So, where to begin…
I worked in a jail, for starters. Been at it for 3 years now after doing 9 years in retail.
Surprisingly dealing with angry people in retail more or less numbed me to angry people being brought to jail…who da thunk?
Right, anyway, the incident in question that pushed me to walk away…
I worked night shift (10:45 PM to 7:00 AM) and have worked the graveyard shift for 12 years now. I'm one of those rare souls who genuinely prefers those hours.
Understandably, I stay up until the morning hours even on my days off to keep a consistent sleep schedule so I'm not a zombie at work when I return… makes sense, right?
I'm also “that guy” who is always called to cover folks and either come in early or stay late, call-ins are a constant problem and a lot of other folks don't like answering their phones… despite the constant reminders we signed some paper saying we'd be available when needed.
Yet oddly it's only when I didn't answer my phone that I'd get talked to about it.
I also only live 3-minutes away so… yeah.
Well, two weeks ago I apparently got tossed onto a surprise evening shift. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem but…
A) I was given no notice, so to be called while I was literally crawling into bed… yeah, that's a bit upsetting, especially since I was told 2-3 hours at most before I was supposed to head in.
B) Absolutely no sleep, and was too irritated to even manage a few winks after that call.
I tried, of course, to explain my side of it and why I should just do my normal night shift hours to the day-shift SGT who handles scheduling and was apparently supposed to call me and inform me on my days off rather than the day of but forgot and asked another SGT to tell me who also apparently forgot but…
“I don't see the issue, you've had your two days off.”
That's what got thrown in my face before he hung up.
Bit shitty, yeah?
So, I, understandably was quite pissed off when I went into the shift that day… and multiple co-workers were asking why I seemed so irritated and out of it to which I politely explained I had no notice of needing to be here and no sleep so really wasn't in the best of moods. The SGT of course hears me and snaps at me.
“Go ahead and get it out of your system because I'm not gonna sit here and have you say this and that and turn it into something.”
We've had issues before, what with him denying two of my vacation requests and never giving an explanation and oddly being offended when he learned that cheesed me off royally… and then assumed I had called in one day out of spite due to that when I caught a nasty stomach bug. And even before that where I changed a work schedule to accommodate someone not feeling well (let them stay in the Camera/Control Room all shift) and he took it as disrespect to his authority.
So, naturally, this only set me off to the point I was trembling in rage (I get very emotional and twitchy when the pressure valve snaps on my BS tolerance) but I reply calmly.
“You aren't even listening to the reason I'm pissed about this so I'm not going to waste my time.”
Now, this is going on in front of two shifts of people and things are rather awkwardly quiet now since it's very clear the two of us are pissed at each other. Things proceed normally and I try to keep myself from exploding entirely and just ignore him… before he leaves he makes a parting shot.
“Some people need to understand they have to work other shifts whether they like it or not.”
I… well, I exploded once the day-shift left. I explained the situation to the shift I was in charge of (officer in charge/OIC due to seniority) and by the end of it, I yelled at the top of my lungs and kicked the wall a few times to vent before having to call my wife and the evening SGT (good sort, we still chat and bullshit) to be talked down from going straight home.
I get a hold of the jail admin about the matter because it's BS as far as I'm concerned…
“This will be discussed in the supervisor meeting.”
Okay… not helpful.
I lodged a formal complaint, explained the situation and the LT of the place basically said this.
“We have investigated and deemed the SGT's way of handling the situation as inappropriate but all jailers have been told to expect to be called any day and at any time when needed. We have spoken to him about this matter and the complaint is dismissed.”
…Fuck me, I guess?
So, while I was sitting in my computer chair venting my undying rage via throwing force lightning at everything in TOR after going home that night…
I said to hell with it if that's how I get treated after 3 years of being a reliable employee.
Was asked to reconsider, multiple times, and told that I “can't let one person drive me to quit” only to reply I was sick of various things that are wrong in the place and never dealt with.
As for the SGT in question… my wife made him a personal two-week notice which I slipped multiple copies of into his box for him to find even with me not being there anymore as a final middle-finger of sorts.
Got multiple interviews on the way, feels very freeing to be out of that terrible place.
The sad part is the inmates weren't an issue, it was the people working there and the leadership.
The kicker?
I wasn't even needed that shift/day, there were three other jailers and one was licensed and would have been the OIC if I wasn't there… and nothing happened during the shift.
So… why did I get put through all of that, honestly?
