Say you work a job where your employers claim they trust...
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 1:29 pm
...you, but they investigate everything you're told to do to make sure you do it. Could you live with it?
My case:
While I was unemployed I took on a house sitting job that paid $20 a night. All I had to do was flip light switches, check for leaks, and stay the night. The first time the owners were out of town. I found out that I actually slept better on the floor. (The bed is about 5'8"x3" and I'm 6'0".) So I did... no problems. The next time they go out of town, I default to sleeping on the floor. I get a call from the grounds keeper saying that the maid did not think I had spent the night at the house. Since the grounds keeper likes to make a big deal over little things, I told him that I stayed up all night watching movies. (He would have made a big fuss about me not sleeping in the bed. I had only slept for about two hours that night... so it was more of a nap between movies than anything.) So, the next night I tear down the bed at night and then make it again in the morning. No complaints this time. The next night I do the same. Then I get another call from the grounds keeper accusing me of not spending the night. He said that he had put a crease in the blanket and that it was still there. (I did not notice the crease, but I did tear down the bed and make it again in the morning. I don't know how the crease could still have been there... maybe I'm just sloppy at making beds. Odd, huh?) Then he tells me that the maid is not only complaining to him, but she is also complaining to the family's secretary. He also tells me that he trusts me but he wants the maid off his back. If it wasn't for him leaving creases in the blankets, hairs in the doors, and what ever else he has been doing to spy on me, I might have believed him.
I cannot "work" in a place where the people do not trust me. I work fine in hostile environments. He's yelled at me every day about something, even for things that I didn't do. I'm fine with that. That can be worked out. But when he's trying to convince me that he trusts me and doing everything possible behind the scenes to prove otherwise... I cannot trust him. He's told me about how he's fired housesitters for lieing to him and here he is lieing to me. If he can't take my word for it, then I can't work there any more.
Can I get him to trust me or should I just quit? (I know I'm going to have to talk to the maid since she has not confronted me about any of this. But she's not the one threatening to fire me. I guess what really ticks me off is what goes on behind my back before anyone has the courtesy to notify me that I've done something wrong.
Right now I am thinking of quitting with only "irreconcilable differences between myself and staff" going into my letter to the owners. Though I may add in my inability to sleep to tone down the other bit. I really like the owners and don't want to upset their household.
(Anyways, I've put in four job applications in the last two days and my standards have changed to include slightly larger companys and retail sales... so I'm bound to get a day job soon.)
My case:
While I was unemployed I took on a house sitting job that paid $20 a night. All I had to do was flip light switches, check for leaks, and stay the night. The first time the owners were out of town. I found out that I actually slept better on the floor. (The bed is about 5'8"x3" and I'm 6'0".) So I did... no problems. The next time they go out of town, I default to sleeping on the floor. I get a call from the grounds keeper saying that the maid did not think I had spent the night at the house. Since the grounds keeper likes to make a big deal over little things, I told him that I stayed up all night watching movies. (He would have made a big fuss about me not sleeping in the bed. I had only slept for about two hours that night... so it was more of a nap between movies than anything.) So, the next night I tear down the bed at night and then make it again in the morning. No complaints this time. The next night I do the same. Then I get another call from the grounds keeper accusing me of not spending the night. He said that he had put a crease in the blanket and that it was still there. (I did not notice the crease, but I did tear down the bed and make it again in the morning. I don't know how the crease could still have been there... maybe I'm just sloppy at making beds. Odd, huh?) Then he tells me that the maid is not only complaining to him, but she is also complaining to the family's secretary. He also tells me that he trusts me but he wants the maid off his back. If it wasn't for him leaving creases in the blankets, hairs in the doors, and what ever else he has been doing to spy on me, I might have believed him.
I cannot "work" in a place where the people do not trust me. I work fine in hostile environments. He's yelled at me every day about something, even for things that I didn't do. I'm fine with that. That can be worked out. But when he's trying to convince me that he trusts me and doing everything possible behind the scenes to prove otherwise... I cannot trust him. He's told me about how he's fired housesitters for lieing to him and here he is lieing to me. If he can't take my word for it, then I can't work there any more.
Can I get him to trust me or should I just quit? (I know I'm going to have to talk to the maid since she has not confronted me about any of this. But she's not the one threatening to fire me. I guess what really ticks me off is what goes on behind my back before anyone has the courtesy to notify me that I've done something wrong.
Right now I am thinking of quitting with only "irreconcilable differences between myself and staff" going into my letter to the owners. Though I may add in my inability to sleep to tone down the other bit. I really like the owners and don't want to upset their household.
(Anyways, I've put in four job applications in the last two days and my standards have changed to include slightly larger companys and retail sales... so I'm bound to get a day job soon.)