Archive for April 26th, 2008
Could someone help me get the knife out of my back?
This first part is really just a minor observation…the real kicker is what comes next.
I have an assistant…her name is Holly as well. It is easy to distinguish her from myself…for one thing she spells her name Holly…I spell mine Holley. I work Monday though Friday…and she works the weekends. But the guys I work with take great pleasure in distinguishing me from her by a number of comparisons. For instance…they may call her #1 (because she was there before me) and me #2. They call her YOUNG Holly…and me OLD Holley. They call her little Holly and me big Holley (because I’m heavier than she is)…they think this is great fun…and hey, I can take a joke so I pretend to be offended and then we all laugh.
The guy I wrote about two posts ago named Randy, left the shelter last Sunday. I had the pleasure of working with him for exactly 6 days…then he left. They replaced him with a guy who I’m convinced doesn’t like me simply because I’m a woman. Perhaps he doesn’t like having a woman for a supervisor, I don’t know…I do know that he has a problem with me…but I can’t pinpoint why. I can say with relative certainty that the people I work with (both staff and residents) like me…a lot…and I like all of them. I have worked with this guy for exactly 3 days…and he acts as though every word out of my mouth irritates him.
Yesterday he asked me for some aspirin or Tylenol. He said that his body from his neck down hurt because he isn’t used to standing on his feet all day. One of the volunteers had given me a bottle of Migraine Excedrin, and told me it was for the guys in the kitchen if they needed it. So when this guy asked me for some aspirin or Tylenol…I gave him the Migraine Excedrin. Today he came into my office while I was leaving a message for the other Holly. After I hung up, he said, “Was that the GOOD Holly?” (Har har har…yeah, that’s funny, asshole.) I said, “Yeah…as opposed to me…the BAD Holley?” He laughed for a moment then proceeded to tell me that “whatever” I gave him for his aches made him fail his UA….(urine analysis drug test). Then he asked to see the bottle so he could read the ingredients. I gave him the bottle…(acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine). He told me that his mother gave him some extra strength Tylenol earlier as well. This guy is in his 50s so his mother has to be in her 70s…and I found out that she lives in a retirement home. I’m thinking that she either gave him some sort of pain pill or possibly Tylenol 3 with codeine…but he told the guy (who determines who stays and goes based on sobriety)…that “whatever” I gave him…made him fail his UA. I’m certain that the poop is about to hit the fan. I hope his ass gets kicked out. I hope I don’t get kicked out. No one ever told me that I couldn’t give out aspirin. I wish that some of these people would take ownership of their own freakin’ problems for once in their lives instead of blaming EVERYONE ELSE.
Needless to say, I’ll be giving the Excedrin back to the volunteer. Too bad that the rest of the guys will have to suffer when they have a headache or backache or whatever…because now I have to be a hard ass.
16 comments April 26, 2008