My ability to consent to this work activity was removed, and I repeated to Jerkface that I did not consent, and he said that was fine but I had to do it anyway. This knife-edge behavior, scared enough to schedule drills, not scared enough to take it seriously it has to stop. My unit was pretty strict though, so who knows. Do I normally condone lying? I love the advice to take two days and do something restorative. Sometimes I go through that employee if I really want to raise an issue, but I cant always count on their support. Perhaps we could reschedule. For some unknown reason, my school decided to get all the terrible feelings trainings done at once, so wed be subjected to trainings on school shootings, teenage suicide, and abuse and neglect issues all in a row. The drill was ultimately canceled after my employers legal counsel also reviewed the release and advised that an employer should not be asking employees to sign it. Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us. In cases like your school its more important that the adults know what to do than showing kids what to do/where to go. Attend events and functions, volunteer for leadership positions, and just generally be a positive presence within your unit. Hey [Name], sorry to be that person, but Im exhausted from everything going on this week. This means there needs to be a fair balance between times where you work, rest, and do what makes you happy. I cant fathom why that level of training would be required for active shooter response. My workplace has fire drills, tornado drills, etc. I spent a little time thinking about what I would do if we were robbed. He had no sense of humor about such things. cristina's restaurant salsa recipe. Im also just really curious about why the boss wants to have an active shooter drill given how cavalier he seems to be about it. To use this excuse, you need to make a story of how awful that Tinderdate went to be described later to the party host. Shorter, optional training for those who have not had experience could be useful for those who might need to think through where they would go and how to react. LW, your boss is being extremely blas about his staffs mental health. I suspect he died chomping on a fire alarm wire. Telling David a massive no straight to his face will come across as rude and will likely hurt his feelings in the process. 100% agree with Alisons statement that active-shooter drills are counterproductive. Thats such a heartbreaking thing to hear and yet, I understand why shes thinking about it. They were clearly making an effort on all sides not to alarm the kids, and my own kids were totally oblivious that anything was amiss. I found out by accident that our in person Non Violent Intervention training at another facility was PHOENOMENALLY triggering for me and I am keeping all of these in mind because I would have to get an accommodation. All we can do is raise awareness, look out for safety hazards, and hold fire drills and practice our escape routes once in a while. But something I didnt consider is that these were only done virtually due to Covid, meaning there was nothing to act out, you were just meant to talk over with your coworkers/students how you would act. Hey [Name], I wouldve loved to have gone out tonight but Im currently. Try Grammarly Premiums AI-powered assistant here. What interests me is this is a mass shooting drill, not an active shooter drill. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. Yes, there are employers who know or try to get around laws meant to protect Reservists. I know your boss is a big influence in your life/career now but he wont be there forever. The good news is that shameless excuses exist. Here's a list of foolproof excuses that are sure to get you out of any weekend plan. My elder kid went through a shooting at their workplace a few years ago. Seven hours is unbelievable, but sounds more like a training event for the police than your workplace. An avian flu outbreak was even the disaster they had to simulate! Hes that cavalier about mass mayhem?? Creating an outer impression of niceness is not that hard if a person has halfway decent social skills. The conference was originally scheduled to take place during AT but when they learned I couldn't go they rescheduled it for specifically me. They make you practice barricading doors. but never a real simulation. You're going to an important family event, 9. Call in sick and dont ever apologize for it. Here's what to do: Look at your calendar and find a time that you are 100% positive will work. That said, there is a little bit of the risk involved because either you will end up making them feel bad or you will actually have to leave your house if they say yes. You mean before that 9am brunch? However, your commander then has it in his authority to deny you attendance of drills. This article was originally published on https://www.nevertherightword.com. Work from home dont only give you the benefit of only flexible working time and let you sleep a little later than normal. It took maybe 30 minutes total. We cover a LOT of material in one day. Wed sooner head for somewhere in Europe or Australia (where we have no ties) first. My high school did that as well. (Unless maybe it was kitty snuggling trainingmight be up for 7 hours of that.). You could also make up a fake relative, or say that you knew someone who died in x major shooting event. That makes OP the expert here, and Im sorry OPs boss doesnt respect that. and Youre Currently Waiting to Be Rescued by Your, make a call and tell them how your place is flooded with water and you need to fix it. The key to success is planning and communication. In fact, many units have had to cancel their Drill Weekends due to budget cuts and other constraints. There are some heinous examples of training going terribly because it is just some random person throwing a stupid plan together with no idea what theyre doing. I dont want to teach my kids to be afraid, but also dont want to misjudge a safety situation. Creative Market is the worlds marketplace for design. Are you getting a lot of spam which is very annoying and want to avoid them? I escaped HS 2 years before columbine was 8.5 mo preggo during SandyHook. Im sure Id feel differently if I had kids who were being repeatedly traumatized at school this way. And leaving them alone would be a big question mark to the whole face of humanity. Not to deal with the threat to the campus. "My parents." The blanks are left for you to fill, as you indirectly blame your parents for standing in the way of your weekend plans. *sounds like a mass-shooter drill from the jokes the boss is making. Practicing locking doors/closing windows, leaving the building like in a fire drill, knowing how your employer sends out emergency info and the basics of what to do are perfectly sufficient and are applicable in many situations. 4) Events start to fade, we dont want to be known by that one day, we can slack off on training. The prurient excitement exhibited by those conducting the trainingsand folks like OPs bossis a sickness in our society. The idea that I could be leaving them behind AND as a result, might never see them again because a twit with a gun he should never have had access to shot up their school is utterly unfathomable. training like that. So yes, after a while you realize not much will change and there is nothing you can do about it and you dont understand why people dont careand you never see any photos of dead children so it is almost theoretical and what can you do so you just get numb. #2 "I Have The Runs" the fact that we cant talk about that but have to do all this security performance theater instead AND cause additional trauma for questionable results makes me rage. I really hope this changes some day in the US. I was there for maybe 20 minutes in total before my shift supervisor missed me and came along to investigate. Im now almost 36 and Ive never held a gun, and aside from police (who have it bolstered), Ive never seen a gun in real life. Local law enforcement trains other law enforcement organizations. is not a good option even if traveling means going across two blocks. Ask for Forgiveness, Not Permission: The best way to be convincing when calling or emailing for a sick day is to TELL them you're ill and cannot come in, rather than asking if it's okay. 10 Reasons Why You Should Work From Home Today! When you look back on yourself even 6 months from now, youll be glad you did. All The Best Squid Game Memes For Those Still Reeling After That Twist Ending Thanks, Onward. So far theres no talk of a repeat but wow. Each person should be allowed to decide the risk-benefit of having the training versus the impact on their mental health. It was 3 hours of my life! Your boss is not a nice person. Full stop. We just went through a mass shooting event at my university, and I can tell you the only information we really needed was to follow campus alerts, and to know the safe locations in our building to lock down. OP Thank you for writing in. There is no value in this type of training. Or maybe if no one from your department is going to be there. There is zero reason to be doing this training. Its about 80% victim-blaming) with an actual drill, andI would not be able to. On a serious note this post and the sheer volume of responses speaking to this issue as being so common scares me so much. Youre under the weather, the end. No one likes drill weekend. Absolutely. Theyll know all the doors to block, all the hiding spots, all the weapons to hide. If theres a way you can make a suggestion for future years, our district moved to virtual trainings that we now have the ability to complete over the summer on our own time. We had a workplace training at OldJob that was a full day. Please keep me in mind for the next book club party!" The Fine Print: When you say that you miss your partner, the hostess could reply with a suggestion to bring them along. Woke up this morning for drill and my car would not start. I was out the day the training happened, but apparently it was just a cop lecture interspersed with scary videos. It is also a less confrontational and frightening way to approach those issues, putting the onus to explain on him rather than on you. You should probably go ahead and [Insert Activity] without me. One of our locations had had an employee shot and murdered in the block between the facility and the bus stop: another experienced a shooting in the street while an adjacent outdoor facility was full of children and families. If youve been in the Army for more than a year, you know that every unit has their own unique traditions. The peak factor was approaching 4.5 or I couldnt find a single driver in my area will work. Ive found most team building exercises to be futile for their supposed purpose anyway. And leaving them alone would be a big question mark to the whole face of humanity. My middle-schooler was completely ho-hum while describing how their orchestra room is actually the best place to hide because it doesnt have any windows (to deaden sound.). Elegant Themes have been building the world's most popular WordPress themes for the past 10 years, and rest assured their products will always be improved and maintained. Im a little bit too old to really be a member of the school-shooting-generation (in that I was in undergrad by the time Sandy Hook happened), and my impression when I hear my younger peers talking about it (and from some commenters in threads below) is that the pervasiveness (of both the drills and the threat) is what makes them so traumatizing for many people. this isnt an Im calling my lawyer so I can sue knee-jerk thing, its consultation on employment law and options when the obvious ones are made inaccessible for one reason or another. I am not sure I would have managed to remain calm if I hadnt already considered what would likely be going on, if there was a robbery. As for how to do it, realistically youve got four options: 1. So. Things have been chaotic and I need a little time to recoop. I also grew up in the earlier era of school shootings, before they did things like training for kids. I am well into Gen X and we did an active shooter training and I hated every moment of it. Tell the host a detailed story of how hectic your last week was with all the office meetings, official tours, and prepping up for the big seminar that went great today. Anyone attending Drill Sergeant school in June of next year? Im in charge of working with our local law enforcement to conduct an active shooter training. Looking to become a digital publisher like us? So better use that if its the 20th or later of the month. Im so sorry for what you went through, Doc of the Town. No job is worth having coworkers or your boss threatening to put you in harms way, joking or not. Its extra depressing and pointless when the core training package for a UK-based company with US offices includes active shooter modules. We managed to cover fire, health emergencies, active shooters, bomb threats, weather evacuations, you name it, all in the span of a couple hours. Look after yourself. Once I had to go down there to switch to a new bag of soda concentrate, which took a lot longer than usual. He may appear to be superficially nice but he is not kind. LW didnt really mention it as an option, though, so Im wondering if both her PTO and Sick leave is limited. To effectively use these excuses, avoid any unnecessary long details, and stick to your story. Would you mind if I took you out for some drinks another time? What could possibly take seven hours to cover for one topic?? Hey [Name], I think the snows probably going to ruin any chances of me being able to make tonight. All of these take about ten minutes. Also, your boss is not a nice person. We had a minor fire in our building when it was new, and management discovered the hard way that the alarms didnt sound on most of the 6 floors. As someone who has been in an active shooter situation all the training you do doesnt mean anything when the threat is real and all that training is going to do is disrupt the workday and traumatize employees. YOLO, you thought. They know what has been happening and alsoif you say you dont want to participate, that should be good enough. But really, call in sick. Fortunately weather intervened and caused the part of the activity with the anxiety trigger to get canceled, but I absolutely would have called in sick otherwise. I used to live in a country that had earthquake drills. Do they work in a higher-risk area or industry? See you in hell. What I really want is to skip it entirely but if I can, how do I explain this request/decision to my boss without disclosing my mental health struggles, explaining (in vain) the anxiety I feel about this training, or looking like the only person not tough enough to participate (as the only woman in my department)? (And get a pizza delivered to your address. Hearing it makes me think well, of course but I might not have thought of that when telling my staff about it. Everytown has some resources regarding that as well. From my recollection, they never talk about peoples legit reactions in the moment. excuses to get out of drill weekend Follow us. The next thing that could happen is getting an official reprimand. 9 drill periods in one year it typically starts the discharge process. Balance this wisely. First thought was to call in sick. But we do talk about it at home. Not a lot you can say to that. Joinover 3,000+ achievers who are committed to achieving their career goals!
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