Friday, September 2, 2011

Want To See Skippy Cuss? Good. You Have Come To The Right Place

If you don't like curse words or to see me cuss then you best leave now.  I have never been so mad in my life and this . . .  well, thank goodness they don't know where my blog is.

Stupid f#$%^&*  b$%^&*(@s.

I don't know how long this post will be up, but I am writing it because I am mad.  Mad on behalf of my husband, 2 of his co-workers and just personally peevedd as all get out at his bosses.  I may remove it, but for now it stays up.

I know that having a job in this economy is a gift.  We don't take my husband's employment for granted, but just how far can you abuse someone before they are forced to quit?

My husband has worked for this company for almost 5 years.  He has been in the swimming pool business for   35 years.  He took this job at a pay cut of $30,000.00 and has not had a raise since he was hired.  We do not have health insurance [which is really swell when one of your family is terminally ill], our 401K has been wiped out and some days I wonder how the heck we afford to even pay the rent.

In November 2010 Pooldad had a meeting with the owners and asked for a raise.  He was told they would make a decision by the end of the year.  Didn't happen.  He spoke to them again in January to remind them of their promise and they pushed him off.  He asked three more times this year and yet?  Nothing.  It is now September.

Here's where it gets really interesting.

There are 4 people in the front office.  2 on the maintenance side [Pooldad & Bee] and 2 on the service side [Libby & Chad].  Libby was married last year to one of the mechanics [Niles].  Yay! A wedding.  Then Libby & Niles became pregnant and lil' Libby was born a few weeks ago.  Yay! A baby.  Well, you would think, but now it turns out Libby must given birth to the second coming of Christ. Because that baby has changed everyone's world as we know it.

While on maternity leave a nice woman [Tonka] was hired on a temporary basis to fill Libby's spot.  She is doing a great job, but understood it was only for six weeks.

Then Libby started to whine to the bosses about the hours they work and how she just didn't [sniff, sniff, sob] know HOW her and Niles would be able to find childcare to accommodate lil' Libby. Um, yes you can. It's been done. I know.

Without consulting Pooldad, Bee or Chad the bosses decided that the best solution was to give Libby a set schedule [normal office hours] and rotate Pooldad, Bee, Chad AND Tonka around HER schedule.  They have hired Tonka full time.

Do you know that my husband now has shifts every month that begin at 3 pm and go to close?  I know that may sound like a good thing to some of you, but the fact is he will be unable to get anything done in that time frame.  His men cannot be dispatched after dark - they are working on pools.  Which they need daylight for?    The amount of paperwork that he has to do can't be done in that time frame either.  Those lame ass shifts aren't everyday, but he is going to be playing a heck of a lot of catch up on the days he works 10-6, 7-3 or 12 -close. Sigh.

Meanwhile, any hope of a raise is out the window because in order appease "the only woman who has ever given birth in this world" [Yes, I am bitter.  And snarky. What about it?] they have used all the extra money in the budget to pay Tonka.  I like Tonka.  I was hoping she would replace Bee when Bee left in December. But now?  This is all because someone pushed a kid out and doesn't want to take care of the problem she created herself.

I believe in people having kids [you think?] but this isn't anyone's problem but Libby's and Niles. PERIOD.  When you work in the pool business you know when the long days are, when you are getting off early [winter] and when it is only a four day work week [again, winter].  They just took out 3 co-workers to SUIT THEMSELVES and the BOSSES LET THEM DO IT  [did it for them.]

The schedule is a joke. No one is getting a pay raise and all because they had a baby.

Here's why I am really pissed off.  When my kids were little [toddler and an infant] I was a single Mother. I drove over 50 miles everyday to a job I HAD to have.  I left before 6 am and didn't return until after 7 pm at night.  I dropped those kids off in their pajamas and my wonderful babysitter fed them breakfast, lunch and dinner.  She also dressed them in play clothes for the day - but the thing is - I got them back in their pajamas, bathed and ready for bed. 5 days a week I hardly saw them, but I did what I had to do.  I didn't ask my employer to make accommodations for me.  My children were MY responsibility, not my boss's problem.  I am not the only one that did it and people still do it. There are millions of single parents out there that do this everyday - it isn't amazing or special. This is what you do when you have a job and children.

It is called life.

Why can't Niles and Libby figure this out?  Hell, why did the bosses agree to this big hot mess?

And the raise just fries my butt.  Pooldad wasn't the only one that deserves a raise.  Chad deserves one too. They haven't even received cost of living increases.  Now all the money goes to Tonka.  Sigh.

Yes, I am very thankful he has a job.  No doubt. But come December they may not have an employee.

We are done.

And yes, you are welcome for the most "Non Skippy" post I have ever written.  I just can't to see my husband used like this.

20 comments:

Celia said...

OmG! That sucks!! Tight wads!

Jeannie said...

The kicker? The girl likely feels entitled to this special accommodation and has no clue that she has put anyone out that shouldn't be put out. I had one like that. Everyone bent over backwards for her and when we asked that she give up one of the special treatment days because one of the girls could not longer do what, by law, she wasn't required to do if she didn't want to. The girl got snarky, gripey, and made plans to go elsewhere where she was certain she'd be treated better. She also "borrowed" from the till which she thought was fine because she liked to cab home rather than take the bus and that should be my problem. I had to fire her and she was indignant. She worked briefly at the competition, and was quite surprised to find out that they weren't interested in accommodating her whims. Ya think? She eventually admitted her mistake to my daughter. She's grown up a lot and I'm ok with her. She was young and spoiled - but found out that the whole world wouldn't be spoiling her.

Get working on the resume and send them out.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Skippy - so sorry that things at hubs work is fucked up. I agree, when I was a single mom, it was always my turn and I made sure she got to day care and I got to work on time.

I've worked with women who somehow thing its "owed" to them for people to bend over backwards when they pop a kid out - so crazy!

Sending big hugs your way!

colenic said...

Ick....that's not okay. At all...I am sorry that pooldad has to put up with stupidness and I am sorry that the bosses didn't have a backbone to make it better for him. Hopefully something better comes along soon...hugs to you...

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Breathe, just breathe. This is just a bump in the road. I know how you feel about your husband working hard and not being rewarded. The lack of pay raise wouldn't even be an issue if they weren't accomodating the birth mother, right? Hang in there, I hope the employers see the error of their ways soon.

The lack of health insurance is a scary thing, isn't it? Every time I trip or come close to injuring myself, I kind of hold me breath for a minute!

LBB said...

That totally sucks!!! Like you said, its great to have a job in this time, but the stress its all causing you is so unfair!!! You have all the right to CUSS!

Phelan said...
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Anonymous said...

Jeez...what a bunch of gob sheits! (as we say in Ireland) I can really understand you and your husbands fury about this, it's so unfair! BIG TIME!
We all had to take care of our kids when they were small, and still do our job. But we managed, it wasn't easy but no one else was going to do it. Such is life, isn't it?!
One thing I don't like is "a**-lickers" (pardon my language) makes me sick.
I certainly hope that everything works out for the best for you all. Warm wishes
Eva xx

Julie said...

this sucks big time.
Sadly she is not the only woman who thinks this way,.
Lou phoned her work today to say she has a start date for her job. Yay!
She then gave her families a call to say she would not be back in. Nada, zilcho - she is GONE. 3 of the families were great - they all understand that she has trained and studied and worked hard to put that RN(child) after her name.
THe 4th mother said "can you not still do Fridays with *****????
No, says Lou - i can't always be sure to have that time off and now is the time to make the break.

Hope you get it sorted

Lyndylou said...

Bunch of arseholes!!!

ellen abbott said...

that is certainly unfair. perhaps when Bee leaves in December they will spread her income around in the form of raises. ahahahahaha, I'm so funny.

Teresa said...

that just sucks, sucks, sucks! employers just think they can do things willy-nilly without a thought to what impact it has on the lives of those involved.

ugh! my blood could boil for you.

pooldad said...

Look, Skippy and I had a good long chat last night. More to come this weekend. We'll make something happen....together.

Thanks for the support, Tadpoles. Although, I wish Bruce would learn to be a little more direct.

Damon said...

great post
+follow

RVVagabond said...

As Vicki would say "s*cks to be you" and you know how I mean that. Is this finally the straw that will break the camel's back?

I feel so bad for you two and that Pooldad's loyalty and hard work are being rewarded this way. There are no words at how wrong this entire situation has become.

I hope you all can escape to the in-law's place this weekend where you can feed some horses, sit on the deck watching golfers and have that good, long discussion about where to go from here. Hugs all around.

word vert: bresto. I wish saying "bresto, chango" would make it all go away for you.

RVVagabond said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Southhamsdarling said...

Hi Skippy. Sorry I'm late in popping over! As the others have already said before, that really sucks SO MUCH!! I can understand why you are hopping up and down,believe me. It's just not fair - but then, life ain't fair sometimes, is it? Women like that really get up my nose, and what they never seem to realize is that they're doing women in general no favours whatsoever by behaving like that. Grrrrr!! Poor Pooldad. I really do hope that he gets the raise that he deserves sometime soon. Hugs.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Well, crap. I feel as bad as I do when one of my kids get the crappy end of the stick at work. Good you vented, though. Now that it's out of your system, you and Pooldad will work it out. Good luck, sweetie.

Joe Sixtop said...

Wow. Has anybody thought about getting a lawyer?

Vicki said...

Hi--I usually just lurk but I had to throw my support for you out there...I hope things get better for you soon. Your hubby and his co-workers should open their own business...=) With their experience (from what I've read here) they would be in demand.