The good, the bad, and the really ugly

At my first temp position, I met Janice. Janice worked in our Ocala office, so we communicated through email. She wrote funny emails and was a hoot. I liked her. We began emailing each other jokes and funnies daily.

In the meantime, I was busy fielding phone calls and trying to learn the ins and outs of selling furniture. Oh, and trying to keep up with my incredibly busy – hardly ever in the office – sales people, Mike and Buffy.

One of the many times I was left to “fend for myself” – literally, the lone admin answering phones and entering orders – I emailed Janice a question. She responded right away, answering my question quickly and in an in-depth way, so I understood why. It was great – my boss, Stephanie, usually just told me how to make the software work – I never really got the why part of my question answered. So I started asking Janice the “whys” more often. I began to get to know Mike and Buffy’s routines and started to feel a bit more comfortable.

Mind you, I was still regularly being left alone. If Stephanie wasn’t there, I couldn’t ask Cyndy, my other coworker. She would never take the time to answer a question for me, no matter how simple it was. Her response? It wasn’t her job – I heard, quite a few times. So I either tried to figure it out on my own, asked my sales people (when they were in), or emailed Janice. Janice became my rock: she was always there, she was patient with me, and she always had an answer.

This job was temp-to-perm after 90 days. At 60 days, I felt I was going to be hired. Stephanie seemed happy with my work, if a bit preoccupied. I chalked it up to being a mom – she had 2 kids – a girl and boy – and *always* seemed to be taking them somewhere. Cyndy had an ADD/HD son who frequently acted out which, being a single parent, forced her to take off work to go get him.

At some point, Janice mentioned that she had noticed how often I was alone, manning the phones. Where was Stephanie? Cyndy? It became something that Janice and I bonded over – her salesman frequently was out of the office, leaving her alone in the Ocala showroom for long stretches of time. She would joke with me – “What, no Stephanie? Cyndy’s out *again*?”

Something had changed in the office – Stephanie was now visibly cooler with me. I would come back from the bathroom to find Stephanie and Cyndy whispering, only to stop when they saw me. It was like high school all over again.

At day 75, I made a comment to Stephanie about how close I was getting to permanent status. The next day, I had a call from Jason at the agency saying that I had to complete 1,000 hours before I was eligible for permanent status. This new requirement would push me into month five (or 120 days)! Frustrated, but willing to go with the flow, I shared with Janice what had happened.

Janice told me that she’d made a comment to Stephanie about “how great I was doing.” Stephanie concurred, Janice said, so that was good news, right? Further, Stephanie had indicated to her that my sales people were happy with me. So I felt buoyed that this permanent position was becoming a reality. Sick days, vacation days, benefits.....all things I didn’t have while a temporary worker.

At the end of the second month, I again mentioned to Stephanie that I was excited about nearly being perm. Again, I got that coolness from her and later that afternoon, she went to talk to David, the owner. For an hour. In his office. With the door shut. It was unusual, to be sure. She ended up leaving early that day. David came to see me with just 30 minutes left in the day.

I was excited! This was it – he was gonna offer me the position!! “Vicki, we really like you…” he began and then as I listened, it dawned on me – I wasn’t being hired – I was being fired!! “….there are just too many emails flying around….” Wait – what did he just say?!

“David, you don’t like my work? I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from Mike and Buffy….”

“Vicki, we really like you, but we don’t feel you’re a good fit for our office.” As it hit me, I started crying. I tried to stop it but the harder I tried the harder they fell. He continued, “You’re right; Mike and Buffy really aren’t very happy with me right now because they both really liked you and were happy with your work.”

HUH?!

“Well, Vicki, it’s just the emails flying here and there. You’ll find something. You’re smart and have a lot going for you. In fact, Jason says he has another position for you.” (Jason was my employment agency contact.)

Have you figured out why I was fired?

Because my supervisor was getting blind-carbon copied on every one of my emails to Janice. Including the ones where it was mentioned how often Stephanie and Cyndy were out. And not even my sales people could save me from the wrath of Stephanie.

The good … was meeting Janice. She and I have remained friends, going so far as to meet in Ocala and cook together. She has been the best “cheerleader” a person could ask for; a tireless reminder that even in the darkest of days, the sun shines. Had I never met Stephanie, I would never have met Janice.

The bad …. was being left alone to fight for myself, figure it out.

The really ugly … realizing my supervisor read every one of my emails.

Bottom line: Some bonding is best left to the professionals.