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What Can Brown Do For You?
I was working at a UPS Store at the time, ran by a single owner who
was very sexist. At the time, I was about 2 months pregnant and at
times, the only means of getting to work was to ride my bike. If it
was bad weather that day, and I didn’t have a ride to work, I simply
could not make it in.
Early in the morning, my husband had left with the car and I was
forced to take my chances at noon for my shift with 50% chance of
rain. Like usual, I called my boss to let him know that I may not
make it in due to weather and having to use my bike. He insisted I
call a friend to drop me off at work and not to ride my bike anymore,
so I obliged. Little did I know that this would be impossible.
I called everyone I knew, even from church, and either no one
answered, or they had other plans. An hour before my shift, I called
to check in with my boss and he told me, “find a ride, you still have
time. It’s okay if you are late.”
I continued calling with no luck. It was now nearly an hour after my
scheduled shift, so once again I called my boss to let him know.
“That’s fine,” he said, “just come in the morning and we’ll talk.”
The next morning I had my husband drop me off *super* early to work,
before my boss even got there, with my clothes pressed and shoes
shined up (to make it look like I was REALLY ready to work). About 30
minutes after the store was supposed to open, my boss finally arrived
and invited me in after he unlocked the doors.
“Call a ride,” he said. “I only let you come in to work to tell you
you’re fired.”
93 Comments to What Can Brown Do For You?
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How is this a bad boss story? It sounds like you were a bad employee and needed to be fired. If you can’t work, don’t fill a position that could otherwise be held by someone who acutally wants to work and is willing to get there on time. What, exactly does being pregnant have to do with anything? Is that supposed to evoke sympathy? This is the best example of how to lose a job and deserve it.
I am pretty sure it is neither UPSs problem or your bosses problem that you can not find a ride into work. Take a bus call, a cab, do something instead sitting there whining that you can’t make it into work because the weather is bad. Granted the way your boss dismissed you was unprofessional, but so were you so you kind of deserved this one.
Too bad about you getting fired, but I understand your boss’s position. You have to be able to depend on your employees coming in to work at the scheduled time. Otherwise people would just show up when it’s convenient for them…
I am sorry. But how is this a bad boss? You were not a good employee. He hired you to do a job. It is YOUR job to find a way there. If you are not there, you are not doing your job. It is not his fault you were unreliable. One day you MIGHT be there and the next you MIGHT not. You can not run a buisness like that. I would have fired you too.
Perhaps before you get another job, you and the hubby should see about getting a new car or learn to invest in an umbrella and not be afraid of rain…you wont melt.
I sympathize that you had to ride a bike at times and that sucks in bad weather, but it’s still your responsibility to get to work no matter what. Ever heard of taking the bus?
It comes off like your attitude is that not having transportation to and from work is your bosses issue too. It isn’t, it is entirely your issue and it isn’t a valid excuse for calling out of work. Even though he handled it like a jerk, it’s no surprise you were fired.
You don’t have buses or taxis where you live? How is it sexist for firing you because you couldn’t make it to work due to “rain”?
You can’t go to work because it MIGHT rain? WTF? You obviously have no work ethic.
While not being reliable is a valid reason for terminating, bringing her in to do it was not cool. I would have fired her too for not being able to make it to work regularly.
Well, you deserved that. Finding transportation to work is your responsibility. At least he had the decency to fire you in person.
Are you allergic to rain water? does it burn you??
Why would you take a job that you are unable to get to if its raining?!!! Wow i really dont think your Boss was out of order at all, its your job to get to work and saying that you cant get to work because its raining and you dont/cant use your bike in the rain (motorbike?) seems like a pretty lame excuse to me! You should not rely on other people to drive you to work and also there are these things called, buses, trains and taxi cabs……!
Its a good job you dont live in the UK, it rains all the time and you would *hardly* make it to work!
TEAM BOSS
I’d have fired you too! Bosses shouldn’t have to worry constantly whether it’s going to rain so that you can get to work.
am i the only one that doesn’t see a problem with this? i mean i understand your prediciment (spelling???) and all but if you can not make it to work when you are supposed to then what should your boss do? he was right in letting you go.
You suck. You deserved to be fired. Don’t take jobs other people, who REALLY want to work, could have. Maybe you should have dropped your husband off in the morning and ACTUALLY gone to work. Loser!
Does anybody else think her husband’s kind of a dick for taking the car and making his pregnant wife ride a bike to work? My husband and I only have one car, and if there’s ever a schedule conflict, he’s always the one to walk/take the bus. He won’t let it be any other way. And you can’t blame a boss for firing somebody that can’t be depended on…though he did handle it a little unprofessionally…
Boss was informed three times that there were issues of coming in on that day.. (the reasoning is kinda iffy admittedly), but to have the boss to tell them to come in the next day, and that everything is “Okay”.. (according to the story). That’s the part of the story that I could see as being anti-boss
Now if there were previous issues with attendance, okay, i can see the boss saying that enough is enough. But if it’s just based on the one instance…then its’ a bit overboard on the bosses stance, but I’m wagering this wasn’t the first time this has happened based on the first paragraph.
Sorry, I agree with most comments here. I don’t get what being pregnant has to do with anything and the boss doesn’t seem to be sexist. If a guy had done the same thing and he was given different treatment, then yeah. I recently had to let an employee go with almost the same story… and I don’t feel bad for her either. It’s not fair to the employer or to the other employees who did get to work for their shift and now have to make up for the loss of manpower.
I agree with this boss 100%! This is absolutely not a “bad boss story”
The only way to run a business is to have dependable and reliable employees.
If you are neither then you don’t deserve the job. Your boss sure didn’t deserve
the hassle of you not coming in due to rain. I don’t see how this makes him sexist
either. It seems to me he gave you every chance he could. Buy a flippen rain jacket!
Call a cab, whatever it takes. Or as one person suggested, take your husband to work in the morning, so you can get to work.
Millions of unemployed ppl would have walked through a hurricane to have and keep a job.
You sound like a whiny selfish person.
Whew…I was scared I was going to read the comments and find people thinking this *was* a bad boss.
You were a bad employee. It doesn’t matter that you had reasons. Everyone always has reasons for not showing up. When you accept a job, you are saying you’ll be able to work that schedule barring genuine emergencies. Not only that, but you’re not good at reading work-speak. As soon as he said, “come in in the morning and we’ll talk,” I knew you were getting canned.
Good boss. Bad employee.
While the boss might be an idiot, since he arrived 30 minutes late, you still have a responsibility to be there. Especially since it’s not a type of job that can be “made up.” I mean, I work in an office, I have work, I have a deadline. If I need to leave early or take off, I can stay late, come in early, work the weekend. But with a set shift, that can’t always be done.
The boss relied on you being there. Pregnancy has nothing to do with it. You have a ride, a bike. I too used to ride my bike to work. It would take about 30-40 minutes, on a commute that took 15. When it was bad weather, I took the bus, or called a cab. Granted, there isn’t always a bus available everywhere. But cabs exist to fill the void.
A 50% chance of rain? Better call my boss and let him know I might not be in today.
Are you serious?!?
Maybe if your husband dropped you off *super* early EVERY DAY, you would still have a job.
I’m sure you’ll be a great mom too.
Go on public assistance. After all, you are entitled to it.
You think your boss was bad? You sound like the bad employee. C’mon, 2 months pregnant and you can’t ride a bike? Who are you, OCTOMOM? If I had an employee who called and said they can’t make their shift every time it RAINED I’d fire them too!
Stop bitching and find a used car you lazy mare.
OMG!!!! It is not his problem how you get there; it is your responsibility to get there for your shift on time. The man is trying to run a business!!!!!!
I believe 95% of all applications have a field that you check off stating you have reliable transportation. Even if that is not the case here, you basically KNOWINGLY tried to commit a low level of fraud by not having access to RELIABLE transportation. It’s poor judgment that you did have a car but in only the one case did your husband give you a ride to work. Maybe you should have scheduled your car usage to accommodate your employment better. Sounds like you you were taking advantage of your owner’s generosity and it caught up with you. Hopefully you will not instill this lack of respect, morality, or business ethics into you new child’s development.
What about rain gear and a pair of fenders?
The only thing I would have done different than your boss is to tell you to just stay home permanently rather than bring you in to do it. It would have been simple. I would have stated, “no problem, if you can’t make it today, don’t bother coming in to work at all – your fired.”
How in any way was that sexist? Your just a numbskull!!
I agree with the other posters here; there’s no way I would have continued to employ you when I had no idea whether or not you’d be showing up that day. It was sort of a dick move for your boss to call you in to fire you because inconveniencing and humiliating you seems to have been his goal. However, he was well within his right to terminate your employment, and evry boss I’ve ever had would have done the same thing.
I hope you’re able to look more closely at the situation after getting so much feedback. I think you’re being rather selfish and self-absorbed.
Have any of the previous commenters EVER had to rely on a bike for transportation? If it is going to rain, you wind up getting soaked through to the bone- could you work an 8 hour shift soaking wet? I had a hell of a time biking 4.5 miles to get to work; and that was during the dry season. Once any of ya’ll have to bike a total of 9 miles a day to make minimum wage in freezing cold at night during the Christmas season ya’ll can dogpile on the OP.
Until then, the OP’s boss was a jerk. Plain and simple.
“Have any of the previous commenters EVER had to rely on a bike for transportation?”
Yes…I have. And it does suck…a LOT. But the fact remains that not having a car was MY issue and mine alone. There’s no way an employer could be blamed for not wanting an unreliable employee. Yeah, not having a car makes getting to work very difficult at times, but you just have to find a job closer to home, utilize public transportation or, if neither of those options will work for you, just suck it up and deal with it.
It’s an unfortunate situation to be in, but a business owner has every right to be able to depend on his employees.
Why would you be soaking wet all day? You can’t afford panniers or a backpack to put your work clothes in so they won’t get wet?
kitty-cat
it is not an employers responsibility or problem to see to it you have reliable transportation in sorts of weather. IT IS YOURS!!! Yes, I know riding a bike in rain, wind, and up a hill is not fun..but again, how is it an employer’s problem? ..unless said employer crashed into your car and you no longer have one. Yes, it is crappy to work in wet or cold clothes but it shows something about you. YOU DID IT!!!!! This woman would not even go out if was a CHANCE it was going to rain. You showed you can be a trusted employee, she is not. She doesnt derserve your sympathy. She should be looking to you as an example.
And this woman did have a way to get to work. If she got her hubby to drive her super early, then why didnt she get there early every day? After seeing what a good employee she was for getting there EVERY day on time, then the employer would have no doubt given her a key. She couldnt even be trusted to get to a job unless it was sunny so why would anybody trust her with a key?
I would have fired you too but I would not have wasted my time calling you in to do it.
GO BOSSES
bosses are usless anti humanist dirtbags that arent worht the paper their overinflated pay checks are printed on. I’m with you. the boss is a jerk
This is not a bad boss story. This is a bad employee story. It was stupid and irresponsible on your part to take the job in the first place if you knew that transportation would be a problem. Before you accept a position, it is your responsibility to make sure that you will be able to be at your job whenever you are needed. Being pregnant has nothing to do with this situation, and your boss didn’t do anything sexist. He was absolutely right to fire you. Employers need employees they can rely on. You were clearly unreliable.
If walking or a cab or a bus weren’t options, you should have coordinated with your husband how to share the car to get to work. Either he drops you off and picks you up or you drop him off and pick him up for his job. Getting to work is your responsibility, not your boss’s. Given this happened a number of times, you proved you were an unreliable employee and got fired.
And as a woman and a feminist, I get annoyed with women who cry sexism in situations like this which have nothing to do with sexism. It makes it that much harder for people to take situations where a woman is being discriminated against seriously. And what does his being single have to do with anything? It sounds like you have a bias against single people
PS, at one point I was temping during the day and supplementing that money with working at a grocery store nights & weekends. Even so, I had no money for a car or a bike and there were days I couldn’t afford the bus fare. The temp job was over a mile away, so I’d get up early and walk it. The grocery store was nearby, so I was able to walk that easily.
unfortunate situation, but in the real world, most people are terminated after the first phone call. If a person is not dependable they are of no use.
I just don’t get what you expected. It is your responsibility to be at work on time everytime you are scheduled. No employers wants an unreliable employee. Hey, come rain or shine, I’ll be at work even if I have to walk in the rain. Just leave early enough where you can change once you get to work. Call it multi-tasking, getting a shower on the way to work!
Solution: If your husband works longer hours than you, drive him to work in the morning and then you have a car (read: rain shield) all day).
Why is he a bad boss? Why is he sexist? Because he did not fall for the preggo sympathy card? You turned out to be an unreliable employee. My boss relies on me to get in by a certain time every day, relies on my being there all day, and I do the same for those who work for me. I can see what would happen once the baby is here…you will be expecting pay for no work whatsoever…no sitter, dittums has sniffles, no way to get her to daycare….
As for the comment about him being a dick for calling her in to fire her, she actually had fair warning. He said, “Come in tomorrow and we’ll talk…” Anyone who has dated even once knows that “we have to/gotta/will talk” leads to no good news.
Well I have had to rely on riding a bicycle to work in the rain *many times*. I’ve even *gasp* had to walk to work in knee high snow more than once. This is not a bad boss story but a horrid employee story. How in the world does someone plan on being completely responsible for another human being when they can’t even be responsible enough to go to work. Weather forecasts are available days in advance (as is most shift schedules) so the fact that the author here couldn’t even plan a way to get her own backside to work shows they missed some pretty basic life lessons somewhere along the way.
I mean the “Like usual, I called my boss to let him know” comment shows that this was not the first occurrence so the only possible mistake that boss made was not firing this lazy employee the first time this rain excuse was used.
I’m a boss, and I woulda canned her ass the second time it happened. As many have said, there are hundreds of people looking for work that will be reliable, so why waste time with one who is afraid to get a little wet? God forbid it rain when her kid has to get to school, because the poor thing’ll never get there!
How many of us have taken the bus or walked to work in the rain? Many times, I walked three miles to work bad weather or hovered under an umbrella in the rain while waiting for my bus for work. A woman is having a baby but only has a bike. Sounds like she needed an abortion more than a baby.
Yeah…I would have fired you too. Sounds like you’re not very reliable…
This made my day
a person I used to work with had the same ‘predicament’, pregnant- and rode a bike to work- and she got fired for the same reason as the poster… Hmmmmmm. 
Riding a bike to work isn’t your boss’s problem. Nor is it their problem that your husband didn’t respect you enough to drop you off at work. It sounds to me like you have a bad husband and a pretty normal boss. Anyone would have fired you for repeatedly not showing up to work and even if it was the first time, I am quite sure it wouldn’t have been the last. Instead of calling around for a ride, you should have called a cab or hopped on your bike with a raincoat and gone to work. You sound like a lazy, irresponsible person who blames others for their own problems. I sincerely wish you luck in raising your child, sounds like you will need it. It is fairly difficult to take a newborn to the doctor on a bike. Any plans for ensuring that your child won’t get sick on a day that it rains?
I’m on Team Boss here, you’re an adult and you should have something figured out for bad weather, if your bike is truly not an option. And why ISN’T your bike an option in bad weather? Don’t you own a raincoat?
What about taking a bus? If it’s a matter of not enough money, then maybe you should give up the car and have your husband take transit as well. Two bus passes must be less expensive than one car.
It’s ridiculous that you can’t come to work because the weather’s not ideal. You sound very unreliable, and I wouldn’t want you as an employee either.
Pregnancy is not a disease! and 2 months? that means nothing. if you said you were 8 months along and didn’t want to ride a bike to work that would be one thing, but 2 months? oh for the love… you are the type of idiot who shouldn’t breed.
you NEEDED to be fired.
Kitty-cat – try riding a bike or walking in 115* heat – you’re soaked AND stink! but guess what – YOU NEED THE JOB so you bring a pair of clothes in a backpack. if it was raining you stick them in a plastic bag… IN A BACKPACK. and have toiletries in there as well to clean up. TADA problem solved.
Why do people always throw in a sexist or racist card. How many times did you leave your boss hanging due to bad weather 2 – 3 – 10 times? Being a boss myself one time is to many twice you don’t show up (and give me a lame ass excuse ) your gone. And i don’t care if you are white black female pregnant or the pope
“Have any of the previous commenters EVER had to rely on a bike for transportation?”
“Yes…I have. And it does suck…a LOT”
Me too and I still do so, mainly because I dont get paid enough to afford cabs and the buses locally would still leave me over 2 miles to walk , seems daft to not cyclye when its only 4 miles. But no I couldnt imagine not going in to work because it is raining, let alone because it MIGHT rain, guess this post says way more about the work ethics of the poster than it does the boss.
P.S. Yeah kinda crappy of the boss to make her come in to get fired but…… I probably woulda too.
Wow. You sound like a nightmare employee. I would have fired you too. And I would have done it in person as well; that’s called professionalism. Be prepared for this exact same scenario to occur with every job you have if you don’t change your ways.
“Have any of the previous commenters EVER had to rely on a bike for transportation?”
I have. No matter if it rains or not, I only have my bike. I’m just happy to have a job, so wearing a raincoat and taking extra pair of socks and pants with me in a backbag is not a problem for me. I work my 8-14 hour shift and in the meanwhile my biking clothes have dried up so I can put them on again. It’s hardly fun to get wet, yeah, but I’m one of the lucky people with a job I like.
The writer is obviously the kind of person to blame everyone but herself on the misery she brought on herself. Two months preggers is nothing. My mom couldn’t tie her own shoes while she was expecting me, and she had no problems getting up and taking her bike to work each and every day. My grandmother did heavy work on a farm while she was expecting twins, all the way to the day she gave birth. Stop moaning, you have it easy. Also, your husband is a dick for not helping you to get to work.
Fuckin loser. Too bad youre already pregnant cuz I wish you wouldnt breed.
Sounds like a bad employee story; not a bad boss story. It’s not his problem you got a job that you couldn’t make it to.
I’d have fired you as well after the second offense. I walk nearly a mile to work one way every single day I work. Not even a bike. What’s wrong with you that you could not have found alternate transportation?
The weather is not going to change for you, personally. Suck it up and deal with it.
Have to side with the boss on this one. Transportation to work is the employee’s problem. I have scraped ice from a motorcycle seat before riding it to work. I have walked a toddler a couple of miles out of the way to daycare before walking to work. You do what you have to do to get there. Most bosses make allowances for the occasional absence or tardy when problems come up, but this sounds like it was a chronic problem. “Like usual, I called my boss…” um, don’t bother. Work out suitable transportation before you even apply for another job.
YES I have had to bike 9 miles round trip tp get to work, rain or not. You back a backpack with your work clothes in a plastic bag so they don’t get wet. It’s not hard. Don’t take a job you can not get to. It’s the OPs fault for getting fired. Calling in because it’s raining is NOT an excuse.
What does being pregnant have to do with your story? Rarely do I ever side with the boss, but he was right in this instance. And I don’t have a problem with him having you come in just to fire you – besides the fact that you asked for it, you probably would have whined even louder had he fired you over the phone.
But here’s the real question – if you are so poor you can’t afford a car, why are you pregnant? I have a feeling I am now supporting you with my tax dollars…
if its going to rain, then drop your husband off at work and take the car back home. simple planning.
If you’re going to have a job, you need to make sure you’re always able to be at work when you’re supposed to be there. I think you deserved to be fired. I would have fired you, too.
Kittycat, I have relied on a bike as my only form of transportation, year round, in Chicago. I pack a change of work appropriate clothing, shoes, and a towel in a plastic bag and then put that inside of my waterproof bike messenger style bag. When I get to work (15-20 minutes early) I dry off, change my clothes, and put on a little makeup. Not too hard really.
Poor thing, hasn’t figured out how to control the weather yet, so everyone else should suffer. I ride a bike to work, or I walk, or I get a ride. If the weather sucks, I leave early. If I am running later (rarely), I call to let them know, and they are cool about it because 9 times out of 10 I am there early. It’s all in the work ethic.
BTW Kittycat – I have been in your situation, but the big difference between you and the poster is that you suck it up and get your tuchas to work regardless. It may suck, it may be uncomfortable, but you do it anyway. You shouldn’t be feeling sorry for her, you should be proud of yourself for not being selfish and lazy.
Couldn’t you have dropped your hubby off at work and then drove yourself in? The boss was a jerk for the way he fired you but notfor the actual firing.
I don’t drive at all. When I was pregnant, I walked a quarter mile every morning (and again in the afternoon) to get to the bus stop that would take me to work. (My husband and I didn’t even own a car at the time – he took the bus to work, too.) My daughter was born at the end of a really hot summer, so some of those walks were done on 80-90 degree days. I also live in Washington State, so just as many walks were done in the pouring rain – not just the THREAT of rain.
Did it suck? Sure as hell, it did. That’s not the point, though. It was my responsibility to get myself to work, not anyone else’s and especially not my employers’. If there was a day that I simply couldn’t do the walk, I called a cab and forked over a little extra money for the convenience.
Point being, your boss wasn’t being sexist or even a douche. He was a guy that had to run a business. It’s hard to run a business when your employees aren’t responsible for themselves.
Reading all of these comments warms my heart. I’m glad to see that there are so many sane people out there. This is clearly a bad employee story. Get over yourself and your lazy work ethic.
Uhhh… How far was that bike ride? I ride my bike 6 miles to work each way every single day. I also own a car, but I’ll still ride my bike if it’s a rainy and windy day. I don’t see what the big deal is with riding a bike in the rain for a measly 30 minutes. Get a rain jacket!
This is a bad employee story not a bad boss story. Sounds like a slacker to me. It is the employee’s responsibility to get to work, not the job’s responsibility to provide transportation to get there.
God forbid you go into labor when there is a 50% chance of rain and your husband has to go to work. I bet the doctor will be a sexist too and not come to your house to deliver the baby. Its crazy, but some people actually work outside in the rain AND snow! I know, I was shocked too.
Yeah, I used to ride a bike to work as well, before I could afford a car. If there was bad weather, I packed a backpack with an extra set of clothes/shoes.
My mom attended four years of college and an year internship using public transportation. Took her over an hour and a half to get to her university when it would have taken someone with a personal car only 20 minutes, but she did it without much complaint.
You just picked a job you couldn’t reliably get to. Telecommute instead.
rode to work every day for a year, 4 miles each way, rain or shine. even on days it when it was just wet and not actually raining I STILL got wet as the rain (or snow) sprays up from the back wheel all over you.. I had to bring extra clothes with me (so i did not have to work all day in wet clothes). what gets me in the OP and in post 29, from Kitty kat is it seems that niether of these women planned ahead at all. If you ride a bike, and its raining, guess what you WILL be getting wet. plan accordingly. Even in the dry summer time after biking 4 miles you are going to be a little moist(not to mention potentially stinky) so BRING CLOTHES, to change into. Brilliant idea right? i must be a genius for having thought of it because it seems no one else did.
when you have to get to work its YOU that has to deal with it, so this is clearly to fault of the poster
“An hour before my shift, I called to check in with my boss and he told me, “find a ride, you still have time. It’s okay if you are late.””
For this part, “it’s okay if you are late” the boss actually sounds nice. Like everyone else, it would never, ever occur to me to call out and give as the reason, “It’s raining.” It does sound unpleasant to be called in to work just to fire you when it sounds like he might have done that to inconvenience you and make you embarrassed.
If I was your boss I would of fired you the first time you called in with such nonsense. If you are afraid of the rain when you are 2 months pregnant… What was going to happen when you are six months and can’t ride a bike anymore? You are the bad employee! Your boss was trying to run a buisness.
employee epic fail.
boss for the win.
Seriously? IT’S CALLED RAIN GEAR SWEETIE! They also make these things called backpacks and head and tail lights for bicycles. You can even get these amazing contraptions called bicycle trailers to hold all of your stuff. I found myself in the same predicament. I was about a month pregnant, and had no vehicle. I worked second and third shift at a 24 hr store and rode my bike to and from work about 90% of the time as most people were sleeping when I went in to work. I rode in to work until I was 6 months along and then worked at home babysitting after I got a car. You do what you need to. Is your kid going to miss doctor’s appointments due to the weather?
My husband would never, ever make me ride a bike pregnant. Wet, dry, hot, cold. He’d be the one riding the bike or if it was too far, he’d have me drop him off and would wait for me to pick him up. Heck, he’d even do that without me being pregnant.
It’s not the boss’s fault you did not plan ahead. You’re lucky he was willing to let you come in late.
All personal/family matters are of no consequence. If you never make it to work YOU and only you are at fault. Don’t make excuses for your poor attendance.
TEAM BOSS on this one!!
What a ridiculous person. I’ve run into this type of employee over the years..unreliable and everything is someone else s responsibility.
Grow up and get your lazy ass to work. Slacker.
Yeah…my husband has a bike that he sometimes rides into work…even if it rains! He loves it!
And as for the boss firing you for your personal inconveniences? Too bad, honey.
I agree. Unfortunately, if you did not have adequate or reliable transportation then he had every right to fire you. How do you think he felt having to cover your shift and how do you think that the other employees felt every time you called in? I work in a customer service industry and our boss let a certain employee do this to us for an entire YEAR! She always had an excuse for calling in. Our boss is female and the employee was a single mother so she felt sorry for her but when she called in at the last second it left us short handed and in the lurch. She was a terrible employee and a moron to boot. I was SOOOO glad to see her go because she was completely incompetent and we were forced to cover for her shortcomings for an entire year until she was FINALLY fired, so yeah, I do sympathize with your boss when it comes to employees calling in at the last second. Maybe you did a great job when you were there but if you weren’t there you can’t do a great job, now can you, and you are always replaceable.
Ok. I live in South Africa. In South Africa we have alot of public transport strikes. Which means some people could be left stranded. At the company I work there is a lady who has NO car and rely on Taxi’s and the Metro buss system. (they strike ALOT) Not ONCE has she phone in to say sorry i cannot make it i have not transport. You know, she starts to WALK to work and it is 32Km away from where she stays????? When she gets to work (Altough late) the company insists that she goes home and stay there untill the strike has been resloved. (They organise the company driver to drop her off at home) They appreciate the FACT that she did come in to work REGARDLESS OF HER TRANSPORT PROBLEMS and they will help her. The one hand washed the other. If it is possible for a single lady who has cancer, and who is not young anymore, to walk this far, in rain or hot weather, what excuse DO you REALLY have????
Yes, it sounds like you were a bad employee! Can’t make it in to work because you ride a bike to work and the weather is bad?!! Give me a break. I would have fired you after calling in twice due to bad weather. You know how many people have to ride a bus. That boss is lucky to be rid of an employee full of excuses!
WTF why doesn’t your none pregnant husband give you the car and he takes the bus or rides a bike!!! do say its to far cause i take an hour bus ride to work and then to school!!
Im sorry that you were fired, but I honestly have to side with your boss in this case. When you accept a position, it is 100% your responsibility to make sure that you are there every single day that you are scheduled. I realize that things do happen that are beyond control (illness, injury, car trouble, death in the family, etc.) but unless the weather that is getting in your way of making it to work is a hurricane, tornado or a flood, then you should be at work. My husband and I only have one car, and I take him to work, and then I drive to school. Most days he ends up waiting at work for nearly an hour after his shift ends for me to pick him up. I would advise you to either a) find a job that will mesh with your hubby’s so that you can be on a similar transportation schedule, b) make him take the bike if possible, or c) work from home.
The original poster may have been upset because the boss told her not to bother with the bike. Maybe she was planning to take the bike but didn’t because the boss told her to keep on looking for a ride?
Not that the boss was wrong to fire her. There are a number of workplaces where they don’t fire people for occasional transportation issues, depending on how rarely they occur. Usually these are blizzards, but maybe she lived in a place prone to flash-flooding? Where bicycling in the rain is significantly more dangerous that driving? Or she could just be all the horrible things you’re all saying.
Are you a total idiot. Why did you take the job if you couldent get to it when it was “raining”. I can understand now why none of your “friends” would have you in the car with them you idiot
I’m willing to bet all her friends had other plans… because they’re used to her ringing up and begging for a ride just ‘in case’ it might rain. Just a thought.
My first thought was of the Wicked Witch in Wizard of Oz….I’m mellltttinnnggg.
Come on. Grow up. The job obviously wasn’t that important to you if you can blow it off on the off chance of rain. I remember riding to school (10 minute ride) and being absolutely soaked to the bone because of the heavy rain I had to go through. My Mom went to work earlier than me so there was no chance of a ride to school. Can you imagine my Mom and my teachers face if I had’ve said ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t go in today because it was raining?’ Detention! Or in this posters equivalence, a firing. So fair enough to the boss.
What was OP planning to do when she was more heavily pregnant, when riding the bike was going to be too difficult or dangerous? If you are going to be so unable to physically GET to work, then perhaps this was not the job, or work location for you.
i would have done the exact same thing to you. Only if you did not leave the property immediately, I would have called the police and had you arrested for tresspassing. That is was you get for being a piss-poor employee. I worked at a jail for 5 years, 9 months of it I was pregnant and I never missed a day of work. IN A JAIL! You have no excuse.
wow, I really understand your boss and so should you. Could you perhaps step into his shoes and thing of how it is to have an employee you can not trust will show up?
reality check!