I’ve used this blog in the past to have a good moan or two about male colleagues, and damnit, I’ll do it again! At my current work site, there are four guards; three women including me, and one man. A lot of businesses and even heads of state are realizing that women make better guards, and a female-dominated or even all-female security team isn’t unusual anymore. Funny how they only noticed that after security wages got a lot shittier, but anyway…
*Shockingly*, the male guard at my site is the worst. He takes the least responsibility, subjects people to the most unnecessary hassle, is the worst rule-breaker, and is frequently late. My rant today is about the last one there.
We provide 24-hour security, which is covered by only two shifts at weekends. That means that whenever you are scheduled for weekends, you are on 12-hour shifts. Because this is a long weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving, or as I like to call it, Genocide Day), I am working three 12-hour shifts in a row.
The rule is you should be on-site, in uniform, briefed, and ready to take over at shift change, so most people have the sense to get there at least ten or fifteen minutes early in order to have time to prepare. He knows this and demonstrates that by both 1) being there ten minutes early 70% of the time; and 2) being constantly unsurprised when we show up early in order to relieve him on time.
The thing is, when you are relieving each other from 12-hour shifts, which are understandably heinous, it’s really not cool to be late. It never is anyway, because one shift can’t go home until the next is there and ready to start, but it is considered particularly bad form to be late on twelves. The women, if anything, make an extra effort to get there even earlier on weekends. It is so appreciated and such a loving show of solidarity to take actions that say: ‘Well done getting through that! It’s awful, isn’t it? I’m ready now; why don’t you knock off fifteen or twenty minutes early?’
This is even more true when there are seventy-two, instead of forty-eight, hours of this shit to get through. Anyway, you know where this is going, don’t you?
Yep, on the first day he swanned in at three minutes to. Then he had to change and whatnot, so it was basically ten past when I could actually go home. I didn’t really say anything; after all, what’s ten minutes? No worries, man. It happens. Not that he apologized, mind you. Yesterday, I relieved him a full half-hour early. I am not out to do him favours because I suspect it’s a waste of time, but I was there and ready to go, so why not? He might even notice the nice feeling and think a bit about reciprocity.
Or maybe not. After he was changed and was going out the door, this exchange took place:
Dude: ‘I might be a bit late tonight.’
Me: (looking pointedly at the clock, which was not to indicate his actual leaving time for another twenty-two minutes) ‘Huh?’
Dude: ‘I’m going to dinner at my parents’. It usually takes me an hour to get to work, and they live even farther away from here then me.’
Me: ‘Erm, leave earlier then? Seriously, I’m not really cool with you being late just because you’re going to dinner. I’m going to be exhausted and we still have another round of twelves to go.’
Dude: ‘Well, I’m just not sure how the buses work. Anyway, see you later!’ *leaves before I can say well fucking look it up.*
And the asshole was late. I reported him though, the minute his shift started and he still wasn’t on-site. By the time he arrived he knew I had called in, and looked ready to get pissed off at me. I just said ‘That was very disrespectful, (dude).’ He said ‘I *gave* you a heads-up that I would be late!’ and I said ‘And I told you that wasn’t a good reason. Now I have to be back here in less than twelve hours for my twelve hour shift.’ He didn’t have anything else to say but was clearly glowering.
I’ll relieve him on time today, but if he is late again tonight I am going to make a fuss. A big one.
This guy is only about twenty as well, but already he feels entitled to have women do his work for him. What is also frustrating is that if women try to pull off even half men’s typical antics we get the immediate smack-down from our employers. But when men do it? Crickets, mostly. No wonder they don’t care if they inconvenience their female colleagues.
