West Corporation?

hey Ari, does that mean you have already had steps 1-3, read up on thier discipline policy.. if t hey purport to have a progressive discipline policy and have not followed the steps they could be open to wrongful termination arguments.. or at a minimum make it easier for you to qualify for unemployment

No, I don't have steps 1-3 at all! I even have a confirmation number to prove that I called in sick! but they have it listed as a no show!

geez they sound really f____up, don't suppose you called from a cell Phone? with record of call number time etc..

I called from my home phone, and they gave me a confirmation number for my call-in, which is how the whole calling-in-sick procedure goes.

They are really f'd up! It is a huge fascist beaurocratic corporation where there are so many rules that it's nearly impossible to just relax and do you work because you have all this sh!t to worry about. They even have a set limit of bathroom visits you can make during you shift! Of course i don't abide by that because $10/hour is not worth kidney stones!

Ari,since you have a confirmation number,it would seem they are the ones screwed.I,Too,would find out what Level 1-3 is,and when you supposedly broke that. If they can't prove you broke those,they are going against procedure,plus you have a conf. number! Ther is NO job worth making yourself nuts or sick over,believe me,I've been there and dealt with some of the craziest nuts around.Good Luck,and take care :) ...Karen

Ari, you are such an awesome chick, I wish you could find a position that REALLY suited you. Keep us posted, and I'll be thinking of you, twinner!!

~Mary :)

Thank so much guys! I don't know what the f is up with Pensacola, all the companies around here are so jacked up! Level 1 is just doing something stupid on the job, 2 is being late, and 3 is playing hooky, and I have no idea what I did to deserve a 4 since I called and level 4 is offically getting sacked. I'm already browsing for anything else available because it seems inevitable. I'm also hoping and praying that my magazine is successful enough to be my only job, it just feels like, for me to have any peace at work, I have to work for myself. I appreaciate you guys support so much! You're all my best friends!

Update on work situation status - Not sacked for the Monday illness, but still feeling insurmountably stressed and paranoid every time I get in my car to go, because of all the rediculous rules, and the cardmembers who refuse to talk to me like an adult, and the managers who tell me on a daily basis that I can't do anything right. I have to admit, I'm back on the prowl for a better prospect. What is up with Pensacola anyway?

Thanks so much! I'm going to spend today working on articles, learning more about NamoWebEditor so I can get the ball rolling quicker.

I can't work today. Currently in throes of major anxiety attack.

I appreciate that advice Mary! When I have these anxiety attacks, I'm very short of breath and speak in a series of gags and squeaks. Not good for an all-talking job! What's even worse about these anxiety attacks - and you may find this humourous - is that I can't fall asleep at all during the night because I get afraid of the dark and I'm always looking around to see if there are ghosts in my apartment. I shared this with my husband when he called me from Denmark yesterday morning. When I mentioned the ghosts, I could almost hear his eyes roll, and he said "Yes, those ghosts are just everywhere!" Then he went on to say that I worry too much.

Scheduled bathroom breaks? Sounds like a Labor Law violation to me!

My best friend worked right up until the end of her pregnancy, and is now taking her maternity leave. While she was pregnant, she was told that she would need to bring in a doctor's note to confirm her need for more bathroom visits. Of course that is a rediculous thing to ask for, and of course she scoffed at that request because it was dumb! Nevertheless, she worked 12 hour days while there right up until the day she went into labor!

Do you work in a concentration camp? Good lord! You seriously need to find something else - even if they didn't sack you. Do you have any colleges near by? The ones near me are always hiring both full time and part time (so you would have time for the magazine)> PLUS, the benefits while working for a university or college are usually pretty good.

I feel like I do sometimes! The ones that have been promoted from what I'm doing. I'm dying to know what kind of tranqs or antidepressants they take to be able to stay cool while there!

Some people are machines - I'm sure of that. My best friend works for the government in a pool of secretaries. She tells me things that are enough to have made me walk about 10 times over, but she sticks with it for the promotion. WHY, so she can be given even more work with less time to take mental breaks. Machines :)

That makes sense. There are people who are just slap-happy to be there. Most of the other people from my training class have quit already. The funny thing is, when I interviewed with them, and they asked me what I could bring to the table, I said personality. I guess they didn't think I meant MY personality because I've been written up for exuding my personality.

WHAT? Maybe they thought that you bringing personality meant you would be there, ready to work. I work for an Arts Center and was thinking my personality would fit right it - but it doesn't. I'm a "funky Austin TX" kind of girl - which you think would fit right in to an Arts Center. But it doesn't. *sigh*

That's just so sad. When you mentioned that some people are like machines, I think all that goes down to passion. Maybe your best friend is passionate about her work and loves the environment, and that may be what drives her. As for me, I've always hated being told what to do and have excessive limits imposed on me, I just find it so demeaning. The script we have to read for activating AMEX cards is so stupid, and I can hear the customers rolling their eyes!

Perhaps - my friend isn't very ambitious and being a secretary and in a pool of 20 other secretaries might be it for her. She files, makes a phone call, files some more, sends out a ton of junk email to her friends, files some more and then goes home. BUT, she likes it. However - now that she's finished her degree, she might decide otherwise. It's tough when you're in a job you don't like - thankfully, I'm not in that position. I do miss bring my quirkiness to the group and I get tired of being treated like the "baby" because I'm only 25 ('cause 28 is SO much older and wiser I guess) - BUT, I do get to use the restroom when needed!

Ari if you lived closer to Tampa, I'd get you on where I work...We have a big market there. It's retail, and long hours, but not all the crap you've been dealing with. :(

Well, she has an easy job. She can use e-mail and she doesn't have to have a phone glued to her head for eight hours straight like I do. I have to talk nonstop reading this incredibly cheesy script to a very unappreciative audience who can barely hear a word I say because the headsets are so cheap. Also, at 26 I'm surrouned by 18-19 year olds and retirees, so I don't fit in, plus unlike all these kids and old people, I have a college degree and reading this cornball script is so beneath me! I could do this job with my brain removed (which is probably how the powers that be would prefer it).

Talk about cheesy..

I have to answer the phone like this.

"Thank you for calling Mattress Firm, where it's EASY to get a great night's sleep! This is Jessica!"

We get phone shopped once a month, and if we don't say it with enthusiasm, we get docked 10 points out of 100...lol

Well I'm worried about you, twinner!!! Don't make me take the next flight and kick some ghost butt! :)

It's funny, but it reminds me of something my kids do - when they think there are monsters, I give them a spray bottle with water in it, and I tell them it is Monster Spray - I even write it on the label! I let them spray the "monsters" and they are totally happy. LOL!!

~Mary

I can't wait to call you at work, Jessi...LOL!!!!

~Mary

That's cute - if only life were always that easy!

Seriously - wouldn't that be nice?!

~Mary

That would be nice!

Jessi, it does sound like your job is a-ok. After all, they allow you to check the forum on thier computer, and you can get even with CA's from thier phone.

The way I have to answer the phone is "Thank you for calling American Express! This is Ari! Can i help you activate your new American Express card?" and it goes on to a way cheesy script about the details of teh card they picked "With your American Express Rewards Plus Gold Card you get....yada yada yada" and then go into another cheesy script about all the add-ons "With the Account Protector Program you get blah blah blah blah..." and the call monitoring is so strict, if you deviate from the script by even one word it's points off.
The average call lasts about seven minutes. Do any of you have that kind of time to spend activating a card? I don't think so.

Hmmm - I prefer the VISA "enter in the last 4 digits... " kind of thing. BAM, activated. Jessi - at least you don't work for Mattress Giant which I have decided is the CHEESIEST of cheese. Their commercial jingle is borderline X Rated :) "OOoh Aaah, oooh aaah, only at mattress giant" What are they selling with that?

LOL...We do have "The Firm Network" in some of our stores, which is a television network that plays nothing but mattress stuff all day long...Our spokesperson is "Jan Taylor" who also is the lady on my dentist offices TV system who talks about periodontal diseases.

The Firm Network drove me and my co-worker Steve so crazy that we broke into the lock box that the unit is stored in (Which they locked to keep us away from it." so we could short it out by dumping water in it. We couldn't stand it anymore..lol

LMAO!!!! That's a very interesting interpretation of using **** in advertising!

I prefer visa's activation method as well.

[color=Red]****Adult term removed - Jason[/color]

Oh, I'm sure it's just a "Ooh aah it's relaxing to lie on this mattress" kind of thing - but I used to get embarrassed when I was younger and it would come on the radio when I was riding with my mom in the car. Thankfully I live in a Mattress Giant sans location now so I don't have to put up with is anymore.

When I used to work at Home Depot, you know how they have satellite radio on all day? well, during college football season, about every 15-20 minutes this same announcement from this annoying 'tard named Lee Corso would come on. This clown had a really annoying voice coupled with a really annoying Fargo accent. We were all so sick of that dorky voice that we'd say that if we ever met him in person, we'd dunk his head in the toilet!

Funny thing - I have met him in person. College Game Day was live from my University when I was a senior in the marching band. Since I was in the band we were required to go out at the crack of dawn to be spirited for ESPN. He was there of course - him and his other two cronies (sports fans, forgive me for not knowing who the other two were/are). They passed out masks of their faces for people to hold up and look stupid with. It was the low point of my college marching band career.

For the love of it all! A mask of Lee Corso to march with! I've seen his picture, and he is no prize pig! I wonder if he realizes what a nerd most people think he is!

Update! Still not sacked from the "concentration camp", think maybe they're keeping me on my toes. Still on the prowl and saw some fruitful prospects. I even applied for a job as a Correctional Officer (prison guard) and my husband was not pleased to hear that! He said under no circumstances am I taking a job like that! It was almost like it wasn't even up for discussion. He said that I wouldn't make it because of my physical stature (5'7"/136 lbs.) and if by some miralce I did make it, it would be another disappointment to me. He also gave other reasons why such a job is unacceptable, I suppose he would fear for my life working there.

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Hey Ari, i was curious and looked at their website, and while not the perfect solution, have you thought about seeing if you can get in their work at home operation? Might help alleviate the stress and give you flexibility to work on your magazine..

West Corporation work at home operation? I'll look into that, thanks a bunch Clay!

Yaaaay! We all got raises today! Of a whole buck! They start on the 19th of this month! Not such a big scary corporate dreadnaught anymore!

way to go ari:) hang in there

Thank you! Things are starting to look up! I'm graduating with my BBA in four weeks, maybe then they'll see something past the script-monkey!