Play With Fire, Get Fired

(Last year, we on the maintenance staff had a coworker who got on everyone’s nerves. He would not listen to the supervisors, did things his own way, and sometimes did weird and random things that, when combined with his attitude, made us genuinely concerned about his mental stability. Somehow he managed to last six months because the timing of his shifts rarely crossed over with our boss, so he rarely pissed off the boss personally. One day, he is scheduled for a 6:00-12:30 evening shift, but when 7:00 arrives and he hasn’t shown up, Supervisor #1 marks him as a no-show. He finally shows up around 9:00.)

Coworker: “Hey, I can’t stay and work the whole night. I have to leave at 11:30.”

(This is not the first time he has taken it upon himself to decide whether or not he should work when he’s scheduled.)

Supervisor #1: “I don’t think so. You’re already late; I marked you as a no-show an hour after you were supposed to start.”

Coworker: “You can’t mark me as a no-show! I’m here! I showed up!”

(He starts working while Supervisor #1 calls Boss.)

Supervisor #1: “[Boss] wants to see you in his office tomorrow morning.”

Coworker: “Oh, tomorrow doesn’t work for me. Tell him it has to wait until Tuesday.”

(It is Tuesday. He’s saying he’s not going to show up in the office until next week even though he’ll be working other shifts in between. Come Tuesday, it has been agreed that Coworker will meet with the boss at 5:00 pm, shortly before Boss has to go to his other job. I arrive around 5:30 so I can eat before my own 6:00-12:30 shift. Around 5:45, Boss enters in a bad mood and punches out.)

Boss: *to [Supervisor #2], who is in the break room with me* “When [Coworker] gets here, tell him he’s fired.”

(I do an internal happy dance, and around 7:00, I overhear this:)

Coworker: *to Supervisor #2* “He can’t do this! I couldn’t come in at five! I had to eat first! I’m going to the labour board!”

(I have no idea if he actually went through with it, but I never heard from him again. There’s no way the labour board would take the side of someone who couldn’t be bothered to go to work on time and STOOD UP HIS BOSS instead of just having supper later.)