Well, there's no use pretending otherwise. To-day I am being summoned to work to discuss the damning psychological report which found that a, I am grossly unfit to work with the general public, and b, I find "time management" extremely difficult too. The branch manager clearly hates me so it looks as if I am fighting a losing battle. It's interesting to reflect upon what kind of employer would want someone who is unknowingly rude at times and terribly slow but when you're that person it's by no means a pleasant experience looking for work. Even the National Autistic Society won't hire me! Needless to say that, upon receipt of the summons, I did nothing to find alternative means of income. I am already deep into my overdraft and it looks as if the Oxford English Dictionary, for which I have been saving on and off for five years, will have to be put on hold yet again.
A bank, any bank, particularly retail banking, is wholly unsuitable for me. I knew this when I applied and every moment through my training even to the day I went sick with stress. I disagree with the culture, the corporate mentality, the pace and tense of the day; I don't dislike the people but most of them are of my generation and therefore I have nothing in common with any of them. Am I to blame? When you're unemployed and you have debts piling up a job, any job, is a moment's breath. You stick with it because the grim reality, one's pretensions notwithstanding, is that there is nothing else out there. I am completely impractical. "Your trouble is you have no common sense," in the words of my kindly, tyrannical mother. I am also lazy. I don't like getting up in the morning. I don't like having to be somewhere against my will. I hate public transport and rush hour. All I want to do is write and stay at home. I know it's vain but my life has disintegrated since I left Morrisons. Nine years of relative stability, even if it came at the price of significant underachievement, gone.
It's just after six o'clock. I have been up since midnight. I am going to go over the report again before I set out at eight. What fun!
Sir, have you thought of applying to work in an NGO?
ReplyDeleteYou have my sympathy, Patrick. I spent five years working in a bank, straight from school. It was a miserable time and I'm sure I would have been asked to leave eventually had I not resigned.
ReplyDeleteYou need to make sure you are aware of your legal options. Make sure you get legal advice if you are threatened with dismissal.
ReplyDeleteWell, I haven't been sacked. But I am not allowed to return to work, based on the OH report, and I have lost the Income Protection claim against loss of wages...so I am not being paid either. They've said if I haven't found a suitable internal job within the next two months then they will look at terminating my contract.
ReplyDeleteYou might have a case for constructive dismissal.
DeletePatrick, come to America and sue the pants off your employer who discriminates against your "disability"; what fun you Brits have with your socialized society.
ReplyDeleteDo employers never exploit their workers? It's reasonable for the law to give protections to the employee against unfair treatment.
DeleteThis strikes me as monstrously unfair. You definitely have a case for constructive dismissal.
ReplyDeleteMy advice to you is to get a job in the civil service. It's full of weirdoes, and the only problem will be that most of them are a lot less intelligent and interesting than you are.