Take a seat... the rest of the story...

... and  make yourself comfy please... and thanks in advance for your patience...

The saga continues… I will try to shorten this, but it will be tough as it is a very, very long story… Make sure you have time before diving into this...

I was scheduled to teach in Tallahassee a couple of Saturdays ago, and as usual the business manager "CC" booked me into the worst motel in the whole area. I was literally the only white person there, and the only person over 20 years old, just to set the stage for you... I am sorry if this makes me sound like a racist, but put a 53 year old white man in a motel occupied my a couple of hundred black youngsters and you will get the picture… and as the night progressed bus load after bus load of college kids arrived - apparently there was a large track meet that weekend. Kids running around banging on the doors and windows, mine included, jumping from the railing onto the landing, screaming at each other, yelling, squealing tires in the parking lot, boom boxes blasting... the list could go on and on... and the poor little girl running the night shift had no way to begin to control any of this.

 

Totally fed up, I thought I should try and make a move since it wasn't getting any better, and was actually getting worse. Trucks full of sporting equipment were arriving, more kids every few minutes... out of control. The one adult I was able to find and talk to said that the regular coaches would not be arriving until the morning; he was a substitute and was "doing what he could" ... which was nothing at all.

 

I went online and started calling the motels in Sea Schools "price range" which, according to CC is less that $70. They were all full, and the desk clerks said it wasn't any quieter there and one said he had already had to call the police twice. I called the more expensive motels, and they were all full.

 

I called CC - she said "I don't know anything about Tallahassee" and "I don't know what to tell you" - great... how many times has this school sent instructors to teach in Tallahassee over the past 30 years??  … And she doesn’t know anything??

 

I called the husband and wife owners of Sea Schools - they said "Go to another motel" and "I don't know anything about Tallahassee" and “I don’t know what to tell you” I asked if it was possible to just cancel the class, since it was only 5 students, and reschedule for the next weekend when there wasn’t a track meet in town… they never even considered it… just “no”

 

So, no help from Sea School , and no place to stay in Tallahassee that would improve the situation, and the motel becoming so crazy that it was frightening (I had to tell some kids to get off my truck.. they had lowered the tailgate and were using it as a seat) I checked out, told them  to refund the credit card, and started driving looking for a place farther out on I-10. I had taken 2 Tylenol PM’s and had drank Nyquil trying to knock myself out so I could stay there and teach in the morning, so driving around wasn’t on my agenda. After 70 miles I was at Hwy 231 north, it was 2am, I had checked 3 motels, all full, and I was exhausted and disgusted, and being about 2 hours from home I went home. I got home about 5am.

 

That morning, after about 2 hours sleep, I called CC and told her what had happened and wanted to talk to her about having Dana fill in, being as he is only 1 1/2 hours away, notifying students that the instructor was going to be late, etc. She screamed at me on the phone "I can't believe you did that!... GOODBYE!" and hung up and wouldn’t answer her phone. I called Ron, and he proceeded to chew me out and tell me that "I don't care about the instructors, I care about the students" and other great stuff like "You should have slept in your car" .... which is illegal, but I guess if you don't care about your employees that doesn't matter. He also said that “you were planning on cancelling this class all the time weren’t you” … I told him “It would have been a lot easier to just call in sick from my house or tell you that I had car trouble if I was planning that.. I sure wouldn’t have driven all the way to Panama City, picked up the teaching supplies, and then driven all the way to Tallahassee” (you dumbass… didn’t add that though)

 

I am blown away by the total lack of concern and no support at all... and then blame me for everything. Ron said "Well, *I* would have done something" and I said "yea, what???" and he said "I don't know, but something!" ... uh huh. Easy to criticize when it's not your ass out driving around some place you know nothing about at 2am and you're exhausted.

 

So… they stopped paying me… no calls, nothing.. just cut off my pay…

 

I have prayed that I get the new job... it keeps me here in Columbus, I don't have to move, I don't have to change churches, I wont have to constantly miss church because I am on the road... which has been a major factor in all of this... and after this last episode I simply cannot deal with motels or these people at that company at all any more.

 

So... I was sitting there that morning, praying... only 2 hours sleep, wishing I had someone to talk to, wife is at work, and thinking “I sure wish I knew Davids (my preacher) phone number and he calls! He was calling to tell us that we were to bring some food to church on Sunday, but I know that God told him to call me! I told him, through lots of tears, what had happened and the new job and all of that, and he said we have to wait to see what God's will is, and if the interview on the phone on Tuesday or Wednesday goes well and I am hired then we'll know! I asked what he thought of this incident and how hurtful the Sea School folks were and he said that it may have been Gods way of making sure that I wasn't wishy-washy about the change of jobs... He may want me to take the new job and wanted to make sure that the new path was clear... whatever happens, happens, and just know it is all in His plan...

 

Here’s where this saga gets even weirder…

 

So, the interview went very well, and the person offered me the job and said it would be final when corporate called me… He wanted me to take over as District Manager after learning the ropes for 90 days… so, corporate never called, so I called and the guy who hired me never returned my calls. Then I get a call from the District Manager, who I am supposed to be replacing in 90 days, and he tells me all the paperwork is done and I start the route job on Monday. Not wanting to divulge what was (supposedly) going on behind the scenes, I accepted and went to work.

 

The District Manager said that he was having some procedure done to his back and would be out of work on Monday and Tuesday and that the Area Manager from Atlanta would ride with me and we would do the route on Monday and Tuesday.

 

Ready for this? … I am riding along, doing the route on Monday and I asked the Area Manager about the guy who originally hired me for the District Managers job and he says “Oh, he quit” … I asked if he knew about my being hired for the District Managers job and he said he hadn’t heard anything, so he calls his boss, the Regional VP and he knows nothing about it at all. GREAT!! I told the Area Manager that I had I had told the guy who hired me that I can’t live on the lower pay of a route driver, but would tough it out for 90 days until promoted to District Manager… now here I am running a route at a fairly low rate of pay I wasn’t totally truthful about not being able to survive on that pay… I can, but barely… I think.

 

So, I do the route for 2 days with the Area Manager, and we got along great… and he seemed to be impressed with my abilities and asked me to give him a resume’ and that he would be meeting with the Regional VP on Friday April 12 to discuss me, the District Manager situation, and replacing the guy who quit without telling me anything about his plans for quitting when he hired me. He did say that it had been discussed a few times about replacing the District Manager because he doesn’t have the managerial or sales qualities they need for the planned expansion of the company… and he liked my sales and managerial experience on my resume…

 

So… I do the route with the District Manager that I thought I was hired to replace, and the guy was great! He taught me a lot was very easy to get along with… the customers on the route love him! Talk about some contradictory feelings… here is the guy I want to replace and he is doing a great job training me…

 

I am trying to keep a positive outlook on this… count my blessings… I have a job, it is something I know I can do well, it is a lot easier than the Frito-Lay route I had but with the same things that I liked about Frito-Lay like driving through the country side of Georgia, meeting and greeting customers with small businesses, being independent, etc.

 

I am confused about my feelings on this though… I mean, I am no longer sure I even want a District Managers position if they just plan of firing this guy who has been there 11 years… I don’t know if they even counseled him at all… and it sure seems like he will be blindsided if this happens… On the other hand, the District Managers position is one I could do very well in… at a lot higher pay.

 

Sorry for the length of this… and if you somehow read all of this thank you for your patience!

 

So… what do you think about all this?

Do you want a honest answer? By you leaving that night and not doing your job tells me that you are in no way ready to handle a management job. I sure wouldn't tell your new employer about how you gave up and left. Was there not a phone in your room? Why didn't you call the cops if things were as bad as you say they were? Are you telling us you couldn't teach that class with little sleep? Really think about it you acted like a 6 year old no wonder they chewed you out. You showed no responsibility.
Now to your new job. Pay is not always the key to life. You have to do what makes you happy. What is weird, is now you care about this guys job and him getting fired and you didn't care about the 5 students that you let down by leaving that night.

"Was there not a phone in your room?" You should try actually reading the post... I said I called at least 3 times in my post. "Why didn't you call the cops if things were as bad as you say they were?" The cops were called repeatedly... by me and the young lady who was working the desk... they said they were swamped with higher priority calls and would not be able to respond to an entire city full of rowdy students. "Really think about it you acted like a 6 year" Wow... thanks for that intelligent reply... and I really appreciate the name calling too. You have 2 posts... this one and one other which read " Hey Barb another mn here." ... so I will consider the source and move on... have a nice day.

Hey,

Sorry you seem to be getting slammed.  Honestly, this board has not always been so short sighted.  I hope you are not offended and do come back. Just for the record, I concur with you and believe that Marc put his  stuff out there and should be man enough to take the criticism.  Just my  humble opnion.  So, come back and post again.

Hugs to you Marc. The entire situations sounds ghastly!!! The call from your preacher was timely and sounds like a much needed support for you.  The kids were out of control, their coaches were not doing their jobs, you made a good decision to get outta there. You must have been exhausted! As for the job - get some rest before you make a final decision. You are an intelligent man but we all make better choices when we are rested and feel well. Right now, you are neither. Poor Brother Marc. Talk this over with your wife, she may have some good suggestions.  This reply isn't giving you one bit of good advice. But, know your OFF Sisters are behind you 100%. Kisses Annette

Thanks sweet one... I appreciate it. I am leaving all of this in God's hands... when I don't I do stupid things It's an unusual situation for me... I know they were thinking of replacing this guy with me, and for my part I have just kept my mouth shut and concentrated on learning the job... either way, as a route guy or the district manager I have to know the job, so this is a safe decision. I have nearly 20 years of management experience and a lot of sales experience so that is what made the guy who hired me say that the managers position was mine in 90 days... then he quits! .... stay tuned for the next exciting installment of "As the Marc Turns" ... either way, I am employed and I am comfortable with the fact that I am not driving this boat... it is on God-O-Pilot and I am just a crew member

Wow Marc...what a horrible experience......I agree with your Pastor....I think this is a way for you to leave without regrets....you sound like a guy that really is loyal and has high ideals....but just go with the flow and see what happens......it will happen like it is supposed to  to happen....There must be a reason they are consodering "firing" the guy now......just keep your eyes and ears open and you may discover it. .. It is so difficult to be so out of control of your life.....when  you work for others it always is.....hang in there and keep in touch with us and we love you and only want the best for you as you are one of us. You have  a great deal of skills and it will work out...It sounds like the "Sea Schools" people are not your kind of people. They sound very greedy.....if they don't have an instructor they don't have any money.....they don't seem to cfare about your feelings......don't worry about "sucking it up"....it was just not meant to be.

Hugs, Marti

Thanks... I am just going to make it easy on myself and just do the best job I can, and let it work out the way it is intended... it just seemed so ... I don't know, weird!

Marc- Just my humble opinion: 1. Ignore ignorant posters!!!!! 2. Trust God and pray lots!!!! 3. Get some sleep!  4. Talk with your wife.! Smile, man, smile!!!

Marc, I think God has a plan for you. Just trust in Him and all will fall into place. Saying prayers for you...

Pat