Like most places we are getting our fair share of attendance issues at work due to either COVID or a persistent attitude that work isn’t all that important anymore for the average worker. I came to work last Thursday and was informed that a team member, actually two team members no longer worked here.
I’ll call her Amy and she was a bright and pretty 20 something, single and coy. She never shied away from teasing the other male team members, including me though everyone knew it was all in fun. Zeke was also 20 something and had that kind of ear piercing that looked like he used an auger to drill out the holes in his ear lobes. I guess it’s a fashion statement for this new generation. At any rate he too liked to tease and enjoyed Amy’s company. They were both in the same department and were always within ear shot of each other. I talked with them whenever I was in the lobby and whenever there was a slight pause in the day.
I talked with their fellow team member Thursday and she informed me that Amy and Zeke no longer worked here. I gave her surprised and probably curious expression. “Really?” I asked.
“Yeah, I don’t know what really happened but there is a time and place for certain things and this wasn’t and they got caught doing something they weren’t supposed to.”
Well, she is probably pretty close to my age and gave me a wry smile as if what they were caught doing was naughty and sinful, but she didn’t publicly state exactly what they were caught doing.
I didn’t need a boulder falling on my head to get an idea of what she was talking about. I left the issue alone as she had to assist a guest with his luggage.
I talked to Amy some weeks ago and she was upset with another team member along with her direct supervisor. She admitted then that she was looking for a way out. I guess she got that plus fringe benefits with Zeke. I don’t know if that was his plan.
So now this particular department is short staffed. We have two restaurants that are closed due to staffing shortages, and my department, which normally is barely hanging on, now is in critical mass because of people we either had to let go or chose to go somewhere else.
Of course, I thought I had made that decision over nine months ago, but then I had to return. I honestly have never experienced a situation like this. It’s as if this pandemic has released a genie from its bottle and it isn’t about to go back. For once the workers actually control the nuts and bolts of this economy. It’s both exciting and scary.
Jerry Schellhammer 