Okay, yeah, I know I don't drink. The title is fitting though.

I worked at the Winfield shop today, doing some computer work. I got a good portion of it done, but I'm far from finished. I had to pull 2 100 foot runs of Cat5e by myself, I had to set up and configure a new laser printer, I had to work with a software vendor on the phone to get the software to play nice with the new printer, and I had to figure out WTF I'm going to do for the network once I get it started.

I started at 9:00 this morning and had to call it a day around 4:45, load up my car with oil supplies for the shops down this way, and make it to both shops before 6:00PM with paychecks.

The shop policy is that paychecks are delivered at 6:00PM, every other Friday. Employees are responsible for cashing their checks or depositing them in a bank account. Because most everyone has a bank account, it's not a big issue. However, there is one employee who does not have a bank account, and he feels that it should be our responsibility, as management, to either modify the schedule to allow him to cash his check during business hours, or cash it for him.

First off, the schedule is the schedule. Sure, at the Rensselaer shop, I allow the guys to go cash their checks, but only because they all bank right there in town. The time they take out of the day to go cash their checks is minimal, and we have no shortage of staffing to allow them to do so. In Wheatfield, it's a bit of a different story.

What everyone has done is they've established a checking account, and they just drop their checks off at the bank in the night drop. Others have done all of that, but they have a family member drop the check off for them. This one employee hasn't done so, even after being told by the president of the company, the lady that signs his paycheck, that he is required to establish a checking account and that we cannot work around him cashing his check any longer.

This morning I got a phone call from him, asking me to cash his check for him or show up at the shop early enough that he can leave and take care of it. Problem 1: I can't sign his check and cash it for him. Problem 2: I had to go from the Wheatfield shop to the Rensselaer shop to deliver their checks before 6:00, so I wouldn't have been able to stick around in his place. I told him that I couldn't make him any promises, but I would see what I could work out. Well, what I worked out after talking with the boss is that he was responsible for getting his check cashed or deposited in his bank account on his own time. When I showed up at the shop, he was complaining that I was too late and that he didn't have money for gas in his car, yadda yadda yadda...

Here's how I feel: It's not my problem.

He has had ample time to open a bank account, and has even been told by the corporate president that he is required to and that we would not work around him to take care of it. For him to ask me today to take care of it for him took a lot of gall. I'm the manager, yes, and I take care of my staff, yes, but I don't baby anyone. He knows that, too. Every time I have been responsible for training someone, I've thrown them in head-first, and they have turned out to learn a lot and become very self-sufficient, which is the goal. Unfortunately, I've not had much part in training him, so he's not turned out that way.

Don't get me wrong, I will help my guys out when they're in trouble, but for something so repetitive like this, something so small, even when he claims he has no money for gas, is just like a gong - it means nothing to me. Heck, it's almost like him spitting in my face, asking me to do this for him. He has a day off in the middle of the week. He has a car. He has his own time to do things. Why the heck has he not done anything about this yet?!

That rant aside, I think I'm going to head to bed early or something. I'm worn out and I'm bored out of my mind.