You know, I really really do enjoy my job. I work flow from 0400 to 0900 (on most days) with a couple going til 1100, but it's nothing major. I dread going to work that early but once I'm off... I have the entire day to take care of my business or attempt to relax for a while. So it's really not that bad. But, every rose has it's thorn. Hear me out, please. This isn't really a cry for help but having some input from you guys/gals would be nice. I have *got* to get my head right before I step foot back in that store.
BACKSTORY:
I started my career in EMS 10 years ago and was an EMT for a total of 7 years (I started out as a "Cadet"/"Explorer" at the age of 15 and worked my way up to Paramedic). I had a great job to be honest; typically 24 on, 24 off, 24 on, 72 off, etc. After taxes, I was making around $36,000/yr and truly loved my job. Doing some quick math, I've ran in the ballpark of ~17,000 calls in my career. Then, as I was kind of expecting, a large number of the calls that I had ran (mostly pediatrics and friends) began to get to me and I developed pretty severe symptoms of PTSD. That said, I resigned back in March of this year to avoid things getting any worse; we'll leave it at that. I've been fighting it for the last couple years and I finally feel like I've "overcome" the struggle for the most part. At least I feel like I can function and be "me" again, to a large degree.
So I decided to get back on the horse, per se and follow my heart and dream... that's led me to firefighting. I wanted to go this route 10 years ago but I didn't have the opportunity to... so I'm doing it now and backing it up with my experience in the medical field. What can go wrong here, right?
Well, I run an IT business from home in my "free time" (and have been doing so for the last 4 years) but money has been tight this year. I'm not big on ripping people off or setting myself up for "repeat business" by half-assing my work (like most freelancers I know) so as they say: You have to work twice as hard when it's honest. But hey, I enjoy it and it allows me to work around with the FD, running calls from home, training days/hours, etc. Much better than dealing with a 9-5 job to me.
TARGET:
I started Target about one month ago and everything was amazing. My TL is a really really great guy and we've got a good crew, minus one or two sh*theads. The hours work great with what I need to accomplish. HR and 98% of the staff are legitimately good people. That 2% though. FML.
So one of our LOD's is a complete [insert any combination of four letter words here] and no one can stand her. She took it upon herself to modify my availability to "suit the schedule" without my knowledge and added/dropped hours on a few different days.
Now... I *have* to have two days off for training (Sat/Sun) because those classes run from 0800-1700 on those days. She made me "available" without my approval on both days and scheduled me to work them last week. Given that my dept is shelling out over $6k to make sure I get these classes knocked out, this is now a problem. If I can't make the classes, they're losing out on their money and I'll likely lose my job with them.
So... without a single phone call, text, email or anything over the weekend... I show up this Monday morning to be greeted by her, pulled into TSC and chewed up and down in front of everybody for not showing up for work over the weekend. Being baffled by this, I told her to check the schedule and she'd see that I'm never scheduled on those days. Sure enough, she grabs the schedule and bam... there it is. I was scheduled 0400-1100 and 0400-0900 on both days. Now mind you, the last time she chewed my ass for not showing up, she actually meant to chew out the OTHER John but apparently got us confused and went after me instead. After a good ass chewing from her then, a very nice HR lady and myself finally explained the situation; no apologies for her mistake, she just scoffed and stomped her way out onto the floor.
This time around, I was told "Show up for work or you're gone".
Now... I understand that I'm seasonal, I'm within my 90 days, etc. But what in the **** is going on here? I haven't missed a single day of work, I haven't been late, I follow instructions, etc. I've yet to be "coached" or anything... and now I'm facing losing my job because a dumbass LOD modifies my schedules without my approval and demands I make Target the priority in my life.
Is there not some form of "checks and balances" in place within Target for this kind of thing? Shouldn't there be someone "up the chain" that can rectify this? I'm sick and tired of coming in at 0400 every morning, even after training my ass off the day before or running calls all night and getting zero sleep, busting my ass and doing a damn fine job, just to have some BS like this pop up out of no where.
I'm not letting Target stand in the way of continuing my education and following my dreams. Period. Target can go **** themselves for all I care. For what amounts to $7.30/hr after taxes, HELL NO.
So... any thoughts here? Is there a way I can go up the chain and "fix" this already FUBAR'ed situation? My TL is adamant about keeping me onboard and I'd hate to let him down but I have my priorities. And right now, Spot is barely making the bottom.
My next round of classes start tomorrow morning at 0800 and I'm now scheduled to work. That's my problem.
BACKSTORY:
I started my career in EMS 10 years ago and was an EMT for a total of 7 years (I started out as a "Cadet"/"Explorer" at the age of 15 and worked my way up to Paramedic). I had a great job to be honest; typically 24 on, 24 off, 24 on, 72 off, etc. After taxes, I was making around $36,000/yr and truly loved my job. Doing some quick math, I've ran in the ballpark of ~17,000 calls in my career. Then, as I was kind of expecting, a large number of the calls that I had ran (mostly pediatrics and friends) began to get to me and I developed pretty severe symptoms of PTSD. That said, I resigned back in March of this year to avoid things getting any worse; we'll leave it at that. I've been fighting it for the last couple years and I finally feel like I've "overcome" the struggle for the most part. At least I feel like I can function and be "me" again, to a large degree.
So I decided to get back on the horse, per se and follow my heart and dream... that's led me to firefighting. I wanted to go this route 10 years ago but I didn't have the opportunity to... so I'm doing it now and backing it up with my experience in the medical field. What can go wrong here, right?
Well, I run an IT business from home in my "free time" (and have been doing so for the last 4 years) but money has been tight this year. I'm not big on ripping people off or setting myself up for "repeat business" by half-assing my work (like most freelancers I know) so as they say: You have to work twice as hard when it's honest. But hey, I enjoy it and it allows me to work around with the FD, running calls from home, training days/hours, etc. Much better than dealing with a 9-5 job to me.
TARGET:
I started Target about one month ago and everything was amazing. My TL is a really really great guy and we've got a good crew, minus one or two sh*theads. The hours work great with what I need to accomplish. HR and 98% of the staff are legitimately good people. That 2% though. FML.
So one of our LOD's is a complete [insert any combination of four letter words here] and no one can stand her. She took it upon herself to modify my availability to "suit the schedule" without my knowledge and added/dropped hours on a few different days.
Now... I *have* to have two days off for training (Sat/Sun) because those classes run from 0800-1700 on those days. She made me "available" without my approval on both days and scheduled me to work them last week. Given that my dept is shelling out over $6k to make sure I get these classes knocked out, this is now a problem. If I can't make the classes, they're losing out on their money and I'll likely lose my job with them.
So... without a single phone call, text, email or anything over the weekend... I show up this Monday morning to be greeted by her, pulled into TSC and chewed up and down in front of everybody for not showing up for work over the weekend. Being baffled by this, I told her to check the schedule and she'd see that I'm never scheduled on those days. Sure enough, she grabs the schedule and bam... there it is. I was scheduled 0400-1100 and 0400-0900 on both days. Now mind you, the last time she chewed my ass for not showing up, she actually meant to chew out the OTHER John but apparently got us confused and went after me instead. After a good ass chewing from her then, a very nice HR lady and myself finally explained the situation; no apologies for her mistake, she just scoffed and stomped her way out onto the floor.
This time around, I was told "Show up for work or you're gone".
Now... I understand that I'm seasonal, I'm within my 90 days, etc. But what in the **** is going on here? I haven't missed a single day of work, I haven't been late, I follow instructions, etc. I've yet to be "coached" or anything... and now I'm facing losing my job because a dumbass LOD modifies my schedules without my approval and demands I make Target the priority in my life.
Is there not some form of "checks and balances" in place within Target for this kind of thing? Shouldn't there be someone "up the chain" that can rectify this? I'm sick and tired of coming in at 0400 every morning, even after training my ass off the day before or running calls all night and getting zero sleep, busting my ass and doing a damn fine job, just to have some BS like this pop up out of no where.
I'm not letting Target stand in the way of continuing my education and following my dreams. Period. Target can go **** themselves for all I care. For what amounts to $7.30/hr after taxes, HELL NO.
So... any thoughts here? Is there a way I can go up the chain and "fix" this already FUBAR'ed situation? My TL is adamant about keeping me onboard and I'd hate to let him down but I have my priorities. And right now, Spot is barely making the bottom.
My next round of classes start tomorrow morning at 0800 and I'm now scheduled to work. That's my problem.
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