Driving The Point Home
Many years ago, while working for a well-known electronics store, our area experienced a massive ice storm. Many roads were closed, as were many businesses.
Knowing that I lived at the bottom of a hill and my older sedan wouldn’t make it up the hill that was covered in ice, I called my manager to let him know that there would be no way for me to get to work. He immediately got annoyed and said:
Manager: “You have a shift today, so you need to be here!”
I explained that I lived on a hill and that due to the thick layer of ice on the road, my car couldn’t make it up. I also asked why we were still open when most of the roads and all of the other businesses in the area were closed, and he said:
Manager: “It’s not as bad as people are making it seem. I’ll figure something out and call you back.”
Fine. Whatever. About fifteen minutes later, he calls back.
Manager: “[Coworker] has a jeep and lives a couple of minutes away. They’re the other person scheduled to work with you tonight. They’ll come pick you up because jeeps can make it through anything.”
Me: “That’s a bad idea.”
Manager: “You don’t get to have an opinion because you have to work.”
Four hours later, just before my shift, I get a call from [Coworker] to tell me he has arrived. He also lives at the bottom of the hill, so he was able to take flat roads to get to me. I walk outside and get in the car, and we give each other a knowing look and start making our way up the hill. The jeep’s wheels start to slide, and the vehicle rolls back. We try again and slide back down. One more time, and we slide back down.
[Coworker] tells me that he had told the manager that his jeep wouldn’t be able to make it up the hill either, and the manager told him that “jeeps can make it through anything,” just like he’d told me.
At this point, I’m not risking our safety for this job, so I invite my coworker inside my apartment, and we call the manager together to let him know that no, jeeps cannot make it through anything and now he’s cost himself both employees who were scheduled tonight instead of just one.
He informs us that about two hours earlier, he’d gotten word that the major road the store was on had been closed anyway, so they’d closed the store. You’re telling me that we could have avoided all of this, including my coworker now being stuck at my apartment, and he didn’t call to let us know!?
