Big Mistake

During the interviewing process for this position, I told them that with a drive that long, I needed the flexibility to be able to work from home once or twice a week. Both One-Woman HR and the boss said "we know what you look like; of course you can work from home a few days a week!" And I said great, because I can't take this job if that's not a possibility.

So I've been working from home one day a week for the past two weeks. On Friday, I decided to do so because my car has been acting funny (it ended up being a $1000 repair for my steering column/power steering fluid leak, but that's another story - actually that's the whole story). So I emailed everyone at work and my direct boss/coworker said "O.K. Well, it would be great if you could come in because we are putting together and mailing the reports for today, but if you can't that's really alright." I told her about my car and that I could come if she really wanted me to but i would have to borrow someone's car. She said "No, no that's alright; don't come in." She gave me things to work on from home and I worked until about 6.

Today, One-Woman HR came in to my office. She didn't say anything, she just closed the door. At this point, I was eating a peanut butter cookie and looking at her like "What are you doing here? I'm eating a peanut butter cookie." The first thing she said to me was, "It was a BIG MISTAKE not coming in on Friday."

WHAT?

I stopped chewing, put the cookie down, and listen. THIS was going to be good. She ranted for a while about how the boss has been very sick (but I gotta be honest with you here, I have no sympathy whatsoever for him. I'm all about believing what you want to believe in and stuff, but when Christian Science is your thing and you won't see a doctor when you're sick, I mean...). My coworker has been sick also, and apparently, they were both here for 15 hours on Friday and could have really used my help.

"But they told me not to come in..." I said.

"They shouldn't have to tell you to come in to your job," she said. What?! After they've explicitly told me NOT to, yes, they should have to tell me to come in! Ridiculous.

Then she continued. "You know how we said you could work from home? Yeah, I don't see that working out. You have to be here every day from now on." I expected it to be followed by "young lady," but she continued instead with, "That being said, I know it's hard driving all that way and the reality of it is, we won't be surprised or offended if you decide to look around for something closer. I mean, I wouldn't blame you; driving can really wear on you..."

At that point, I felt a little bit like they were trying to push me out of the company. When she left the room, I was irate. I went into my coworker's office and told her that if she needed me to come in, she should have said so. She said not to worry about it. She would have told me to come in, but by the time they realized they needed help, it was 6:30 and she didn't want to call me in at that point. A little Nancy Drewing tells me, then, that she was not the one who was upset about me not coming in on Friday; it was my boss. And did have have the communication skills to confront me about it or even get the correct information surrounding the situation? No. He had One-Woman HR, his wife, talk to me about it, parent-to-child style.

The lesson of the day is, once again, that I really REALLY need to get out of here.