not me, a friend
who i shan't name, as it may cause him grief.
he's a fully-qualified animal carer and teacher. when he received his qualifications, the training school he was at offered him a job as a teacher at the start of the new term. of course, he accepted. being paid to do what he loved? hell, yes.
all through the summer holidays, he was phoning them to see where his contract was. "don't worry," they told him, "we'll get it sorted when you start." fair enough, thinks he, they know what they're doing.
the first day of the new term starts and my mate shows up for work. "sorry," the boss says, "we've been told we can't hire you as a teacher, we can't afford it. however, you can help out and drive the school bus." he wasn't qualified as a bus driver and the menial jobs they were giving him paid less than half of what he'd been promised. also, the boss had to answer to no-one, so she couldn't have been told not to hire him.
the next day, he found out why they hadn't hired him when in walked j, a much cheaper to hire trainee, who knew nothing about animal care and would regularly lock herself in a cupboard, crying that everyone was being mean to her. as a result, my mate ended up doing most of her work, which he wasn't being paid for, simply to ensure that the animals were being properly cared for. through that entire year, he was assured that, as soon as j's contract was up at the end of the year, he'd be given the job they'd originally promised him. so, he stuck around, worked hard and waited.
one year later, he walks in to work on the first day of term, only to find j still there, his boss still giving him bullshit, his hours not just cut but hacked and no chance of being given his promised job.
needless to say, he told them to fuck off.
i'd have done it a lot sooner.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Thu 10 Jun 2010, 16:46, Reply)