This story reminded me of my grandmother. When people asked her age, she would proudly tell them:
Grandmother: “I just had my sixteenth birthday!”
She wasn’t lying; she was born on February 29th. It blew my mind a little when I was a kid.
Related:
My Mom Has Been Forty-Nine For Decades, Part 2
My Mom Has Been Forty-Nine For Decades
There’s only been one time in my entire life when contacting the hotel directly, despite booking through a third-party site, actually worked in my favor. And that was only because it also worked in the hotel’s favor.
Last summer, I spent about a week in Helsinki, Finland — let’s say August 10 through 16. I knew I was flying out of Minneapolis-St. Paul on August 10, so it seemed reasonable.
But, silly me, I forgot that because of the time change, I was taking off from Minnesota on the 10th but would actually be landing in Helsinki around noon on August 11 and therefore didn’t need the room for the night of the 10th.
I emailed the hotel — still a few weeks before my flight — and explained the issue. I would actually be checking in on August 11 and still checking out on August 16. I was more than happy to still pay for the room for the night of the 10th, as long as it would be ready for me by check-in time on the 11th.
I KNOW the hotel sold the room for the 10th, so you’re welcome, [Helsinki Hotel], for the free double-booking! I hope you enjoyed that unexpected extra profit.
I am closing up the post office with my coworker when a man strolls in and casually places a small package on the counter.
Customer: “I need this to get to Oregon by midnight. It’s important.”
Me: “I’m afraid the fastest we could do is [super expensive third-party rate] overnight, and that would get there by tomorrow.”
Customer: “No! This is America! You will do this for me!”
Me: “I’m afraid I cannot, sir. It is physically impossible.”
Customer: “It is! This is America! Anything is possible!”
Me: “Sir, you’re asking me to send this package from here in Florida, where it is currently 4:55 pm on a Friday, and get it to Oregon by midnight. Even if I got it onto a plane right now, it would still need to go through multiple sorting offices when it arrives. It’s not possible unless you took it yourself.”
Customer: “But… This is America!”
Me: “Sir, what exactly are you expecting to happen when you say that?”
Customer: “To get my own way, d*** it!”
Me: “Does it usually work?”
Customer: “Yes! Because this is America!”
Me: “Yes, it is, and I still can’t do what you ask.”
Customer: *Storming out* “You’re a bad American!”
Coworker: “Please, God, no one tell him you’re Canadian. He’ll use that to justify his personal brand of madness!”
At one retail job, we closed at 10:00 and opened at 7:00. After closing, we were expected to clean up our departments and then, when we were done, go help the other departments not yet finished. It was a large store, but my department was easy to handle, and I kept moving all night, so I straightened as I went. I was always done by 10:30, which would have been a normal clock-out time.
But the other departments were a mess. More often than not, I would end up being there past midnight. Of course, I was scheduled to open the next day and had to be there before 7:00 for store meetings. Combined with my travel time, I was lucky to get five hours of sleep.
I started really reading my employee handbook, and I found an interesting passage stating that there has to be a minimum of eight hours between shifts. So, the next night that they had me go help another department, I said:
Me: “Sure, but it’s already 10:25. I won’t be able to help so much in the five minutes before I clock out.”
The manager was stunned.
Manager: “Why would you be clocking out at 10:30? Everyone has to stay to help clean up.”
Me: “Well, yes. However, according to the employee handbook, I’m required to have eight hours between shifts. You have me scheduled in tomorrow at 6:30 to open. So, I can stay to help, but does that mean I’m coming in later? Nobody else is scheduled to open my department. The next person coming in is at 9:00.”
They fretted and grumbled a bit and then said for me to clock out.
I didn’t have a bit of trouble clocking out on time after that.
This happened a few years ago when I was working as a techno-manager in a startup IT firm. It was a small firm with less than fifty employees, and there were two founders. Let’s call them Vicky and Joel.
Vicky had worked a short time in a multinational corporation but was not able to stand authority and had to resign, whereas Joel had no real workplace experience. Vicky managed the place like a king, throwing tantrums, etc. Joel was simply a yes-man to Vicky.
We had a Human Resources lady who was okay with the older employees and strict with the newer ones.
As for me, I was not that good technically compared to my colleagues but was good at people management. Also, I was one of the longest-serving employees. I was friendly with most of the employees, especially the new ones. This was because I knew it was not easy to work with the founders, and I wanted the show to continue as it was my first company, too.
A new employee, Bob, joined, and after six months, he was assigned to a project. We were in India and the client was in Chicago, Illinois, so because of the time zone difference, Bob worked up to 4:00 or 5:00 am. Since he was sleeping late, this guy always reported to the office at nearly 11:30 am.
Out of the blue, Vicky called [HR Lady] and me to ask:
Vicky: “Why is Bob always late to the office? He has to be in the office by 10:00 am like the other guys.”
(Vicky and Joel came into the office only once in a while, and it was before the global health crisis, but since they are founders, let’s ignore that.)
[HR Lady] took the responsibility of asking Bob about that. At this point, since [HR Lady] was not aware of Bob’s working hours, I interrupted.
Me: “Bob isn’t leaving the office until 4:00 or 5:00 am. It’s kind of unfair to ask him to come in early.”
Vicky: “No. He has to follow the rules. This is the basic etiquette when working in this office.”
Me: “Okay.”
[HR Lady] called Bob into her office and talked to him about the timings.
Bob: “Okay, ma’am. I will comply.”
Bob and I had a good rapport, and he came directly to me to tell me what had happened with HR.
Me: “What are you going to do?”
Bob: “I will ask for clarification via email, and then I will comply.”
I understood where this was going and wished him the best of luck, trying hard to contain my laughter.
After ten minutes, [HR Lady] came to me with her laptop in a panic and showed me the email Bob had sent. He had CCed [HR Lady] and the founders and sent it to the client he was reporting to, and he’d written something like this:
Bob’s Email: “Hi, [Client]. This is to inform you that as a request from my office to comply with the office timings, from tomorrow onward, my work time will be 10:00 am IST to 7:00 pm IST, i.e., 9:30 pm to 6:30 am Chicago time. I request that you change your meeting times to the times when I am available. If this is inconvenient, please contact [HR Lady], Vicky, or Joel. Thanks.”
Me: “You should take the matter to Vicky.”
In Vicky’s office, Vicky scolded [HR Lady] and asked her to correct this. [HR Lady] went to Bob and asked him to change his mind, to which Bob firmly said no. [HR Lady] stupidly told him she was doing this because Vicky had asked her to. Bob stood firm.
Bob: “If Vicky said it, then ask Vicky to formally reply in the email thread asking me to revert to my old times. I won’t go back to those times unless Vicky emails. We have about four hours before [Client] will read the emails and react.”
[HR Lady] came to me for help, and we went together to Vicky’s office and briefed her on what Bob had said. Vicky started to lash out at [HR Lady], but I interrupted.
Me: “It’s best to address the issue now; in four hours, [Client] will get involved, and we have to make a decision before that.”
Vicky hesitantly sent out the mail saying it was a mistake, as Bob’s special case had not been considered during the decision-making, and Bob could continue his earlier timings.
As I walked back to the office, I saw Bob looking at me and laughing really hard, and I had to hold a straight face as [HR Lady] was also behind me.
Needless to say, Bob has his times intact!
