Bank. In a VA hospital. Which gets a LOT of GI bleeds. I did it for a year and tried my best. I also tried to convince management that it was an unsafe situation; a disaster just waiting to happen. No one listened. I had a couple of near-misses, developed high blood pressure and chronic headaches. So I, a tech of sixteen years federal service, up and quit. I heard through the grapevine that a couple of months later they dropped the one tech/weekend thing so I guess I did that much good.
Now my current lab seems to be heading down a similar path, sigh.
But I still like lab work and dammit, I’m good at it. I’ve helped many, many people even though they don’t have a clue. So I guess I’ll keep plugging away for a while yet.
Christiana- you ask me for help All The Time, but on the rare occasion I ask you for some help, you are always too busy. Yesterday I helped you out in a big way, but when I later asked for one small assitance, you said you were too busy (again). I got to thinking about it and I can’t recall you ever helping me. Ever.
Do not ask me for any assistance ever again.
Thank you.
Why do you keep not mentioning that to him?
I do, every time he send them to me. Click forward, stick his name in the CC box, write “I’m sending this over to [Manager’s Name] since as your manager, she’s best placed to help you with this question,” send it to his manager, done. Every. Single. Time.
Last week, I was looking for the admin assistant for 10 minutes, finally figured out she was on a smoke break, so I wait a few more minutes. When she hadn’t returned in 10 minutes, I stick my head out the door, just in time to see her light another cigarette. When I said I needed to see her, she said she’d be in when she finished smoking. Went right up my back.
Also, the office supervisor is a drama queen and has no idea how to motivate her employees other than using threats. We have a lot of turnover in staff and she seems oblivious to her role in that.
That’s always been true pretty much everywhere.
On my last IT job in 2001, I could walk into the cafeteria and quite literally stand there (standing, not sitting) for 60 seconds reading the headlines of a newspaper sitting on the table, and my boss would come by and bitch me out, telling me that we didn’t give breaks. Yet one of my co-workers would take a smoke break every hour on the hour, for 10-15 minutes at a crack. When I pointed this out, my boss got all upset about it, claiming that this particular person was never outside for more than 2-3 minutes at a time. I then walked through every time I had seen her outside, and proved that at least on several occasions, she was out there more than 15 minutes at a time, just hanging out. Of course, that didn’t go over real well, because I’m calling him a liar and not doing as he says. At that point I didn’t give a fuck anymore. She’s outside more than an hour a day smoking, so you can lay off me STANDING in the break room for a couple of minutes a day checking out a newspaper.
In 2007, when I was a Security Supervisor, same story. Gotta smoke? Step outside anytime. Gotta pee? You should be doing that on your scheduled breaks. Where were you? You should be RIGHT HERE at all times! Don’t let me catch you away from this desk!
I used to take smoke breaks right with the smokers. I really hated it when all of the management took up chewing tobacco. That was so disgusting. Spit cups and bottles all over the place and if you accidentally through something in the trash you didn’t try to retreive it.
It’s always nice when your coworkers are retarded and you have to pay for it.
I tell everyone that I will be away and most likely won’t have access to a phone.* The one time I was caught and had to work while on Holiday they paid me for 4 hours in addition to my vacation pay for about about an hours work.
*True in most cases. butI consider “away from work” to being away and my cell phne is in another room as not having access