I really didn’t expect today to play out the way that it did.
I made it to work a little early this morning, expecting rain, and then not expecting rain. I started to go to the high school to work with Jacob, but stayed at the shop to do those same tickets since it’d be easier there anyway, and Jacob didn’t really need me to hold his hand.
Diane at Crawford messaged me with badge printer trouble again, so I ran across town to take care of that. I was there just long enough for the storm to roll in, but that wasn’t all. Judy emailed Jeff and me that she needed to have a disciplinary meeting with me at 4:30. Everyone knows it’s no good to have a disciplinary meeting after hours. I knew they were terminating me right away.
I got back to the shop and told Zach, and then Tammy, and then Ryan. I felt like they were all as stunned as me, and we all kept going back and forth on whether it really was a termination or a writeup. It just didn’t make sense, but I could play it out either way in my head. I’ve heard of more and more distrust lately, and frankly I think it bit me.
I asked Zach to be my witness, and then asked Greg and Justin since they were there as well. For a moment I thought I’d actually have a group to support me.
Nobody else was around, so Zach and I went to Arby’s for a nauseating lunch, only on account of my anxiety. I was glad I ate though, because not eating would have made the long night even worse. We made it back to the shop, and I tried to be useful until quitting time. Gary and Thomas had been at training all day, but came back in the afternoon.
When it came time for me to walk across the street, I went to say some goodbyes, and Thomas hugged me and said he didn’t know what they were going to do. I figure that was an untruth at best, because I’m pretty sure he’s the only one that raised the flag at Central Office in the first place.
Justin beat me to the office, and we went in to find Judy. She was running all around, and was acting lighthearted enough that I sort of got my hopes up. Jeff was just solemn-faced the entire time though, and we sat down at the table in his office. Judy said not to read too much into the timing of the meeting, which prompted me to ask if they weren’t terminating me. She replied that she didn’t say that either, and I felt yo-yoed around. In the end, she presented me with a page that accused me of purposefully hitting an employee with my vehicle on school property.
I kept it together and took my licks. I think she was trying to help me at least a little bit. We left and I spoke with Justin for just a moment before going back to the shop where Thomas and Gary were talking. I was pretty sure Thomas was shocked to see me badge back in, but I don’t know who else would have disabled it. He offered condolences and help, but I figured it was too late for that. Both Judy and Thomas said it was fine for me to have badge access all night to clean out my office, which seemed very out of the norm. Very little of the afternoon made any sense at all.
I went home and talked to Ben while I waited for Summer to get the kids home. She beat me to Gardner, so I ran back across town and we got to work cleaning out my office. Then Brody called me and we talked while loading the car. It was big stuff first, and we made two trips back to the house. Kevin called me to get the scoop as well, but didn’t have a whole lot to add that I hadn’t already heard. After we unloaded the second time, we went to Chick-fil-A for some dinner. Then I let Summer take the Montego home while I went back for one final load of little stuff that had to be boxed up. I was out until well after midnight, but I got it done.
Once I had my nightly routine finished, I headed up to Summer’s to crash for a few hours until it was time to take the kids to school in the morning.
Seriously, could you have whipped that pen out any faster?