Side-stepping Responsibility

I was in a bad mood yesterday. Not one of those moods that makes you angry at everyone, just mad at a few people. We had a newspaper meeting yesterday - kind of a critical one, as we're doing layout and production all next week, and everyone was supposed to hand in their articles for me to start editing. I had talked to several people, all of whom told me that they would be there. No one came. Well, no one except myself, Professor B., and a new guy who found himself suddenly picking up some slack. I know for a fact that a couple people didn't show up because their articles aren't started yet (despite being assigned very near to the start of the semester), and I would guess that to be the case for everyone else. It would seem that there's just no motivation to do anything when there's no credit involved (I think I'm the only student taking it for credit this semester). However, the flip side of there being no consequences for a job poorly done, is that there are also no consequences for dropping out. If you're not planning to do anything, what's the point of burdening yourself with twice-weekly meetings (not that those seem to carry any weight anyway)? Just do everyone a favor and drop out. At least then we won't be expecting you.

Then, as if that weren't enough to put me in a bitter mood, I worked last night. That in and of itself isn't a bad thing. I like my job. But wouldn't you know it, people didn't show up. 2 people didn't show up at all. One of them had been in the day before looking for someone to cover her shift so that she could go to a football game. It would seem that she didn't find anyone, and just decided not to show up or call. In addition to the 2 people who weren't there, someone else left early (with the manager's permission) to go visit his mom in the hospital. So, being 3 people down left 4 of us to close the store and clean up. The 4 of us were a pretty motley crew, to boot (1 of us was having asthma attacks, 1 had severe abdominal pains - she thinks she has chronic appendicitis, and I had sprained my shoulder earlier in the day). Needless to say, we weren't able to get a whole lot done in the hour we had to clean things up, despite working pretty hard. So, if anyone happens to go into the Riverdale Old Navy today and notices that things aren't quite ship-shape, we really did the best we could! Again with the responsibility thing here, though. With 8-12 people scheduled at any given time and 40 total employees, it's really not that hard to find a replacement. It's even easier to call in "sick." If you know you're not going to be there, at least do the responsible thing and give the manager a chance to find an emergency substitute.

Okay, I feel better now. But seriously, (and I direct this to everyone on the newpaper and certain people at work) get a work ethic!