blkdragon

grounded
2005-10-05 20:50:27 (UTC)

A message: DO NOT VIOLATE MY SPACE

A repetitious snooze morning, did my usual, breakfast; the
gathering of my things for departure. Had to wait for Kenny
to arrive, we started the morning ok, the stacker began
malfunctioning and all hell would soon break loose. Kenny
wanted to finish the last skid of double parallel before
going into a Janney report, he wanted to start the report
by lunch, the malfunction would throw his plan off
considerably. We always seem to be under the gun with jobs,
guess he expected the report to take a few hours and wanted
to be done with it before I left for the day (3:30pm).
In the past, Kenny’s believed that the press and it’s
components have been sabotaged, I have to admit that I’d
believed the same, the problems that we’ve had seem to have
been initiated by someone familiar with this particular
press and that limited the possibilities to a minimum.
Kenny’s real good understanding the mechanics of things,
today would not be his most shining moment. He began
tinkering with the machine, he asked me to hold the table
up, he wanted to check the underbelly; there was no reason
he couldn’t do that himself, he only needed one hand. At
first I didn’t understand what table he was talking about,
this agitated him more. He has a tendency to be vague, non-
specific, expects me to (automatically) know what he’s
referring to. As a result of his repair attempt, things
were now worse, increasing his already growing agitation. I
decided to back away, didn’t want to be infected with his
attitude, I’m just returning from vacation time; it was
peaceful. I didn’t want to return to the stress often
associated with working with Kenny, not this soon. Kenny
tried many solutions to solve the current problem, nothing
was working, he went to inform Jack. Upon Kenny’s return, I
was talking to Carlos and Rob on the adjacent press, he
told me to empty the waste bins; got right on it. As he’s
realizing the problem in front of him, he decides to remove
the plates from the press, told me to clean them. I wasn’t
moving fast enough for him, I was on my way to get my
gloves, didn’t want chemistry on my hands; he mentioned
that I wouldn’t be going to lunch until the plates were
cleaned. I was tired of hearing the tone that said I
belonged to him and responded in kind, he told me
(heatedly) that he was tired of this shit as well.
I went to clean the plates, he approached me with an
insult, the rookie he’d had last week did a better job than
I; I was useless. This is the attitude he learned while at
Quad Graphics, that’s how he told me the pressmen related
to their staff, he quit there and brought the attitude with
him; he’s been hitting me in the head with it for the last
6 years.
I told myself before returning that I wouldn’t remain
silent anymore, I told him that he didn’t need me to hold
the table up, he had two hands.
We were both swearing, he seemed to be blaming the
malfunction on me, I walked away from him; began cleaning
the plates. He got in my face again, called me a tough guy
and said we could go outside, I told him that only one of
us would return; I won’t continue to be threatened. He
knows I’m not afraid of him, he approached me, got in my
face; our bodies touching. I told him to back off me, put
my hand out, made contact with him now; while backing away.
He snapped, reaching for my neck with both hands, I felt
them tightening on my throat; a moment of asphyxiation. I
was still in the process of backing up, while he had me
about the throat, realization must have set in; (I put up
no defense) he released me. I immediately left the area!
Kenny knew I was on my way to see Jack, he chided me as a
tattletale, we’re not children; at least I’m not a child. I
don’t insult the people I work with, I would never consider
putting my hands on a co-worker, I would never allow anyone
I work with to anger me to that extent.
I found Jack, took him off to the side and informed him of
what had just occurred, he told me he’d have a talk with
Kenny. A talk, I’d just been physically assaulted and he
was going to have a talk with my assailant. I’m sure if the
shoe were on the other foot, the police would be taking me
out of the building. I went to lunch, tried to read,
contemplating what I’d do after lunch.
After lunch I waited for Jack in his office. While waiting,
Kenny came into the offices inquiring about the report we
were supposed to be printing, he’d found out I was waiting
for Jack and came to verify. When he entered the area he
said, “alright, who do I need to slap around to get an
answer about the Janney job”? He knew I was in the office
and feigned surprise to see me there, he came in and
apologized for putting his hands on me, patted me on my
shoulder and said, “you’re 40 something, I shouldn’t have
to babysit you”. I ignored his lame apologetic insult.
Jack finally came into his office, he really wanted all of
this to go away, it’s not; chances are things are going to
get a lot worse before they get better. Jack told me that
Kenny and I had problems in the past that we’d usually
solve ourselves, he’s deluding himself, we didn’t solve the
problem; I continued to overlook the problem as Jack wanted
to do now. I’ve had problems with Kenny in the past,
usually I’d accept his half-hearted apology and continue
working, I need to earn a living! Kenny doesn’t have
problems with me, I don’t insult or threaten him! I told
Jack, as I told Kenny, an apology isn’t going to be enough!
Jack told me to go home, I wasn’t being punished, I need to
relax; he told me to call him in the morning.
I’m usually not at a loss for words, I didn’t know what to
say to Jack, when asked what I wanted him to do; Jack knows
the solution to the problem. Jack knows that assaults of
any kind in a workplace, by one person on another, are
dealt with in only one fashion. Immediate termination. I’d
mentioned how difficult the last two years at TVP have been
for me, having been threatened by both Ralph and Kenny,
simultaneously and now this.
Neither Ralph nor Kenny suffered as a result of the threats
against me, now I have to deal with physical violence. I
wasn’t hurt during the altercation, had I felt the
slightest pain, I would have responded with sufficient
force to damage my attacker. I felt that I could withstand
whatever Kenny threw at me, he was merely trying to
establish dominance, had I responded; it would be to
ERADICATE a threat to my survival/existence. I didn’t want
to hurt Kenny, I would if necessary. It took everything I
had in me to keep from responding, the fight or flight
response mechanism gripped me with an excess of adrenalin,
I couldn’t stay at the job without releasing the overflow.
Just got off the phone with a lawyer, I’m the victim of a
battery, my assailant is liable for a criminal suit and my
employer may be liable in a civil suit. My employer was
aware of a potentially explosive altercation involving
myself and Kenny in the past, they did nothing to keep
today’s assault from happening.
The dilemma, should I risk unemployment and the meager
award they’ll give, in lieu of a lengthy civil suit that
may not bear fruit enough to cover my economic hardship.
Should I charge someone I’ve worked with for the last six
years with assault and battery, albeit that he’s guilty, I
wasn’t injured. I’m getting tired of the world at large
believing that violating my personal space is acceptable.
The crux of the problem is the need to respond with the
necessary force to deter such a problem in the future,
getting tired of holding myself back when I want to be the
storm with no restraint for the fury!
These are not ancient times, the situation has to be
managed by the rules in effect, in the long run; I will not
be the one that’s fucked up Kenny’s life, I left that to
him. It’s generally the norm for two people to be close and
become the bitterest of enemies, I still harbor no ill will
towards Kenny, a lesson must be learned here; that would
make me the teacher.
You know, I could say why me, but if not me then whom?
Thinking: Jack asked what I wanted him to do, he could
reinstate my wage before the union bullshit, guarantee me
20 hours a week overtime; both conditions non-rescindable.
This would guarantee me $560 gross and $420ot, equalling
$980 a wk, minus $400 in deductions and I’d still walk with
$580. This would bring me to $3920 pr mo and $47k a year.
Someone needs to wake me right about here! A civil suit,
with the right lawyer and my diary, should net a greater
sum after trial; seems they’d choose the lesser of two
evils. The addendum: no termination without probable cause
and I’d never bring up the issue again. At $47k, I’d be
able to save enough in a short period of time to walk away
from TVP forever, never looking back!
I think I need to address the situation from a business
standpoint, not take it personal, make it an opportunity
that pays.
Just checked the employee handbook, threatening or
assaulting a co-worker is grounds for immediate
termination, seems we have bartering leverage. Not
terminating the two that have been the most stress for me,
indicates my rights being violated and opens the door for a
discrimination suit. The company would be beset by the
Labor Dept/Human Rights Dept and Civilly. This is getting
too deep.
On another note, "Pretty", welcome home; my heart will
never close on you.




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