Yesterday at work was not such great day. Why? Our sign carrier verbally exploded. Let me back up a few and give some background on this issue. When the company owner was in the process of opening his fifth store, his maintenance guy happened upon a homeless fellow that was looking for work. Mr. Fix-it was all about the company owner hiring this guy. I questioned it. Don't get me wrong, I do not have a problem with someone who is down on their luck getting a boost from those who can give. However, we knew nothing about this person, where he came from, his criminal history (if he had one), his mental state, etc. In this day and age one can't be too careful. This wall comes from working in law enforcement for almost 10 years. I've seen and heard about an awful lot of well intending people getting hurt by those they are trying to help. Mr. Owner hired the guy to carry the sandwich boards advertising our business. Let the drama begin.
The first few days weren't so bad. Mr. Signs got paid daily at the end of the day. After a few days, he started asking "Can I have an hour or two for lunch money and cigs?" Mr. Owner obliged him. Mr. Signs is supposed to be walking from 10 am until at least 5 pm. We close at 6 pm. Mr. Signs might work until 3 pm then come in and tell us he was done. Reasons?
1. It's too hot.
2. It's too cold.
3. Going to a ball game.
4. His girl was giving him trouble.
5. His girl was in trouble - needed to go to another town to get her.
6. Had to go to court.
7. It's raining.
8. Tired.
9. Had enough of people making comments.
10. Got in a fight.
Really? One day last week another employee and I were looking at a video online of a dog riding a rocking horse - it was hilarious. Mr. Signs comes in and wants to be clocked out because he has something to take care of. It just so happened that at the same time he asked that, we laughed because of the video. Mr. Signs went postal. He started screaming at my co-worker. The f-bomb was flying out of his mouth every other word. He made threats to my co-worker, telling him he was going to rip his head off and ^&*( down his throat, f-this-f-that m-f. I tried to intervene by telling Mr. Signs he needed to take it down a notch and stop making threats. He looked at me and said "They ain't threats, they is promises." I told him that was enough and he needed to leave. After about 5 more minutes of belligerence, he screamed that he quit and stormed out the door.
Just so happened that Mr. Owner pulled up and Mr. Signs went over and started yelling at him. Mr. Owner got him to calm down and insisted that he come in and apologize to my co-worker. Mr. Signs did that, but I was not convinced.
A few days later, a couple of younger people came in saying that Mr. Signs was trying to start a fight outside and some woman was trying to restrain him. I went out to see what was going on. It's not good for a company representative to fight with the general public. The lady was still with Mr. Signs and insisted that the two people who came in the store started the whole thing. Mr. Signs apologized to me for losing his temper and throwing the sign on the ground. I informed him that if I got another complaint about him-whether it was his fault or not, he was done. He protested, but I calmly explained to him that as a business we cannot have this much negative activity going on as it would hurt the reputation of the business.
Moving up to yesterday, it was near the end of the day when a fellow business owner entered the store. Mind you- Mr. Signs clocked out around 3:30 pm and this happened around 5 pm. The business owner was obviously very upset about something and wanted to speak to Mr. Owner. We informed him that Mr. Owner was not present, but was there something we could do to help him. He claimed that Mr. Signs was in his business parking lot soliciting business right out from under him. We asked him to explain. He said the guy in the blue shirt was telling his customers to come over to our store because we paid more. He expressed his disapproval of this practice to Mr. Signs. He then told us how Mr. Signs got mouthy and started yelling at him.
I told the business owner that it would be dealt with appropriately. He said he didn't want any bad blood between the two businesses, but he couldn't let things like that happen. I told him we understood, that Mr. Signs was currently off the clock, and it would be dealt with.
At about 10 minutes to closing, Mr. Signs came in the store asking if we bought a ring. I told him no one came in to sell a ring. I then asked if he had been at the antique shop. He immediately went on the defensive- yelling and screaming at me. Throwing the F-bomb every other word. Accused us of being hoity-toity rich people living in air conditioned homes, driving nice cars, taking vacations and eating out all the time and that he lived in a tent. I looked him square in the eyes and told him he was where he was because of the choices he had made and continued to make. He called me a bitch. (not the first time I've been called that - I dealt with angry truck drivers as an inspector - it's part of the job). I told him that was his opinion and that it was his choice to express that opinion. I told him that Mr. Owner had explained to him how to get a new ID card since he lost his and he chose not to follow Mr. Owner's advice. I told him that if he had followed Mr. Owner's advice about the ID card, he could have started the process of looking for more permanent living arrangements. I could tell by the look on his face that he was getting madder and madder. I suggested that he go to his tent and chill out for the evening. To that he said "F*&$ YOU, F*&$ this job and I quit." I said "That's your choice."
This morning when I drove in the lot, I could see Mr. Signs sitting on the embankment watching me. Creepy! Before I could get inside the building, he was right beside me. He was begging for his job back. I told him it was out of my hands. He begged some more and again I told him it wasn't up to me. I unlocked the door and went inside as he walked away, mad. He then started calling the store phone. At first I didn't answer because it wasn't time to open for business. At about 2 til 10, I answered it. He wanted to talk to Mr. Owner. I asked him if he saw Mr. Owner's truck in the lot. He said no, but he needed to talk to him. He begged me to call him and ask if he could have his job back. I said if I talked to Mr. Owner, I might say something.
I did indeed talk to Mr. Owner. I expressed my concern about Mr. Signs verbal abuse to my co-worker and me, his unstable state of mind, his paranoia, his explosive behavior, the fact that he can't follow direction, gets defensive with constructive criticism, and - most of all-doesn't know when to shut up. I also expressed concern that Mr. Signs made me uncomfortable and that it creeped me out how he watches us all time. I told Mr. Owner that it was my opinion that someone who was that violent with words and was ready to fight anyone at anytime could cause harm to me or my co-worker or worse - the customers.
I now worry that Mr. Signs will start stalking us. He has said previously that he was an Army Ranger.
I pity him too.
Now before anyone gets their feathers ruffled - I don't have a problem with homeless people or people who have had a run of back luck and are currently down and out. However, don't judge me because I have a job, a house and a couple of cars. I have worked hard to get those things and even harder to keep them. I know about losing a job, being without money, being within a payment or two of losing everything. Then I lost my home to a fire. Thankfully I had insurance - that I work hard to pay for. When I lost my job, I lost a few friends as well. They couldn't handle having a poor person hanging around. Not such good friends. During this dark time in my life that began in 2009, I went through so many emotions. The depression was the worst and it almost consumed me. BUT I MADE A CHOICE. I chose to keep fighting for what I worked so hard for. I chose to get off my butt, get a job and get back on my feet. I chose to take responsibility for caring for my family. I chose NOT to ask for welfare or food stamps. Yes, I got unemployment for awhile. I was entitled to it. I've worked since I was 16 and I earned it. If we didn't have the money to buy something - we didn't. At Christmas, my husband and I didn't buy any presents for ourselves and used what little money we had to buy a couple of toys and some clothes for our son. We didn't go beg for toys at the toy drive. If the groceries ran low - we made do with what we had even if it was only rice and beans. We didn't go to the food pantry and ask for hand outs. It wasn't fun, but we muddled through. When we lost the house to the fire, I chose not to wallow in sorrow and self-pity. I went to work the next day - no sense in sitting around thinking about what happened. I couldn't change the fact that everything was gone. I was going to have to start over, again.
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