2016-10-21 - 6:16 p.m.
Every time I try to go on a vacation. Every. Single. Time. Some kind of fresh Hell breaks out before I go.It's like they really hate for an employee to have a vacation, so they try to squeeze every last drop possible before you sign out that last day, or they create something extra for you to think about all week.
My boss, whom I formerly liked, did both.
Yesterday, she called to pin a big project on me that I will have to do the first week back from vacation. She knew in advance that I would not be happy about this task. It's a shit project that requires me to go in person to a facility and work on site for a whole week. So she tells me this before I go... ya know... so I won't forget to think about work while I'm having my annual R&R.
While we were on the phone, we discussed the bogus way our company has conspired to take away our earned PTO that we have accrued. At the end of this year, we lose everything we've saved up, to be placed in an emergency bank for long term illness. Unless you endure a long term illness, you may not ever cash in that PTO that was painstakingly earned and saved. Bogus.
So, I had this great idea. I asked my boss what she thought about me working past 8 hours on my 2 busy days and using PTO for any time left on a Friday so that I essentially use a chunk of my PTO before they snatch it. She agreed and she even offered this: She said "Why don't you work 10 hours the first 4 days and use PTO for Fridays?" Excellent idea says I... Yes! I will do that, says I.
So I hit my 40 hours on Thursday. I did ever single thing that could possibly be done. I did work that was not due until next Monday, and other work not due until next Tuesday. There was not one more thing that could possibly be done. Both my students were done for the week. I didn't expect either of them to send anything more to be done. So today I was on PTO and was getting things ready for my trip when I discovered I had missed 5 phone calls. Two from my boss, and 3 from other co-workers. Since there is a shit show right before I go on vacation each and every time, I was dismayed, but not that shocked.
I called my good buddy first, to get the scoop and know what kind of Fresh Hell I would be facing and turns out, my boss, whom I formerly liked, was pissed because she had no idea I wasn't working today and one of my students needed my help. She chewed my ass like I had stolen her ID and gone on a shopping spree. She said "WE DID NOT TALK ABOUT THIS IN ADVANCE!!!" She had NO IDEA I was not going to work today. When she got done, I said "Remember when we talked on the phone YESTERDAY and discussed me putting in 40 hours at the front end of the week and then using PTO for Fridays? I thought we agreed it was ok to do that. You suggested it." She said she did not think that meant I was not going to be working today. So I apologized and told her I was sorry for the mix up and that I would do whatever my student had for me. But she went on to tell me I had bad judgment and she was really not happy with this situation.
In reality, my terrible, shocking, horrible misdeed didn't create any problems at all for anyone. I'm still ahead. I still did all the work that will be due through Monday and Tuesday of next week, but I have poor judgment and really, really disappointed my boss.
So she gave me 2 dark clouds to take with me on my vacation. I'm trying to squelch my inner smart ass and play it like I accept responsibility for messing up, because that is what you do when you don't want to be pegged as a problem or an insubordinate employee, but I'd really like to tell it like it is and thank her kindly for shitting all over my vacation.
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