There has been some pretty crazy weather all over the U.S. recently. It is always a big deal in the business world to try to stay open, have the employees come in, and not lose a day of work. I’ve never held a job on the business end of things, but somehow I doubt that a snow day costs a software development company so much money that it is beneficial to risk injured employees (who can’t come into work for several days after the storm and raise the insurance rates as a result of the injuries acquired trying to get to work during the storm) or employees who miss a bunch of work because their vehicles are damaged from trying to drive into work on a snow day.
The craziest snow day for me was when I worked at The Company. I love this story because it demonstrates the short-sighted greed and macho management that abounds at so many companies. On the other hand, it is also a story about the kindness of strangers.
The owner of The Company and my direct manager at the time are both “macho-men.” They also both live a lot closer to the office than most of their employees, so their risk of driving into work didn’t equate to the risk of most of us. One of the biggest snow storms in a couple of years was slated to roll into town, and they felt that people who couldn’t make it into work were “pansies.” The weather forecasters – also “pansies.” The decision to close schools – clearly made by “pansies.” Companies that allowed employees to work from home – run by “pansies.” The managers called their direct reports at home, early in the A.M., and told us, “Today is business as usual.”
Well, the snow was coming down pretty hard at my house. I didn’t want to stay home because we were told that if we stayed home it would be docked as a vacation day, not a sick day. It was the end of the year and I didn’t have any vacation days left. This meant I’d have to take the day unpaid. I had to go over some pretty major hills to get to work, so I decided it would be best to take the bus.
I bundled up, put on some heavy duty boots, and boarded the bus. The snow started to fall harder and harder as the bus headed for the hills. The bus slid around quite a bit going over the hill, making me really glad I didn’t drive. It took me about 1 and 1/2 hours to get into work instead of the usual 45 minutes.
By the time I arrived at work the blizzard was in full force. This was not a gentle snow. It was extremely windy – can’t stand up straight windy – causing the snow to drill into any exposed skin.
I walked into the office and ran across a co-worker who said “We are the only ones here. This is fucking crazy. ‘Business as usual’ my ass!” My co-worker happened to be from another town and drove about 45 miles that morning to get to work. As I made my way to my desk, I ran across my boss who informed me that he and the other macho man had changed their minds and closed the office. They were just calling people. I said something like “Crap, I rode the bus here! Now what.” He scuttled off before I could do something like ask him for a ride.
The other thing I haven’t told you is I wasn’t allowed a key to the building. The Company, being big on trust (sarcasm alert), did not allow me to have a key to the building. I had a key to the room I worked in, but not to the building. Unfortunately, I had to leave the building to get to a different building where the bathroom was. Also, to get coffee, lunch, water…I had to leave the building. The building had been locked, since it was now officially a snow day. This meant that staying at the office during a whiteout situation was not a possibility. (Plus, since it was an official snow day, they turned the heat way way down.)
As my manager pulled out of the parking lot in his cozy, warm car, avoiding any eye-contact with me, I trudged up to the bus stop. I waited. A guy and his son joined me at the bus stop. We waited. A lady joined us at the bus stop. All of us waited. The lady decided it would be best for her to walk back home. She left. The guy, his son and I waited. My toes lost all feeling. We waited. I started to think of alternatives. Maybe New Seasons grocery store would let me stay there? My friend lived in the next suburb over. It would be a long walk – could I make it? We waited.
A car pulled up in front of the bus stop and a man rolled down his window. “Hey, I’m headed downtown. My daughter waited for the bus for hours this morning and it never came. You guys want a ride?” I’m thinking, “Hitchinking in a blizzard, in a Honda Accord (no chains), over the icy hill that the bus slid all over (with chains). This is not a good idea.” The guy and his son jumped in the back of the Accord. “What the heck,” I thought, “if this guy is willing to risk his son, it must be ok, right?” I hopped in the front seat and buckled up tight.
I made it downtown safely. It turns out the man who gave us the lift was an attorney who worked downtown. An attorney! Attornies are the people that all those shark jokes are about?! A total stranger, an attorney, was more concerned about my safety than the two macho men I’d worked for (and done a damn good job, too) the last 3 years!
I was able to easily catch a bus downtown and head home. Four hours after I left that morning, the bus pulled up to my stop. I thanked the driver and stepped off the bus … into a 3 foot snow sinkhole. Keeeeerthump! I fell flat on my face. For effect, I rolled to my back, winked at the bus driver, and made a snow angel. He laughed, and took off.
I got to my feet and galumphed the two blocks home. By this point the wind was really blowing. I don’t want to say “gale force,” but between the wind and the ice, it was very very hard to remain standing. In two blocks, no less than 3 heavy duty pick-up trucks pulled over and offered to give me a ride. That is more personal acknowledgement (from total strangers) than the owner of The Company ever gave me in 4 years of work!
So…the moral of the story: People suck and people rule! Try to work for the people who rule!
Aside 1: check out this You Tube video from last week’s snow storm. Maybe these folks work for The Company?! Why else would you try to get down that icy hill?
Aside 2: Maybe a good question when interviewing for a job is to ask about the company’s snow day policy. It might tell you something about whether or not they treat employees like people (we’d rather have you miss a day of work occasionally than be seriously injured) or if they consider them to be resources (if it gets injured we’ll just get a new one).