Miscellaneous rant.

Published on October 20, 2004 By dharmagrl In Misc

Ahem...*clears throat and steps up on soap box*....

I am finding that people have no respect for night worker's sleep time. My husabnd's on nights at the moment, and his squadron appointments monitor got quite indignant today when he said he wasn't prepared to schedule and appointment at 9 am on a day that he's scheduled to work. He had to explain the he gets off work at 6am, is usually asleep by 7am, and gets up at 3pm to leave for work at 415pm. She still didn't get it - so he asked her how she'd like having to go to an appointment at 9pm when she had to get up for work at 3am. Finally, she understood.

Finance screwed another paycheck up...once again, we did what we were supposed to do, when we were supposed to do it, but someone in their office again neglected to complete the appropriate paperwork. When will people realize that each piece of paper is attached to a person, and that failure to do things properly can make quite a large impact on a person? It drives me nuts....

I about got hit at a 4-way stop this morning. I stopped, waited my turn, and started to pull out when this chick in an SUV decided that it was her turn instead. People seem to have this "I stopped, so I'm going to go now" mentality. No folks, that's not the way it works. You stop, and if there's other traffic you wait your turn, THEN you go. Is that so hard to grasp???

I turned the thug kids in my neighborhood into the school. They made the mistake of pushing my 8 year old around on the school bus...one of the tripped him and then kicked him when he was down. That really set me off, I can tell you....so I called the principal and she took it from there. Apparently this 6th grader that's been bullying my 3rd grader has been suspended twice since the start of this school year for sniffing Sharpie markers (now no-one in school is allowed to have any permanent markers, period) and has a long history of picking on and bullying little kids. That's a real man, there...12 years old, beating up an 8 year old. Not only does that piss me off, it breaks my heart too. My little guy is a good kid, he doesn't have a mean bone in his body, and the thought of him being brough to tears my some asshole makes me want to cry. I was bullied when I first started HS and I remember how it feels. I will not let that happen to my child.

*steps down from her soapbox*

Here endeth todays rant.

Comments

crimson

on Oct 20, 2004

i love reading a good rant. After working the night shift for sometime now, I understand what Dave is going through. Working in things like appointments, teacher meetings, and dentist appointments seem downright impossible now. About your son's experience, it's a damned shame. Kole is just starting to come home with her little horror stories and I do remember what it was like, but actually having to go through it is worse. I feel sorry for your boy, too.
I hope you feel a bit better for letting go.

dharmagrl

on Oct 20, 2004

I thought you might have a clue, Nic....I worked nights for a while, and I had the same experience. Everyone wanted to do things right in the middle of my sleep-time, and didn't seem to understand that a dental check-up is not worth losing half a days' sleep for.

As for the bullying .....it is a damned shame. If it were a kid his won age I don't think I'd be so upset, but the fact that it's a much bigger kid makes me furious. I really wanted to go confront this little jackass and ask him if picking on a kid half his size made him feel important.

I feel much better, thanks!

shadesofgrey

on Oct 20, 2004

i completely understand the night shift thing. I didn't technically work nights, but I worked from 4:45pm to almost 4am when I first moved to DC (it was bar work). My boss always thought it was amusing to schedule an early shift after a late one. So, I would get home around 5ish, get to sleep around 6ish and be up again at 8:30am so that I could be in work by 10--and if I was really lucky, that early morning shift would be the start to a double shift--I am pretty flexible about sleep, as long as I get it--it doesn't need to be at the same time each day, but I had better be getting my 8 hours, or it is not safe to interact with me.

Sorry to hear about the bullying too. I remember you saying that the parents of the bullier are just as bad as the kid--I would be mortified if my child was bullying someone. Good luck resolving that!

dharmagrl

on Oct 20, 2004

Shades! How the heck are you?!

Dave is much the same way. He's really very flexible about sleeping, but he needs to get at least 6 hours...any less than that and we all pay the price. He's cranky and grouchy, and even though he tries not to be, bless him.

This bullying is going to come to a swift stop. I warned the individuals involved last time that I wasn't going to just go away if it didn't stop....and I'm not going to. One way or another, it will end. I'm just heartbroken when Jake comes home crying and sad because someone picked on him.

chiprj

on Oct 20, 2004

Well, I can sympathize with the night work/day sleep deal, too. Both my tours to Korea required a lot of night shift work. It's hard to get things done on that schedule and 'don't care' attitudes from day workers just makes it worse. During my second tour, I lived in a Navy barracks right across the street from an Army MP unit/barracks. When I got home at 0730ish, I'd try to fall asleep. This was usually when they were finishing up PT and getting ready to start the day. The chow hall was right next door, too, so there was a high volume of traffic between our buildings and I understood that fine. But, later in the day, they'd park outside our windows (and leave the trucks running - really crappy if we had our windows open), smoke, test the bullhorns on their cruisers, etc. They (and their command) knew our barracks was full of shift workers, they just didn't care. The navy paid to put up a railing next to the street so they couldn't park outside our windows. One day I had three junior enlisted MPs smoking outside my window while I was trying to sleep. I opened the window and asked them to move. They told me that they didn't have to listen to me because I was in the Navy! I couldn't believe it! I didn't know if I should laugh or yell. I stomped out there with my US Army ID card and just blasted them. One of them went weak in the knees while I let them have it. It was one of the best Army days ever! I had so much fun letting loose on these dirtbags! I finished up telling them that I didn't care if the Airman, 1st Class that lived in our building asked them to move, they would do it. Holy cow that was fun!

I almost got hit yesterday, too. Idiot drivers. Here I am in my own lane, driving just fine when the guy in the left lane realizes that he needs to make a right turn and just cuts in front of me. Over two solid white lines! His exit lane from the highway and mine were running up next to each other but he hadn't yet reached the point where the lanes are right next to each other and the lane lines become dotted. I forgot that my Kia doesn't have ABS, so I slammed the brakes and hydroplaned like a mofo! I don't know that he even saw that. He just cut across my lane into the next one over and made his right (without stopping at the stop sign).

As for the bullying... well, I can sympathize there, too. I was beat up by an 8th grader when I was in 1st grade. It's tough. Hopefully he will recover and the school will do something about the bully...

Myrrander

on Oct 20, 2004

wow

I had a lil mini rant today, but you took the cake girl.

I hope those thug kids get what comin' to 'em.

Texas Wahine

on Oct 20, 2004

I am finding that people have no respect for night worker's sleep time.

Wow. That sucks. Adrian has the same problem. He typically works night shifts, but gets woken up for anything ranging from a briefing to a bitching out because one of his roommates put a Rice Krispies wrapper in the wrong trashcan.

When will people realize that each piece of paper is attached to a person, and that failure to do things properly can make quite a large impact on a person? It drives me nuts....

Sorry you're dealing with that, dharma.

You stop, and if there's other traffic you wait your turn, THEN you go. Is that so hard to grasp???

Stupid sucky people.

Apparently this 6th grader that's been bullying my 3rd grader

That's awful. Poor guy had to move and leave his friends behind and now he's taking crap from a 6th grader. Is the school cooperating with you in putting an end to the bullying crap?

Texas Wahine

on Oct 20, 2004

I also hate Bank of America, little whip. Would you like a numbered list of reasons why? You would? OK, great. Here goes:

1) They don't have any ATMs in Hawaii. They're every other freaking place in the universe, but not here.

2) Because they don't have ATMs, if I use another bank's ATM I will end up with a $5+ fee. When I need cash I actually buy a pack of gum at the Shoppette and get cash back, but I'm only able to get $50 at a time that way.

3) I can't deposit money or cash checks here in Hawaii because of the complete lack of a freaking Bank of America here.

4) If I need to deposit something, I have to mail it to family in Texas and have them deposit it. I get one free deposit every month, and then it's a $3 fee per deposit ever after. Three freaking bucks!

5) I wanted to open another savings account, and I had the bright idea that I could do it through Bank of America since they allow you to set it up online. At the time I wanted to put about $100 until I had more to put in the next payday. I can't remember how much they required to start it up, but it was either $300 or $500. WTF? Really . . . WTF? I decided to stick with my two credit union accounts even though they are far less convenient.

In conclusion, suck it, Bank of America.

*sorry for the thread hijack, dharma*

JillUser

on Oct 20, 2004

Karen, boy can I relate to this stuff! The working nights thing can be related to by anyone who had a newborn (or two) that had his nights and days confused for the first couple of months. People would call at 9AM to see how I was doing and I would want to punch them through the phone for waking us up. I also worked the graveyard at the desk of a condo hotel for a few months and started feeling like a zombie. No fun!

How is it so many people have no clue how to treat a 4-way stop?! With construction going on like crazy around here there have been a lot of street lights down and people just don't know what to do. Never seen a police officer stop anyone for not abiding the laws pertaining to 4-way stopping either.

Now, about your son getting bullied, I started getting mad and he isn't even my son. It is so hard to tell your kids how to react to bullies. I don't know about you but I am definitely not the "ignore them and they will go away" type because I know damn well it didn't work for me growing up. I started getting bullied in 3rd grade for being fat. It wasn't until I got fed up and started kicking asses that the bullies laid off. He definitely did the right thing by telling you because too often bus drivers and teachers will just turn the other cheek. Boy, a 12yr old killing brain cells by huffing markers. Sounds like a real winner. A teacher friend of mine just had an incident where a 7th grader stole rubber cement out of her classroom and go thigh off it. What the hell?!

Hope things are looking up for ya.

dharmagrl

on Oct 20, 2004

Seems we have a few night workers here, huh? I'm glad that people understand....

LW and Tex, it's fine to rant on my blog...I think I'll call the next one 'Rant-for-all' and give everyone a chance to vent about their issues....

Jill...yep, I'm getting pissed off too. I'm waiting for Jake to come home and tell me what this jackass did today. And yes, he's a winner alright. He's in the same grade as Shea and made a big show of passing around his report card to show everyone he got straight F's. This kid, unless he changes his attitude and ways, is destined for an illustrious career in the penal system.

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