The Insanity Continues

An update to this post.
( Feel free to skip )

I know it's been forever and a day since I posted here, but I don't feel comfortable making this post over on my TikTok because my coworkers can see it, not that it's anything bad, and one of them already knows about it. But I still don't want to post about work on my TikTok.

I was on vacation 10/24-10/28 and had assigned my sites to my coworkers. Now, we have a rule that any issues that happen during that week are the original poster's responsibility. I'm okay with that because the issue is usually that a day was double-keyed or inventory readings (I work for a gasoline distribution company) were entered wrong. Things that are easy to find out and fix even if you didn't key it.

But today, my supervisor and I had the following conversation in TEAMs:

(supervisor):
PC [number]...
missing sales from the 25th through the 27th
do you know what A/R you booked those to?

Me:
I was on vacation for those days. You'll have to ask [redacted]

(supervisor):
we don't do that
we don't shove our work on someone else
you know the rules

Me:
I cannot answer the question you asked me because I didn't key them. I have no idea which AR they were keyed to, [redacted] would know that

(supervisor):
still wrong answer ma'am

Me:
How am I supposed to tell you which AR they were keyed to when I wasn't the one who keyed them?

(supervisor):
we will talk about this another time...
your lack of willingness to help is the issue not that you didn't know the answer...

Me:
I am not saying I'm unwilling to help

By this point, I was on the phone with my mother, feeling my blood pressure climbing. She suggested I ask the coworker who had keyed that site, thinking that maybe that's what my supervisor wanted me to do. But my supervisor could have done that when I told her who I had assigned that site to. Or she could have just looked at the list I sent her before I left on vacation. She has to know there's no way I'd know the answer or would even be able to find the answer.

Me:
[redacted] says she used the one on the spreadsheet

My supervisor was showing as busy and left me on unread for a long time. I decided to court a coaching with the following message.

Me:
I'm not sure what you expect me to do here, (supervisor). I have asked [redacted] which AR she might have keyed it to. She says she doesn't know. I have done all I can think of to resolve this issue

My coworker then said that she kept my list separate from hers (I guess to avoid this?) and that she would look to see if she had used one on two different sites. But she didn't do that. She said she'd keep looking into it, and when I told my supervisor this, she thanked me and said she'd look into it.

What pissed me off so much about this is that she was telling me that it's fully my responsibility to fix an issue that I cannot possibly fix since I have no way to find out which code was used for those three days.

Backstory:

I work for a gasoline distribution company in their consignment department.

Two years ago they asked for volunteers to work weekends. Because I don't the ability to work from home, I could only work on Saturdays because that's when the office we were at was open. Then last year we moved offices and even though I 'knew' the office was open on Sundays I didn't think to change my schedule until recently.

When I work on the weekend, I'm alone which means if something happens, I'm on my own to deal with it.

Last January, my computer updated on a Friday night and when it did, I lost the driver that connected it to the wi-fi network when I came in that Saturday. I couldn't get W or K to respond to my texts, so I left.

That next week they scolded me very harshly, which if they had answered my texts from the beginning there wouldn't have been a problem.

Fast forward to the issue that almost got me fired.

For several months now an alert will pop up telling me that something needs to be updated but I don't have the authority to do so. I finally got tired of seeing the message, so I opened a service ticket.

Friday while I was off, IT fixed it. But in do so, they deleted an icon for a very important program from my desktop.

I texted W at 6:24am (she has told us to not text until after 6am) to tell her I was missing this icon from my desktop. Then I tried using the search function in the start menu to find it and couldn't so I opened a service ticket.

Since I didn't want to have to work eight hours Monday-Friday (or four ten-hour days), I did other things that I would have to do anyway (one of my team mates is moving to another department and so we got new sites). This takes me a while due to all the different reports I use to keep track of what I key and when. I also did other things and before I knew it, it was time to go home.

W texted back around 10:30.
W: He left you his number. You should have called him.
M: I did not see his number. I spent the day setting up my new sites and checking emails. I have 6/1-6/6 for 2005 so that's good. But 1346 still hasn't sent in the corrected paperwork.
W: I was told his number was on the paper he left you. Please leave that on my desk. (I almost threw it away so it's a good thing I didn't)
M: I've already left the office. I'll double check when I get in tomorrow. If it's there I'll call him.
W: I want that note on my desk when I get in. No reason it should not be. (I feel this was way too aggressive for my response)
M: I can do that. I thought you wanted it today. (she's always misconstruing what I say in email, so I've started doing the same)
W: If you didn't bill at all we will have to have a discussion tomorrow. (I just told her that I no longer had access to the program I need so how was I supposed to bill?)
M: Please explain how I was supposed to bill. I did not have access to [the program]. I did not see his phone number on the paper. I'm sorry that I was unable to bill but it is not my fault as far as I can see. I will bill as much as I can the rest of the week.
W: We will talk tomorrow. I know his number is on the paper. If you had called him you could have billed. You basically stole from [company I work for] sitting there for half the day. You should have gone home. Also I have asked you all not to text me before a certain hour of the day. Again we will talk tomorrow. I am unplugging for the rest of the day. (can she get any more childish? And it's amazing how she went from 'I was told' to 'I know' about whether or not his number was on the page. Also, it's not like I was surfing the internet, I was actually working)

At this point, I turned around and went back. And I was right, he did not put his number on the note.

When I got to work today, I wrote her a note explaining what I did yesterday and mentioning that the reason I didn't leave (other than I needed to set up my sites and didn't want to waste part of a full work day) was because the last time I left when she didn't respond to a text about me not being able to work, she scolded me for it. I offered to lose the four hours I worked if she felt the need to punish me and reminded her that she had told us not to text before 6am.

I then checked the search function again and found the program I need. Not sure why it wasn't there yesterday, but whatever. I was able to open it (pinned to the taskbar now) and keyed eighty-nine reports. I emailed her to let her know I now had access to this program and I think I told her I pinned it, but I truly cannot remember.

Then at 9:43am she sent me this email:

[logans_girl2001],

Thank you for your letter.

I stand corrected. I thought I heard David put his number on the note he left and he had not.

I know it didn’t take you four hours to set up your new sites. That should have maybe taken a half an hour. So, my concern is what did you do for the remaining 3.5 hours you were here?

This is the second weekend we have had an issue with you being able to work.

The first was January 2017 (which you alluded to in your letter) and now this one. I consider this your second strike. One more strike, and you will permanently work Monday through Friday like the rest of your team no questions or discussions.

I do not want to “punish” but if you did not work the full four hours I think you should tell me how long you did work and I will adjust the time and you can make up the rest during the week.

It is stealing from Empire when you sit here and do not key and the fact that Factor was there all along adds fuel to the fire.

My response:

W,

Like I said in my letter, I searched for nearly thirty minutes to find [the program] yesterday. I do not know why I was able to find it today but not yesterday.

It took me more than half an hour to set up my sites because every time I thought I had them all, I would count and find I was missing two or three. After that I went through the emails in the shared in box and moved them (there were over seventy) and checked my sites' folders and noted which ones I still need. I realize that shouldn't have taken me as long as it did but I was not just sitting here or surfing the internet (I'm sure IT can tell you if I went on any websites other than the ones for work). Nor was I working slowly, I was working as fast as I normally do. Oh, I also went through [internal reporting site] to make sure my [external reporting site] sites were polling into [internal reporting site].

If you feel like my time should be adjusted, then please do; just let me know how much time you take away so I know how much to make up.

She replied that there was no reason for me to 'be punished' so I considered the matter closed.

Then an hour later, I received this Skype:
W: yep. got a text at 6:24am yesterday morning (I feel like this was really meant for someone else)
W: nvm ma'am...i already addressed this (she sent an email saying that the after 6am rule is only for weekdays and on the weekends we are not to text her between 9pm and noon)
W: did you pin your [the program]..
M: Did I not say I have pinned it to my taskbar? Previously that option was not available which is why it wasn't pinned before now.
W: [logans_girl200]. watch your approach
W: i was just making sure all was okay
M: And I knew D didn't remove [the program] completely from my computer but he did remove the icon, which is why I was unable to open it.
W: the sarcasm won't work and is not acceptable (I wasn't being sarcastic (well, not this time))
M: And I was just asking if I mentioned it because I'm not sure if I did or not.
W: i don't want to discuss this anymore... just want to make sure you have what you need tomorrow (I've found that people who continue a conversation that has ended and then say "I don't want to talk about this anymore" or "This conversation is closed" only do so for one of two reasons: they want the last word, or they're losing the argument)
W: i am just ensuring you have all your tools available

In my note, I told her (I think, I forgot to save a copy) that if this happens again, I will just sit there (off the clock) until I can talk to her.

So, not fired but close to it.

I received the following email from W this afternoon at work:

Hello Melissa,

I have been instructed to give you this attendance memorandum. It is something that is being done within the accounting department to ensure we don’t have excess absenteeism. Since you have missed so many days and have 10 days scheduled off in October, I need you to read this memorandum and sign and date it and give it back to me please.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

The attached memorandum (and really, who calls it that?!):

Melissa, you are an important part of our accounting team and your attendance is very important. Your attendance records indicate, since January 1st you have missed seven days of work. You used a floating holiday for one of those days and took the remaining without pay.

Any unexcused time off taken for the remainder of 2017, will result in disciplinary action and may include termination. Your vacation in October is considered excused.

Your good health and presence on the job are very important to us and are essential to the smooth operation of the department.

Thank you.

This pissed me off to no end. I checked with our online time clock and only found six days. Plus the last three days I called off were because I had food poisoning. Not to mention the fact that those three days were back in June. I have never had a supervisor/manager/other type boss wait two fucking months to write me up.

I asked W why they waited two months and she said she doesn't know but I'm not the only one who got a letter like this. I also mentioned that I was only able to find six days in ADP. She reminded me of a day in January where I was 'scheduled' to work on a Monday and called off.

I don't think that one should count for two reasons:
1) It was a Monday which is my usual day off
2) I made it up later in the week

It also pissed me off when they said that my vacation is 'excused'. I was like, it had fucking better be! And then the end where they threaten me with termination if I have to miss another day between here and the end of the year (minus the two weeks for my vacation).

I mean, what if I get hospitalized? I can't exactly help that, ya know. And if I'm contagious, they're not gonna be happy if I go to work and end up infecting the whole office like G did last spring.

This might get long but even if it doesn't, it is a full on rant so it's under a cut.
( Feel free to skip )

So, update in this post, sorta.

Today I stopped for gas on my way home and when I got home, I checked my account. And saw $11.57 at QT for my gas along with $10 at Race Track. I don't use Race Track often and definitely didn't use it today.

I called the bank and they said that the charge was done at 6:36 this morning.

When I was at work.

And they swiped a card.

Which makes no sense because I have the card in my possession.

Turns out someone got my card number and created a duplicate card.

This means that an employee at one of the places I've used it recently (since it's new I know approximately when it happened, just not where). So I will now be using cash for all the things I can pay for with cash; like my cable bill, my phone bill and putting gas in my car.

This is a bit of an update to my previous post (I wrote that one at my mother's house and lots of things happened after I posted).
( Whoa but it got long )

I really need to get a real job making real money so I can get out of my shithole of an apartment and into one with a washer/dryer so I don’t have to rely on my mother anymore.

When I got here she told me that her and my dad were going to visit his mother who lives a couple of towns over (I live in the DFW area so she only lives about thirty minutes away).

I made a comment about trying the new McDonald’s Home style burger since I’m going to be on my own for lunch. She told me that when I’m ready to get serious about losing weight (as if I’m not already) she found those tuna lunch kits things. I don’t like them because they don’t give you relish to put in your tuna and I don’t like the crackers they include with it. I told her I don’t need her to tell me I’m fat or unhealthy and she got all passive-aggressive/abusive by saying that it’s always about my daughter and me; that we’re always right and she’s always wrong. I’ve never said that but now that I know she’s using emotions (guilt) to abuse me I’m not taking it anymore.

Then as she and my dad were leaving they realized they need to return a video to the store. What video? American Sniper. When I said I didn’t want to watch it (which my mother called the best movie she’s seen in a long time) I explained that the guy the movie’s about wished he could go back to Afghanistan and kill more innocent women and children because they need to die because they’re not Christians (I didn’t phrase it that way, though).

We then got into a heated discussion about how I think we need to leave the Middle East to the people who live there (and this goes for all super military power countries). They tried to change my mind by telling me that, and I’m quoting my dad here, ‘some radical Muslims think that America must die’. So, even my extreme right-wing father admits it’s not all Muslims but yet he still thinks it’s okay for us to go over to their country and kill even those who do not feel this way; to kill women and children who are forced to be suicide bombers.

As they were leaving my mother told me that if I’m just going to cause tension in her house then I can do my laundry elsewhere. Well, I CAN’T because I don’t have enough money to do my laundry at, nor do I want to spend all day in, a laundry-mat.

Besides, I didn’t start the discussion. She did by asking why I don’t want to see 'the greatest movie about an American hero, ever’.

Saturday I woke up with one of those killer headaches and couldn't figure out why. I have TXU as my electric company and have free evenings which means I turn the air down until it's almost freezing in here.

Then last night I was sitting on the couch watching TV and every time the air cut off I'd start to sweat. I had thought I could handle not having a fan in the living room but last night proved that to be false.

So today after work I went to buy a fan. Hopefully it'll help me keep my air higher which will keep my bill lower.

Something amazing happened at work today. I ran out of things to do! I had tried telling my supervisor that once I get caught back up everyting'll be good but he either didn't believe me or just doesn't care.

I am still extremely pissed off with everyone I work with because of something I found out on Friday. I was putting empty RCO envelopes in the stores' mailboxes and overheard the woman who was given the job I wanted talking with a former employee who was in visiting. She told him that she was asked to take the job. That tells me that I was the only one who expressed interest which means it should have been mine.

If my supervisor had just come to me and told me that people were saying I was falling asleep at my desk I could have addressed it in time to get this job; a job that just might have been enough to convince me to not jump ship at the first chance.

But because they couldn't be bothered to express a concern they had, I can't be bothered to give a fuck about this company anymore.