The Brave Little Pumpkin

Wednesday I said it was supposed to snow.

Wednesday night it rained.

Thursday morning I let the dogs out at 4:30 and was shocked to see snow covering my backyard.

I don't drive in snow.

I called in to work at 5am. I woke my boss up. He didn't know it snowed. He asked if I would come in later if the snow melted and I said as long as it wasn't icy.

I went back to bed.

At 7am my boss called me back.

He said they had 'checked the roads' and they were clear. The VP of Production said I couldn't stay out for a snow day.

Okaaaaay. Fine, I'll come in. But I'll be late because I went back to sleep. I'm not dressed, I haven't checked my sugar or packed  lunch. I'm due in to work at 8, I have to leave in 20 minutes, and I know I won't make it on time.

This really irritated my boss and he tried to pin me down to a time when I would be at work. I finally said 8:30 because I knew it wouldn't take that long and if I slide around on the road I'd be covered time-wise.

I got to work at 8:12. Not too bad since I didn't think I was coming in at all.

When I got to work people were giving me strange looks. People seemed surprised to see me. Then I found out why.

My office mate said her boss told her that my boss was stomping around ranting about how it never snowed, I was lying just to be off, and I had probably been lying about low sugars too. He was going to see how many times I had been out when Kevin was off because clearly that was the whole reason I called in.

I got really mad. I shouldn't ever hear from a co-worker that my boss is trying to fire me. My office mate told me that besides her boss, several other people asked her if I got fired. I was pissed. If my boss has a problem with me, he should talk to me about it, not start rumors.

The more I thought about it, the madder I got. So I grabbed my glucose meter and talked to the human resources manager. My meter keeps a record of 6 months' worth of test results. I showed her the meter, explained how it worked, told her if there was any doubt I wasn't sick on a particular day, we could look it up. I said I was not mad about what my boss was accusing me of, but that he was telling other people. I said I didn't use my illness as an excuse to stay out of work.

I thought that was the end of the matter. My boss avoided my most of Thursday, then late Thursday afternoon, he started being friendly and chit-chatting. I thought by that point, he had calmed down, found out there was snow at my house because I am farther north than work, and probably HR had told him to cool it. After all, I did come in. In my eyes there isn't an issue.

Kevin told me when our boss starts being nice he is up to something. I wish I had seen what was coming.

Thursday I kept thinking about what my boss did. I don't blog about work because I work for a jackass. I deal with stupid things all the time and it depresses me. I don't want to talk about it. When I leave work I want to forget. I have to keep a notebook of the things that happen so I can't be set up later. People at my work lie. They cheat, start rumors, and spread shit thicker than a politician. I'm really not suited to working there because I don't have an agenda. I want to do my job and go home. I'm not out to make anyone look bad. I don't want to step on someone to get ahead. I will not be someone's friend just to find out what they are doing so I can use it against them later. I know this seems like a sudden thing, but I promise you things have been going on for a long time.

Thursday night I got mad again. I am so sick of my boss. I have no problem with the job itself, just the people I work for. I thought of all the times I've been lied to or lied about. I thought of all the times I've tried to make things better, all the ideas I've had, and he blows me off. The man lied to me when I was in the hospital. I got madder and madder until I did a banishing spell.

The purpose of this spell is to release the crap in your life so good things can come to you. I've used it before without major changes, but I wasn't mad before. The spell comes with a warning- fast, dramatic change. How brave are you my little pumpkin?

The spell has to be chanted 9 times. I added my own little bit after each chant. I have trouble remembering how many times I've said something, so I used empty spools to count. I said the chant, said my bit, and set down a spool.

Evil be gone.
Do not return.
The horse has run off
And the bridges are burned!

It's done. Done and gone. I know it's gone.

Then I said, 'I banish you Bill.'

Thump. I put a spool on the table.

I chanted louder.

'I. banish. you. Bill.'

Whap!

And again.

'I BANISH you, Bill'

SLAM!

And on and on.

After 9 times I felt better.

Friday I went to work in a really good mood. I felt light and cheerful. I thought I had averted disaster.

Friday afternoon Bill called me into a meeting for leaving early and being late.

What?

Several times I have clocked in at 8:01. And I have clocked out at 4:29.

Late and early.

I know you're laughing. The man was furious that I got away. He had to get me somehow and that was all he had. He couldn't mention the low blood sugars because then he would be firing me for being a diabetic and that is illegal.

Then he said my job performance was down. We run out of stock often. What he was not admitting is he often cancels my orders. And he doesn't enforce the rules so people take things without telling me and I have no idea we're out. Sometimes, I placed the order, but we run out before it comes in. I have asked over and over and over for him to lock the parts room. I have told him our stock levels need to change. I've told him who doesn't sign out parts all of this is to no avail because the same exact things happened over and over.

I got suspended.

When I came back to my office to get my purse, my computer was gone. You see, it's not enough to suspend me. He has to go through my hard drive and look for more evidence of wrongdoing. That is what I don't like about him, he doesn't know when enough is enough.

I decided I don't want to go back. I decided to sign on with a temp agency while job hunting. That way I'll have money coming in while I search.

Kevin has decided I need to go back. I am glad I was sitting down when he said it because otherwise I would have fell over. My stomach flipped. Every time I think about work I feel sick.

Kevin wants me to work long enough to cash in my vacation time which is nearly three weeks. I will loose it if I quit. He says I should file a complaint with the board of labor because the company is harassing me and it is wrong. He said I should try to get fired because I could draw unemployment. (I've been with the company 7 years.)

I just don't think I can go back.

After all this, I feel better now. I feel free. I feel like I have a chance at new life.

On the other hand, I haven't lost my job. I lost a few days. I still have insurance. I will have a regular paycheck.

But Goddess help me, I don't think I can go back. Kevin called me today, told me to come by work and he would give me grocery money. I told him to give it to me later. I didn't even want to drive by the place.

Part of me wants to send my notebook to the CEO. Another part of me wants to call the labor board. A big part of me wants to be done with the whole mess.

I could work until a temp agency calls. I could just stay out. I could pick up odd jobs for a while. I could work part time.

But I hope to hell I don't go back.