»

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Where "That Guy" hopefully got washed away.....

Things have been going remarkably well with DH and his new job. I haven't heard from the Social Security people yet, but I'm expecting the "Sorry, we found someone who was a better fit" letter any day now.....so.....here's something new and unusual:

DH and I were both working overnight shifts--me at the group home and him at his workplace. He got off an hour earlier than I did. As soon as I left work, though, he called my cell phone. "Where are you??? I need you, hurry home." Me, thinking that either he got fired again, or one of the animals had died, panicked and flew home as fast as I could. When I got there, DH was in bed. I asked him what was wrong. "I had a bad day." I asked him if he got fired. "Not yet." (uh-oh).....so I suggested he tell me about it.

DH told me that there was a little old lady in a wheelchair. And she needed help reaching a change machine from her wheelchair. DH, who knew that touching her money would usually be against the rules, but also recognizing that the lady needed help, decided to help her. Another guard "told" on him, and the manager who was on duty that night came and um.....basically tore him a new one, if you know what I mean....screaming, swearing, threatening DH. But the thing that upset him was that the little old lady was absolutely traumatized. She was physically shaking, and was absolutely terrified. Luckily, the manager's supervisor had been observing the entire thing on the surveillance camera, and came down, said "I want to talk to you" to the manager, and assigned DH to a new post. He told DH that he didn't do anything wrong, and that he would want any guard to help someone in that situation. After telling me this, DH burst into tears (this is monumental--for him, I think it's a FIRST) and cried for about a half hour straight. He was so worried about that lady, and he just couldn't calm down. Eventually, though, I reminded him that if the manager's supervisor was on top of things enough to come and intervene, he probably knew that the lady was upset and he probably did something to make her feel better (freebies, etc).

I didn't realize until afterwards, that "That Guy" never showed up. Not when DH was being yelled at, and not while he was telling me about the situation, either. This is the first time I can remember that DH has cried like that, ever. I know that's a good thing. DH told me, "I'm sorry, I was just so pissed off that if I didn't cry, I was going to be really angry."

FIXED-->(Oh for Pete's sake, I have no idea why we're getting that weird "proxy" message--I'll try to fix that on a different computer, I guess--right now I'm on a Mac, and maybe that's causing problems...? I don't know--but I apologize!)

Wow. (Of course I told him he didn't have anything to apologize for)....I am just absolutely flabbergasted that "That Guy" did not make even a minor appearance--then I hoped "That Guy" drowned in the tears :-)

The next night, the manager, it turns out, was suspended. Her supervisor called DH into his office and reiterated that he did nothing wrong. DH asked about the old lady, and the manager told him that he "took good care of her". DH asked if he was going to be written up for this, and the supervisor again told him that he would expect any guard to help in that situation. Thank God.

I'm a little worried that DH might get trouble from the manager who got suspended. But since everything is recorded there, hopefully it can be stopped before it turns into anything big. The supervisor did make a point of telling DH that "if you have any problems, let me know..." and DH and I both thought that he was referring to the possibility of retaliation by the manager.

I'm so proud of DH, I could burst.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Sounds like your dh has more sense than the former manager, Carol. And definitely more compassion for people who have infirmities...perhaps that comes from him being 'disabled' himself. Praying he continues to do well on his job, and that you have an easier life as well. God bless.

Elizabeth A. said...

Wonderful!! Such progress. Both of y'all should be proud.

Reighnie said...

That is awesome! Good for you guys. :-)

perphila said...

Progress!

Finding new ways to deal with upsetting emotions is not an easy task and takes a long time. I am glad he had your shoulder to cry on.

Miz Kizzle said...

Good for your hubby. What was he supposed to do in that case, go and get his supervisor? I suppose that's the "safe" response, but whatever happened to simple human kindness and respect for the elderly?
Petty dictators like the ex-manager are far too common. They hide behind their tiny little bit of power and make life hard for anyone who has the misfortune to have to report to them. She sounds like an angry person without much common sense.