Life and Times

I knew when I took the position as department supervisor that it was going to be a pain in the behind.  I knew the hours would be long and the pay would be minimal, but I thought the fact that for the first time in my working life, I would have weekends and holidays off, and that would make up for the inconvenience of it all.  No, it does not.  This last week alone was crazy, I had a girl walk out in the middle of a shift because someone was “mean” to her.  No matter how I tried to reason with her, she was determined to quit.  To be truthful, she was no great loss, but still I had to try.  After realizing that she was looking for an excuse to walkout, I calmly stated that our company policy says that if you leave a shift without the permission of your direct or department supervisor, you self-terminate your employment.  Upon leaving, she was fine with that, later that afternoon however was a different story.  She began texting me around the time I left work, long rambling text telling me how it wasn’t her fault she had quit.  How the world was at fault and would I let her come back, of course I had to stand my ground and tell her no, you quit, you no longer work for me.  Then she starts texting me that she’ll talk to the administrator, who is my direct supervisor, at the church they both attend.  I immediately called administration to forewarn her and to help avoid any ugliness in a public setting.  By the end of the day I received another text from the girl who had quit, informing me that she had talked to the administrator and that administration would “talk” to me on Monday.  I interrupted this as saying, I’ve gone over your head, and I’m getting my job back.  Therefore, when Monday arrived, my administrator came to me to discuss the information she had received from the girl.  The girl had made up some elaborate and complicated story to justify her leaving mid-shift, she had action… she had drama… in other words she had a load of horse crap.  To make a long story longer, she still no longer works for me, and I am in the process of hiring a replacement.  In healthcare, we are required to have a criminal background check done on each prospective employee, we are not allowed by our licensing authorities to hire anyone who does not pass.  The background check takes up to 72 hours, and then before they can begin working for us they must have a TB test three days before they can begin work.  The whole process of hiring someone takes over a week in itself, then you have at least a week of training, and it can take up to two and a half or three weeks.  In the event that we are short staffed in the kitchen, I fill in whatever position is needed.  This makes for some long days and some short nights for me.  Everything at home is neglected; child, husband, housework, homework.  I think my employees know when I’m close to a school deadline, they either get sick or want a vacation.  Thank God we shut down vacation season in November till January, at least for two months I might get a break occasionally, but probably not.