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Workplace Negligence
Posted at 5:26 AM on October 27, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(13 Comments)
The story of the two pilots who overshot the Twin Cities because they were discussing the new company scheduling system while using their personal laptop computers in the cockpit reminds me of how glad I am that my job is not at all dangerous and even my worst lapses in judgment put no one else at risk. After reading Bob Collins' News Cut account of an NTSB report and a press release from the airline, it seems likely that these two experienced aviators will be fired.
I guess their schedules are set now.
My most embarrassing workplace fiasco happened when I was 19. I was a maintenance man on a golf course, doing the daily changing of pin placements on the greens. My employer (the greens keeper) sent me out in the red pickup truck he normally used to make his rounds because the smaller motorized carts were all in use that morning. The truck was symbolic - the boss's flagship. If we were goofing off out on the course, a glimpse of the red truck got us back on task. Like most of our equipment, the truck had a problem. It was a manual and the parking brake was broken, so it was important to remember to turn off the engine and leave the truck in gear should you ever, say, park it on the crest of a hill overlooking a small lake while you went to work on the green.
I think I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye at the very moment the truck started to roll. I gave chase, but the thing accelerated quickly (it WAS red, after all) and my talent as a runner was for endurance, not speed. Still, the lake was 70 yards away and I might have caught up to it before it entered the water if the truck hadn't hit a tree first. The front end was quite smashed.
It was a very long walk back to the maintenance shed. It felt like 150 miles.
I didn't lose my job and the boss got a new truck, so this is almost a happy ending, except that I was not allowed anywhere near the new vehicle. Ever.
Anyone have an unblemished work record?
Comments (13)
geez, Dale - i bet your life flashed before your eyes as you chased that truck down the hill! what a vivid image!
my fiasco got me fired as a neighbor/vacation-garden-caretaker and i wasn't a mere 19 either. neighbors went on a vacation, left me in charge of their beautiful gardens. i did everything as specified, except somehow, the garden hose was left on (do you like the use of passive here?). the next morning i noticed it lying there, slowly running right next to their basement wall. yup. the whole basement was flooded. and while i was trying to wet vacuum, sop up, and fan it dry they came home early because he had a terrible kidney stone attack. - my poor neighbors had this terrible mess and i was sobbing uncontrollably. they were very kind, but never asked me to caretake again. understandably.
That was kind of a big mistake, Dale, but those pilots have you beat with their lack of attention to their work.
The best I can come up with was a spill when trying learn a job in a meat packing plant. I had control of a big bin that dumped chucks of meat into a tray. I needed to control the dumper, but got it going too fast and a big pile of meat ended up on the floor and had to be discarded
This happened right in front of the boss. The other workers thought this was funny and said it had happened to them also. The boss didn't think it was funny and I eventually got moved to another job.
Like you, Dale, I am glad that I have a job where mistakes can onlhy result in public embarassment, not bodily harm or death.
I do recall having asummer waitressing job in which I got pretty good at balancing all those plates, but apparently, 4 plates of spaghetti exceeded my limits. I don't recall that any of it landed on customers, but I do remember getting so flustered that the drinks tray later went as well.
Fortunately, that table found it good entertainment and I scored a huge tip.
I do think today's theme calls for the playing of Dear Boss (why Paddy's not at work today). If you can play it after 7:30 when the son and heir is up to appreciate it, I'd be grateful.
oh my, you've brought up some uncomfortable memories
later in my career i took a job that was SO wrong for me and i was not good at it and finally it made me sick so i had to do something else
the only good thing that came out of it is they paid me a lot so i could save a lot, and retire early!
i hope we get a lot of new sustaining members this time (note, i sustain myself and my daughter!)
Dale, my mother made a similar blunder when she parked our car at a gas station with my young self and my 3 year old sister sitting in it. She came running across the parking lot fairly quickly when my little sister (who was then part monkey) climbed over the seat and took the car out of park, sending us into traffic on a busy thoroughfare. Thankfully, it was a short ride, and my sister and I were rescued unscathed.
Once, when I was rather new at my current job, I foobarred an access list that governed the connection between the office and the data center, and at that time, the office received its Internet access through the data center. Oops. People noticed fairly quickly that the "Internet was down" when they could no longer get to CNN. It was pretty embarrassing but easily fixed in a timely fashion. It definitely enforced my attitude of deference to production devices during business hours.
Greetings! My worst experience at work was during one of my first jobs. I was a first time waitress at the old Sambo's restaurant -- and I was terrible! I couldn't remember people's orders, the prices or written code for cooks -- just not a multi-tasker. I was constantly flustered and shaking while pouring coffee.
Luckily, the owner really liked me, so he mercifully made me a hostess -- where I excelled. I have great respect for all skilled waiters/waitresses and my husband and I are very generous tippers.
The first time I drove a tractor, it was to assist my dad in the cattle lot. I was to drive slowly next to the feed bunks while he was behind in the wagon, scooping feed into the bunks. I was too young to be doing this - I remember trying my hardest to tell him so, but he wouldn't hear of it. He gave me brief driving instructions and soon we were in motion. Things went okay until he yelled, "STOP." Horrors- I only remembered how to GO, and that's what the tractor did. What happened next is kind of a blur, but it involved my dad hollering (cursing), and runing through the feed bunks until he caught up with me. He managed to jump up into the cab and engage the elusive brake, and gave me quite the look of disgust. The worst part was when he told me I'd run over a cow. I asked him if it was hurt and this I remember perfectly - he said, "Well, it sure as hell didn't do it any good!" Ahh.....memories on the farm.
thanks for ann reed i missed her saturday. she is one of my favorites. i took a songwriting lesson years ago at homestead pickin parlor form her and still use the stuff she taught. special.
my job failure had me stumped for a momnet then i remembered. my job was to do the sales thing but my wife took a job in the far corner of the twin cities that caused the rush hour traffic to play a big role in leaving early and returning late. we were going through an amicable (at the time) divirce and it was my week to have the kids. the deal was the daycare closed at 6 and there a 5 dollar fine for every minute late on the pick up.
they didn't call me until 715 and i got there at 730ish. the kids asked what happened and i told them i forgot i was supposed to pick them up. their jaws dropped and they could not believe i was so preoccupied. its been 15 years and my 20 something kids still give me flack. hey dad remember the time you forgot us at daycare? my 3 younger kids have their jaws drop now.
i didn't get fired but i got many bad dad sneers over the years
One of my college friends was a music major and oboe player. He was home one summer on the family farm, driving a brand new, very expensive tractor that had an enclosed cab and a good sound system. He was driving up and down the field listening to the radio, when he noticed that it was raining, so he put the wipers on and just kept driving. Well, it wasn't raining. The radiator hose had come loose and was squirting on the windshield, and my friend proceeded to ruin the new tractor engine by driving it with an empty radiator.
Mine isn't so dramatic, but in 1980 I got hired at the Wedge Co-op (when it was in a former 7-11) as Produce Coordinator. It was pretty hard phyusical labor, hauling boxes of cabbages and 50# bags of carrots and stocking them properly, but hey, I was 32, I could do this. I was just awful -- the person coming in for a.m. shift after my evening one just hated it, because minimal work had been done and they probably had to scramble to get everything out by time of store opening. Plus I couldn't differentiate between the Mexican and California pineapples. I got an awful performance review, and we parted ways not long after.
I guess our big mistakes are good for something, they make good stories. Those pilots sure created a good story. If they are in need of some income, since it seems they will be out of work, I guess they should get an agent and get paid for telling their story.
Cindy - If you get to the warehouse, ask for Abby, which is the name I go by when there are a lot of other Barbaras. :) I go in mid-days Tu and Th.
Barbara in Robbinsdale,
Oh, man, it's a relief to know someone reads late posts. Sometimes I feel invisible. I never get to the blog till late.
I'll probably miss you at the warehouse because I'll have to go after work, but maybe I'll leave a message. :o)
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