The Rabid Veterinarian, Chapter 2

This was absolutely the longest 6 months of my life even though I did enjoy what I was actually doing. So it was really disappointing when it didn't work out personality-wise.  Plus, the young techs who worked there were so inexperienced in the work arena that they didn't even think it was wrong to be talked to in such a way.  One woman who was older (in her 50's) did finally leave after 2 years of being verbally abused by the doctor.  She finally moved to Bakersfield to get as far away from that man as possible.  During the 2 years she was there he had blamed her for the death of some of the animals (he had to blame someone other than himself - even though no one was really to blame); promoted her, demoted her (punishment for omitting a job from of her resume that he had somehow found out about - is this legal?) and even yelled at her granddaughter one day when she came in to volunteer.  What is an employee supposed to do when they really need a job and can't find anything else, especially when the hours they work don't allow them any free time to look?
  
I shared an office with a man who would yell at me for not capping my pens and then started throwing them at me when he'd find one uncapped.  We also shared a private bathroom that was connected to our tiny office space.  Another area where I wasn't perfect enough.  I'll admit that I have a habit of leaving the toilet lid up when I complete nature's call.  That used to send him through the roof and I never did it on purpose or with the intention of making him crazy!!  So one day, as if attempting to train me like one of his dogs, he didn't lift the seat when he urinated: Tell me, was that less, equally or more disgusting than my not remembering to put down the lid?  My actions were never malicious or deliberate.  It wasn't a conspiracy to drive him over the edge. What about his actions: was this intentional or 'just' an oversight.....?  Could this be construed as an OSHA issue (I could have slipped off the seat and hit my head on the sink) or a medical one (what disease could I have caught if I had actually sat down)?  This was the epitome of DISGUSTING-ness!!

 I'm getting pissed off.  I'll have to continue this tomorrow.

Let's Commiserate

After I saw the movie Julie & Julia last week I thought I would attempt a Blog. Not sure why - definitely not to become famous or write a book; perhaps out of agonizing boredom from not working since April with no interviews or job prospects of which to speak. My hope is that others who have been laid off either recently or over the years will be willing to share anecdotes, stories or just downright horrible experiences about your jobs and/or bosses or coworkers that will make us laugh and realize the absurdity of it all during these difficult economic times.

In 2000, I was laid off for the first time in my life after working for 17 years at the same organization. To my shock I was eligible for 7 months of severance and had tons of left over vacation time. It was fun while it lasted. This gave me an opportunity to research other career options so I decided to take a Voice Over class in the City. That was one of the best periods in my adult life. However, since 2001 I have had so many jobs that I need to look at my resume to recollect most of them. From 2001-2006 I was contracting and temping so was able to accrue quite a list of positions since I was either hired short term or the organization went out of business (try to explain that to a potential employer on an interview - they will cross their eyes in disbelief) - even some of the temporary agencies I worked through went out of business!! However, that did give me the opportunity to hone many on-the-job skills as well as get some voice over work.

This is starting to sound like a job interview so I think I'll stop. Now that I've written a brief synopsis of my work history, I will be able to start with my job experiences and anecdotes on another day. Excuse me while I refer to my resume.