Month: March 2015

  • I found this article interesting...

    Check it out if you have time to read this:

    A father doing the right thing against idiots that think they aren't accountable for their actions...

    https://38pitches.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/the-world-we-live-in-man-has-it-changed/

  • This place will kill me one day...

    Whoa, I found this buried in my Draft folder....

    ORIGINALLY WRITTEN OCTOBER 14, 2006

    Every morning, I am left with an overwhelming sense of dread as I drive to work.  It's not so much the commute anymore but the sheer fact that I am surrounded by a group of toxic people.  I understand with the Nontract and all that FAA shit is rapidly decreasing their morale, but I don't appreciate the jabs at me (and other trainees I'm sure) asking when I'm quitting and why don't I look for employment elsewhere.  Or snide comments like, "I would have left already if I were you..."

     It won't take much to convince me to leave, believe me.  No amount of money can convince me to do something that, so far, I'm not enjoying at all.  I don't mind posting strips:  really I don't.  What I don't like is the constant rumors, gossip and overall negativity throughout the area.  What kills me is that some supervisors join in on the banter.  Please have some decorum, you know??
    Sure, I'm confident enough to ignore their comments and sidestep the rumors being flung about when they have nothing else to discuss about their mundane lives.  And so far, they don't have any "dirt" on me, but I'm sure when I'm not there or when my back is turned they will say SOMETHING about me.  They already comment on how much I smile and how nice I am to everyone.  They are taking BETS to see how long it will take before I am "broken".  Trust me, behind this smile, I am suppressing a lot of feelings about these toxic people that I'm afraid it will spill... like today....
    A certain FPL is constantly being chided in my area.  She doesn't even WORK in my area but yet they do nothing but joke about her.  She's the butt of everyone's jokes and I've been hearing it for a few days now.  So today, I asked an FPL who's close with my sister and up until today, I thought was the nicest guy ever (and funny!)
    So when I innocently asked him why people are always making fun of this person, he gave me a really gruff response to which I made another response in her defense but in a very light tone.  He finally blew me off saying, "I can't talk to you right now, I am very busy."  Meanwhile, on any other day when he's on H-34, he jabbers with me, asking me questions about my commute or saying something funny.  It seems I'm not allowed to speak about this because now he won't look me in the face and answers my questions with one-word responses.  Well guess who's stuck doing A-side for me right now as I type this?!  HA!
    I don't know if I want to be surrounded by these negative people for another X amount of years.  I rifle though my mental contact list to see who I can send my resume to.  I don't know how much longer I can stay here without having a mental breakdown and just tell everyone to shut the f*ck up!  For me to excel at something, I need to like what I'm doing (looking forward to radar) and get along with the people I work with.  It is VERY hard to work with people that show NO respect to authority and least amount to YOU.
    I imagine if I were to leave this job in mid-training, an unimaginable amount of gossip will swirl about just to fill their day with mild amusement.  Honestly, I really don't care what people say about me or what they think.  And that FPL whom I used to think could do no wrong can shove his opinions up his @ss but I have a feeling not only will he hold it against me because I "talked back" to him, but if come training time, he will make my life miserable.
    I think it's sad that our future success will be determined on how much our instructors/supervisor likes us in order to check us out.  Meanwhile, they don't think ahead and realize that we are their replacement.  No leave in their possible future if they insist on being vindictive.  All they whine about is how they are not going to make $160,000 or earn credit hours or send their children to private school.
    In the meantime, I have to grin and bear it.  There's just so much I can brush off and not take personally or to heart.  I'm very into "togetherness" (as you know) and being able to work together.  If this were a corporate job, 75% of the people here would have been FIRED for their behavior and work ethics (or lack thereof.)
    I'm beginning to think I'm not cut out for this.  Not because I lack the skill (at least I wouldn't know RIGHT NOW), but I don't want to become like them.  I don't want to be a toxic individual where I live off of gossip and rumors and how much leave I can get and how many hours I can take off the end and whine about URET, etc.
    I apologize for spamming but I really needed to get this out just in case one day you hear that I have found employment elsewhere.  That you will know its not because I couldn't hack it or do the job.  But because I did not want my spirit to be destroyed by people who think it's fun to do so.
    Have a great day.  I have to go relieve that jerk before he starts to gossip that I take LONG breaks.

  • An update...

    A lot has happened since the last time I posted:  I filed an official complaint to the EEOC and it was denied by them because they claimed it wasn't severe or frequent enough to warrant a valid claim.  (???)  So I hired a lawyer who's handled many FAA cases before and he wrote a kick-@ss document appealing their rejection.  So that's currently on the back burner.  A waiting game.

    As for the internal investigation, the harasser was interviewed and admitted to writing those vile thing about me.  In fact, he said that if he had known that I knew about what he wrote, he would have approached me sooner and apologized.  (Sorry, but that's not good enough.  He wrote it on a public forum with other mutual controllers!)
    Anyway,  the air traffic manager claims the harasser has been disciplined but according to my sources, he's never missed a day of work so far.  So I was told since he was disciplined then this case is settled.  Never mind that I also filed a Hostile Work Environment claim with them.  They just swept that under the rug and said the managers are aware of my concerns and to keep a close eye on things when I return to work.
    So I was sent upstairs to the training office to review my maps and routes.  Well, when I needed my headset and begrudgingly returned to the area to retrieve my headset, I discovered that it was missing.  (At least since February.)  So I reported that and FINALLY the chief admitted that it's probably not a good idea for me to return.  (Ya think???)
    Rumors have been swirling that I filed a charge against ALL of them (which I'm not even sure if that's possible).  I told only a few who've asked that they were incorrect and that I filed it against the harasser as well as the chief.  That explains why I've been getting the cold shoulder from a few people who used to say hi to me.  That's retaliation if you ask me!
    Today I have been officially transferred to a different department internally.  Training starts Monday and I am so relieved I do not have to return to that hostile work environment.  Some have already criticized my choice to go there.  But I think of it as my ticket out.  I know I definitely need this change for my mental health.
    This has been a long stressful process and I don't wish it on anybody.