The Work Ethic of "young people"

[DGS49]

One Tuesday each week, I drive a Courtesy Bus for "seniors," most of whom are younger than me. We (my wife and I) usually have about a dozen riders and I take them to doctor appointments, shopping, hair appointments, and whatnot, then bring them back home.

The rides are free (donations cheerfully accepted), and the deal is, if they want a ride NEXT week, they call the "coordinator" and schedule it, and the coordinator calls them the day before the trip to confirm. We don't really deal well with unplanned travel.

So last week, the office was closed Thursday and Friday, and also on Monday. The schedule for Tuesday was emailed to us on Wednesday last week.

So we drove around on Tuesday, and about half of the riders were either not home, or not able to travel on the bus. Those who did ride with us complained that nobody called to confirm on Monday, as is the usual practice. That was apparently why the others were not riding.

So we called the coordinator and asked her why she hadn't called anyone to confirm their rides for Tuesday. This coordinator is a FULL TIME employee, who does about four hours of actual work a week. Maybe 8.

Her response was, "Do you expect me to call them ON MY DAY OFF?????"

"Well, you told them you would call to confirm, the day before their scheduled rides."

She repeats, "Do you expect me to call them ON MY DAY OFF???" Then she hangs up.

I have no way of knowing how the coordinator spent her Monday, but I suspect there was probably a five minute period when she could have made those calls. My wife (my dispatcher) wants to call her boss and complain, but I have restrained her.

I am actually dumbfounded at the coordinator's attitude. WT everlovin' F?

 

[shockedcanadian]

One Tuesday each week, I drive a Courtesy Bus for "seniors," most of whom are younger than me. We (my wife and I) usually have about a dozen riders and I take them to doctor appointments, shopping, hair appointments, and whatnot, then bring them back home.

The rides are free (donations cheerfully accepted), and the deal is, if they want a ride NEXT week, they call the "coordinator" and schedule it, and the coordinator calls them the day before the trip to confirm. We don't really deal well with unplanned travel.

So last week, the office was closed Thursday and Friday, and also on Monday. The schedule for Tuesday was emailed to us on Wednesday last week.

So we drove around on Tuesday, and about half of the riders were either not home, or not able to travel on the bus. Those who did ride with us complained that nobody called to confirm on Monday, as is the usual practice. That was apparently why the others were not riding.

So we called the coordinator and asked her why she hadn't called anyone to confirm their rides for Tuesday. This coordinator is a FULL TIME employee, who does about four hours of actual work a week. Maybe 8.

Her response was, "Do you expect me to call them ON MY DAY OFF?????"

"Well, you told them you would call to confirm, the day before their scheduled rides."

She repeats, "Do you expect me to call them ON MY DAY OFF???" Then she hangs up.

I have no way of knowing how the coordinator spent her Monday, but I suspect there was probably a five minute period when she could have made those calls. My wife (my dispatcher) wants to call her boss and complain, but I have restrained her.

I am actually dumbfounded at the coordinator's attitude. WT everlovin' F?

She doesn't have a backup employee? There isn't a system that shares the information so others can call?

I'm conflicted. How would she even have the phone numbers to call from home on her day off?

Her attitude is a separate issue, but, she does have a point.

 

[jbrownson0831]

She doesn't have a backup employee? There isn't a system that shares the information so others can call?

I'm conflicted. How would she even have the phone numbers to call from home on her day off?

Her attitude is a separate issue, but, she does have a point.

She should have called them before her day off is the point. When you say you are going to do something you do it.

 

[rightwinger]

A day off means day off

She should have arranged someone else to make the calls

 

[shockedcanadian]

She should have called them before her day off is the point. When you say you are going to do something you do it.

I suppose. My only question would be "what is the point calling someone almost a week before their scheduled bus date"?

It would be no different than not calling them at all really as they may have made the travel date just the day before anyways. The idea behind calling a day before is a recency reminder, "oh yeah, I have to do that tomorrow".

Calling them 6 days beforehand would just ensure the same responsible people who would have marked it on their calendar in any event (and don't really require a reminder call) will be the same and only people to show up Tuesday anyways.

Her attitude is the main problem IMO, she could have explained the similar point I did above.

 

[DudleySmith]

AS far as service industry employees go, I get mostly good to great service everywhere I've been, and it's mostly young people, so I think it's just assholes getting their proper feedback from their own behavior when it comes to sniveling about poor service. If had to come up with a number I would say its about 85% positive, even with complaints being handled. Not many yankees around here though, whose major credo is 'I have to fuck over somebody today or my day is totally wasted!!!', so my experience must be an anomaly.

 

[jbrownson0831]

I suppose. My only question would be "what is the point calling someone almost a week before their scheduled bus date"?

It would be no different than not calling them at all really as they may have made the travel date just the day before anyways. The idea behind calling a day before is a recency reminder, "oh yeah, I have to do that tomorrow".

Calling them 6 days beforehand would just ensure the same responsible people who would have marked it on their calendar in any event (and don't really require a reminder call) will be the same and only people to show up Tuesday anyways.

Her attitude is the main problem IMO, she could have explained the similar point I did above.

Then tell them that.....sometimes the routine changes and if you are the one responsible for communicating it, then do it.

 

[Zincwarrior]

One Tuesday each week, I drive a Courtesy Bus for "seniors," most of whom are younger than me. We (my wife and I) usually have about a dozen riders and I take them to doctor appointments, shopping, hair appointments, and whatnot, then bring them back home.

Don't mean to distract but, is this a volunteer gig you do? If so that is a very cool thing. Older folks have problems getting to medical and other appointments and just plain being shut in.

One of our ushers at church lives in a retirement place with a bunch of other parishioners and he carpools a bunch of old biddies to church every Sunday.

 

[ReinyDays]

Yeah ... labor unions got involved with this a 100 years ago ... it's well proven that "day's off" are critical to a workers long term performance ... US military is 30 paid days off per year, and soldiers are ordered to take that leave whether they want to or not ...

The business was closed for five consecutive days? ... does that need more explaining? ... it was the owner's responsibility to call the customers ... why didn't you do it yourself? ... just what kind of work ethic do you have, you're the driver, you were supposed to spend YOUR day off contacting these folks ...

 

[Zincwarrior]

Was the entire office closed? It sounds like the occasional glitch that happens.

 

[Woodznutz]

One Tuesday each week, I drive a Courtesy Bus for "seniors," most of whom are younger than me. We (my wife and I) usually have about a dozen riders and I take them to doctor appointments, shopping, hair appointments, and whatnot, then bring them back home.

The rides are free (donations cheerfully accepted), and the deal is, if they want a ride NEXT week, they call the "coordinator" and schedule it, and the coordinator calls them the day before the trip to confirm. We don't really deal well with unplanned travel.

So last week, the office was closed Thursday and Friday, and also on Monday. The schedule for Tuesday was emailed to us on Wednesday last week.

So we drove around on Tuesday, and about half of the riders were either not home, or not able to travel on the bus. Those who did ride with us complained that nobody called to confirm on Monday, as is the usual practice. That was apparently why the others were not riding.

So we called the coordinator and asked her why she hadn't called anyone to confirm their rides for Tuesday. This coordinator is a FULL TIME employee, who does about four hours of actual work a week. Maybe 8.

Her response was, "Do you expect me to call them ON MY DAY OFF?????"

"Well, you told them you would call to confirm, the day before their scheduled rides."

She repeats, "Do you expect me to call them ON MY DAY OFF???" Then she hangs up.

I have no way of knowing how the coordinator spent her Monday, but I suspect there was probably a five minute period when she could have made those calls. My wife (my dispatcher) wants to call her boss and complain, but I have restrained her.

I am actually dumbfounded at the coordinator's attitude. WT everlovin' F?

Lot of that going around. That what we get by working 'on the clock' or by the calendar.

 

[odanny]

US military is 30 paid days off per year, and soldiers are ordered to take that leave whether they want to or not ...

Not true, some opt to not take it and get paid for those days. When I got out I sold back 45 days leave, called "terminal leave".

 

[initforme]

Day off is a day not working. Where's the management?

 

[DGS49]

There are only two employees in this operation, the coordinator and her boss. I later confirmed that the boss did not know that the riders were not going to be called on Monday (what she did with the information, I don't know).

Because these riders are seniors and in some small ways, "at risk" "we" have all of their contact information, not only on our cell phones but printed out each week. We have their emergency contact people, Doctors' names, the whole bit. It would have been a very simple matter for the coordinator to bring the ride list home over the FOUR DAY weekend, bring her work cell phone (so the riders would recognize the caller), and make the calls. Each call would have lasted about thirty seconds.

The fact that she didn't care enough to do this ON HER DAY OFF(!) astounds me. This is her only job. There are about twenty volunteers (two on each bus each day), and her job is seeing to it that the Seniors get free rides when they need them. She didn't do that.

Is it a generational thing? I can't imagine a Boomer in that job being so lazy and self-centered to not do what she told the riders she would do.

 

[ReinyDays]

Not true, some opt to not take it and get paid for those days. When I got out I sold back 45 days leave, called "terminal leave".

Yes it is true ... at least it was in the 1980's ... the TSgt in the next work center was told either take 30 days leave or loose a stripe ... the Air Force had just taken another 30 days leave from him as the accumulation can never exceed 60 days ... four years without a day off is bad for the typical airman ... no matter how critical the mission is, and COMSEC Custodian for all of Latin America is a stressful position ...

Yeah, he did have to come in a couple of times to help ... "Quito has her quarks" ... ha ha ha ... though it was Santiago that gave us the most problems, fucking revolutionaries ...

 

[frigidweirdo]

One Tuesday each week, I drive a Courtesy Bus for "seniors," most of whom are younger than me. We (my wife and I) usually have about a dozen riders and I take them to doctor appointments, shopping, hair appointments, and whatnot, then bring them back home.

The rides are free (donations cheerfully accepted), and the deal is, if they want a ride NEXT week, they call the "coordinator" and schedule it, and the coordinator calls them the day before the trip to confirm. We don't really deal well with unplanned travel.

So last week, the office was closed Thursday and Friday, and also on Monday. The schedule for Tuesday was emailed to us on Wednesday last week.

So we drove around on Tuesday, and about half of the riders were either not home, or not able to travel on the bus. Those who did ride with us complained that nobody called to confirm on Monday, as is the usual practice. That was apparently why the others were not riding.

So we called the coordinator and asked her why she hadn't called anyone to confirm their rides for Tuesday. This coordinator is a FULL TIME employee, who does about four hours of actual work a week. Maybe 8.

Her response was, "Do you expect me to call them ON MY DAY OFF?????"

"Well, you told them you would call to confirm, the day before their scheduled rides."

She repeats, "Do you expect me to call them ON MY DAY OFF???" Then she hangs up.

I have no way of knowing how the coordinator spent her Monday, but I suspect there was probably a five minute period when she could have made those calls. My wife (my dispatcher) wants to call her boss and complain, but I have restrained her.

I am actually dumbfounded at the coordinator's attitude. WT everlovin' F?

Sounds like an issue with planning and getting people to do things, I don't work on my day off, I made that perfectly clear. I will work on a day off if I'm given time off at another point, and it's arranged beforehand, this has happened once in my current job when they wanted me to work on a Saturday morning.

 

[rightwinger]

There are only two employees in this operation, the coordinator and her boss. I later confirmed that the boss did not know that the riders were not going to be called on Monday (what she did with the information, I don't know).

Because these riders are seniors and in some small ways, "at risk" "we" have all of their contact information, not only on our cell phones but printed out each week. We have their emergency contact people, Doctors' names, the whole bit. It would have been a very simple matter for the coordinator to bring the ride list home over the FOUR DAY weekend, bring her work cell phone (so the riders would recognize the caller), and make the calls. Each call would have lasted about thirty seconds.

The fact that she didn't care enough to do this ON HER DAY OFF(!) astounds me. This is her only job. There are about twenty volunteers (two on each bus each day), and her job is seeing to it that the Seniors get free rides when they need them. She didn't do that.

Is it a generational thing? I can't imagine a Boomer in that job being so lazy and self-centered to not do what she told the riders she would do.

A day off still means a day off

But just like taking vacation, if something important is coming up, you arrange for someone else to do it

 

[Zincwarrior]

Where was the boss?

 

[SweetSue92]

A day off means day off

She should have arranged someone else to make the calls

If teachers did this the entire system would collapse