Starting A New Job
Starting a new job is something we’ve all been through. Most times it’s for the better— Maybe for a non-toxic work environment, or for better pay?
Recently, I’ve even heard how people are quitting their ‘in the office’ jobs for fully-remoted ones. However, for whatever reason for this change, starting over at a new job is somewhat overwhelming.
Having to learn the basics, meeting other team members, and overall, trying to impress your bosses are not easy tasks. No matter how hard you try, there are always going to be bumps along the way. There’s very little chance by the time training is over, you’ll be able to know everything and anything about your position. You’re going to make mistakes, and that’s okay. It just depends on if the job is worth all the hassle. Unless it’s a job you are 100% sure you can’t see a future in, then that changes things. But how do you know if the job isn’t worth it?
Usually, there are red flags. The early you catch them, the better. No one wants to be stuck at another dead-end job. Luckily, for our pal, “Patrick,” he quickly noticed the red flags within his first couple of weeks at his new job. Instead of ignoring them, he then decided to teach his higher-ups a lesson they’ll never forget.
~
“DRIVERS NEEDED”
It was November 2021 when Patrick decided it was time for a change in his career. He didn’t have any set criteria for his next job, only that, he liked what he did. So when he came across a “DRIVERS NEEDED” job posting, he thought, ‘why not?!’
It was for a small logistics company based where he lived, so he didn’t have to relocate. Also, they delivered for Amazon, so it would give him experience in ‘mass delivery’, which he’d been interested in before. He enjoyed driving, so why not give it a try?
What a big mistake that was.
On the very first day, he saw how the company had inadequate training, which was a disappointment to him. They had this two-week ‘training’ program called, “nursery program”, which only included two ride alongs. So by the end of the second week, Patrick was beyond overwhelmed. And it didn’t help the higher-ups were giving him such a hard time.
One even said, “You’re one of, if not, the slowest driver we’ve ever had.”
I mean, what did they expect from a new employee? Patrick so far only had two weeks’ worth of training at a position he didn’t have prior experience in. Did they really expect him to be the next employee of the month by now?
Hope not, because things only got worse as the week continued.
~
Write Up
Having completed his two-week training program, Patrick was ‘officially’ on his own, even though he had been so 80 percent of the time already. So things didn’t feel any differently until Sunday night came around. That was when he found himself in an unusual predicament.
While on the route, the delivery app took him to an address that didn’t exist. There were no buildings or mailboxes in sight, just one big dirt lot with a few bulldozers and excavators. Since it was Sunday night, there weren’t a lot of people in the office he could get ahold of, so instead, he called the only other option: Driver Support.
Patrick: “Hey! I have a package that’s undeliverable, the address is incorrect.”
Driver Support: “Just mark it as missing.”
Patrick, curious: “Why would I do that? I have it right here in my hands.”
Driver Support: “The undeliverable button isn’t working, just mark it as missing.” Then they hung up.
So doing as instructed, he proceeded to mark the package as missing and continued the rest of his route, with no other issues. When he returned the ‘missing’ package to the warehouse, he let the marshals know what had happened and returned the van to dispatch. Then when he returned from the dispatch, there was a write-up waiting for him. The reason?
“Returning a package marked as missing instead of retrying delivery.”
Patrick tried to reiterate what had happened, but they didn’t seem to care. Instead, they said, “We don’t want to hear any excuses. Just sign the write-up.”
Not thinking he did anything wrong, he refused and left the building. He hoped that was a one-time incident, but unfortunately, a couple of days later, the same thing happened again with another package. And just like Sunday, there was no one else to call other than Driver Support.
Once again, he found himself explaining the same situation to them. However, this time he was told to keep moving with his route while they would get in contact with the warehouse. So he did as he was told and continued his route. Surprisingly, they never called him back. Maybe they were still looking into it?
As he returned to the warehouse, there was yet another write-up waiting for him. The reason said, “Returning a package marked as missing.”
Patrick huffed and said, “I’m done with this nonsense. It’s time to do something.”
So he decided to re-read the employee handbook and that was how he found a way to plot his payback to the higher-ups.
~
“What The Heck Happened Today?”
After reading every inch of that employee handbook, Patrick eventually came across the regulation, “Every time the van comes to a full and complete stop, it must be turned off.”
Bingo! Now he knew exactly what to do to really tick his higher-ups off. Since they liked writing him up so much, he would give them a valid reason to.
The next day, he went about his usual business of claiming a van and packing up his packages for his route. But this time around, he completely turned off his van every single time he stopped. He proceeded to do this for the next couple of hours on the shift. After the 150th restart, the van wouldn’t start. He called in and requested a rescue van. Then from there, following the same procedure, he killed that van too. Then came another rescue van. In one day, he messed up a total of three vans.
He might’ve impressed himself, but his higher-ups, not so much. When he returned to the warehouse over an hour late, they asked, “What the heck happened today?!”
Patrick replied, “I was just following the handbook.” As he pulled out the handbook, he pointed to the section, and read, “Every time the van comes to a full and complete stop, it must be turned off.”
Not sure if it was the three ruined vans that were the reason for the write-up or if it was the fact he knew Patrick was being a wisecracker, but either way, he got another write-up. This time, for “unsatisfactory performance.”
Patrick pointed out, “This will be the third this month. And as I said with the other two, I’m not signing that. I did nothing wrong.”
His manager said, “If you don’t sign, then I’ll have to call the big boss.”
Patrick said, “Fine, call your boss. I’m sure she’d love to hear why she’s being called in at 9:45 at night.”
He glared at Patrick for a second before throwing away the write-up.
Patrick said, “I understand I was late coming back today. Can you and maybe one of those fast drivers of yours meet me tomorrow morning to discuss van organization? Maybe 10 minutes before our shift?”
He agreed, but little did he know, Patrick never planned on showing up that morning. That night was officially his last day on the job. As his last hooray, he made up that excuse to have them come in early just to tick the higher-ups off even more.
The next day, Patrick didn’t feel an ounce of guilt as they deserved it. Within his first couple of weeks of being there, the higher-ups already treated him unfairly and he was fed up with it. How come he was the only one being treated like this? It wasn’t until the next day, he found out he wasn’t alone.
~
New Message
When Patrick didn’t show up to work the next morning, he received a friend request from one of his co-workers, “Kyle.” Both men had started the job around the same time, so they were somewhat acquainted with one another. Almost immediately after he accepted his friend request, Kyle sent him a direct message.
He wrote, “Hey! I see you’re not in today, are you okay?”
Patrick replied, “Yeah, I don’t work there anymore.”
Then he further explained what had happened— the write-ups, the higher-ups, and his payback.
Surprisingly, Kyle had endured the same treatment. He wrote, “Yeah, they told me the same thing, how I was one of their slowest drivers. I’m at my wit’s end.”
As both vented out their frustrations, by the end of their convo, they had a feeling there had to be more new hires who felt the same. So they decided to create a group page online. As they added the new hires, that was when Patrick shared his experience at the job. At first, he debated if he wanted to include his petty payback in the post or not. He thought he would receive backlash for it, but instead, it was the opposite.
Almost all of the new hires, except for one guy, had liked his post. And the very next day, those same men commented how they did the same— a no-show.
And as the employee handbook said, “No call, no-show, which will not be tolerated.”
Basically, you were fired if you didn’t call in to say you weren’t coming in. Not one person called in, so ultimately all of them got fired. All of them except for the one guy.
It wasn’t until a couple of days later he finally chimed in.
~
Payback
As everyone shared how they felt a sense of relief after not showing up to work, Patrick noticed how there was only one person missing from the conversation. It was that one guy. Maybe he didn’t share the same experience as the rest of them?
It wasn’t until a couple of days later when the guy finally revealed his story. Yes, he felt the same towards the higher-ups as everyone else did, but he wanted to leave the job in another way.
He wrote, “I showed up on the day everyone else didn’t. I wanted the manager to think I was going to work that day so I went about my business in the morning. Then when it came time to pack up the van, that’s when I snapped. The manager on duty was again giving me such a hard time about being slow, so this time, I told him off. Then I left.”
Patrick was not only impressed by this guy’s actions but also how the company managed to lose all of its new hires within the two weeks they were hired on. Maybe this will teach them how to treat their employees better.
Without employees, a company cannot thrive.
~
