The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Defense and Tactics => Topic started by: Ulmus on December 21, 2010, 07:57:29 PM
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I screwed up bad today with my situational awareness at work.
I knew that the supervisor had been grumpy over the last few days over us not getting a raise this year, but let it slip my mind.
So late in the afternoon I asked him over to look at a tree he had trimmed earlier. (I had been asked by the manager to trim off another branch.) I wanted to explain that the cut he made with the chainsaw was a bad cut and how to cut it so it has a better chance to heal. He said that he just couldn't cut it that way and I let it go.
I trimmed the tree the way I had learned in Horticulture school and proceded with the other. When i was done, the supervisor asked what was the difference in how I cut the tree and how he sis. A co-worker at his side was saying, "Let it go.", but I thought the sup was asking an honest question. I explained again how the way he trimmed it didn't allow the bark to grow over the wound and heal and that my cut did. He said it didn't matter, and I said it did because his cut causes the bark to warp out and allow for fungal, viral, and pest problems.
He exclaimed that he's trimmed hundreds of trees that way and wanted to point them out.
I said, fine, show me; but that style of cut can kill or take ten years off the life of the tree.
He then grabbed the chainsaw and hacked at my cut on both trees before throwing it down and walking away.
I was mad then and yelled at him, "How am I supposed to respect you after this!"
He answered, "Don't." And walked away.
I then called up the park manager to let him know that there was something wrong with the Supervisor and he should talk to him. (Obviously this is not a daily occurance. I was sincerely concerned for the guy.)
The Manager called up and the supervisor hung up.
Then after repeated calls, other workers saw him throw the company phone onto the street.
The manager told me to stay away from him. (Not sure how to do that when we both have to be in the shop to put away tools and clock out.)
Then the supervisor got into his truck and peeled out.
I soon heard he had turned in his keys and phone to the Manager, saying he was done. (But the manager is not taking this a the sup quitting.)
So what did I do wrong.
1 I forgot the guy was already agitated.
2 I procede to lecture him on how to do his job.
3. I failed to see I was angering him.
4 I became confrontational when challenged insted of de-escalating.
5 I stood there while he was in raged and using a chain saw.
6 I was even more confrontational after he used it. (Anger is stupid)
7 I forgot he had anger problems and had earlier destroyed a chair and tried to run over a homeless person with a UTV (Rhino)
Like I said. Failure!
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I could say don't let it eat you up, but that won't happen.
You nailed it more than once when you pointed out that something else is wrong. You were just the catalyst that set the chemistry into motion.
It doesn't sound like you were wrong in your pointing out the issue with the way he trimmed the tree. Maybe you pushed it further than you should of, but we've all been there when things escalate. I feel the best thing you did was to call the manager and make him aware of the situation.
Like I said before - You didn't light the fuse, but you did fan it along a little. As the fuse grew shorter you did your best to limit the damage, but it went off just the same.
Don't let it ruin your Christmas or consume you at work. Talk to the manager about any concerns, and move forward!
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By the way -
This is probably one that is better over on the Cafe. I think we could build a case for self defense awareness and violence at work, but not sure RP will see it that way ;)
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He should. I posted a while ago about a confrontation I had where a guy attacked me after my mom honked at him. Short re-cap, Mom honks and pulls into the driveway. The guy stops, backs up and comes storming over. I try to talk rationally. In retrospect, just like Ulmus' guy, the dude was probably having the worst day of his life. Rationality was out the window. Anything could have set him off. Not sure what the take away lesson is. But, it is worth noting that sometimes folks are beyond reason and nothing you can say or do will change that. Best to simply disengage if possible and walk away as de escalation probably won't work.
FQ13
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Thanks for the support guys. :D
It felt good airing it out and looking at it again to see everything. I have no problem with this being moved. I wasn't sure where to put it and figured the focus was on awareness, so it should go here.
This experience does help give a little nudge to have me call Swanson on pricing for their lever gun training.
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I don't think RP will have a problem with a situational awareness post.
They did a TBD episode with neighbor/friend that got heated - Mike had a knife, Rob had a gun - lack of space and letting things escalate turned out bad.
Creating space and trying to minimize the emotion had a better outcome.
Ulmus, as M58 said, I think you have been able to evaluate the situation now that you're out of it and see how you might have been mistakenly pulled deeper into it. Things can spin out of control fast when emotion and ego are feeding it.
I bet you can pick up on body language and phrases like 'let it go' faster now than before. We can all learn from stuff like that!
I've gotten into some heated exchanges at work before. They didn't get violent but some were pretty darn close.
I hope I'm older and wiser now and can keep my emotions in check before testosterone overrides my intellect.
Glad nobody got anything hurt but their feelings.
Thanks for the heads up.
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You posted "7 I forgot he had anger problems and had earlier destroyed a chair and tried to run over a homeless person with a UTV (Rhino)
And this azzhole still had a job ? That's attempted murder.
You aren't the one with the problem, the Manager should lose his job for tolerating this nut case.
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Ulmus, call me paranoid if ya want but if'n I were you I would be watching my back very closely. The guy sounds like a nut job looking for a place to go 'postal'.
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+ 1000 on what Hazcat said.
This guy is only a bad day away from being on the evening news. You did a good job of assessing what you could have done better in your exchange with him so don't let what is past eat you up. DO increase your awareness especially when this guy is or may be around. I teach a management of aggressive behavior course to healthcare workers and I tell every class that healthy paranoia (situational awareness) is the most effective tool they have to remain safe.
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SEE!!! I've been trying to convince my wife for years that my paranoia is healthy! :)
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SEE!!! I've been trying to convince my wife for years that my paranoia is healthy! :)
In Ulmus' case it might be. The guy does sound like the poster boy for "disgruntled worker shoots 6, self". I'm with Haz Ulmus. Carry to work, rules be damned. I might even be motivated to buy for the occasion. Something like a Kel-tec .32 that I slip in a front pocket and nobody will ever notice. :-\
FQ13
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FQ is right, even on choice of caliber since .380 was so hard to find for a while.
The fact that that is exactly what I do has nothing to do with it ;D
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Thanks again. It's crazy. Yes, he still has a job! He came in the next day, barking orders, and "punnishing me" by having me clean the bathroom. The manager wasn't going to be in for another half hour at the earliest, so I didn't say anything but ok just to make sure he didn't take it out on the rest of the crew.
The manager did talk to him (Read him the riot act) at the office for over an hour. He also told the supervisor that he and I have to talk this over and fix it. (Shouldn't the fixing be the supervisor escorted off the property since he quit the day earlier?) The supe said he did want to alk about it, but wanted to wait until tuesday so he could settle down and talk calmly because if he tried that day, he would fly into a rage again. So he left after that meeting (and giving me a creepy smile) and won't be back until tuesday. The fact that he has to wait a whole week to simmer down is disturbing. I do not trust this guy one bit. And I am very angry that the manager is giving him one more chance to lose control at work.
The one thing that is working for me is that his cousin (a co-worker and ex-cop) told me that he is so scared for his job he thinks he'll lose it even if I hit him and he does nothing.
So I will do it. I will talk to him and watch every single movement and make sure that it doesn't escalate and then I am going to take the entire week off from that point. I don't trust him. I don't like the fact he got his job back. and I am very angry that I am using the vacation time that I had set aside to take my dad to Sebring and use it to get away from there.
The manager and the guy that witnessed it both say I did nothing wrong and yet I'm the one getting crapped on for it.
I know the economy is lousy right now and that it will be almost impossible to find a job, but I am now looking.
PS: My wife owns a P3AT with two mags and I did by her 25 rounds of Hornady Taps defensive rounds.
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That P3AT needs to be in an easily accessible pocket.
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Ulmus I will give you three contradictory pieces of advice , but hey, I'm an academic, its what I get paid for. ;D
Seriously, the first piece of advice is to chill and not read too much into it. This might be a nothing and you wil have forgotten about it next month.
The second piece of advice, and unfortunately the more serious one, is to document every interaction you have had with this guy and the manager since the incident you described. Your post is an example of a contemperaneous record. Record times, dates and contents of meetings. Things llike petty retribution as in cleaning the bathroom. The fact you feel threatened and need to take leave. Tell a friend and a (trusted) co-worker this. If shit gets ugly, it will help you if you need to hire a lawyer if your work situation goes south. You shouldn't need to be looking for a new job. A good record should convince the boss of that.
Finally, there is the third piece of advice. If you honestly feel threatened, quit. Do it tommorrow. Screw the job. Its not worth getting shot over. I refer to suggestion number one, not blowing it out of proportion or letting us wind you up, but if you really feel this guy is a threat? Just walk away. Call a lawyer with what you've told us and you can probably score a severance package and a nice letter if what you've said is true. Seriously, evaluate the situation, talk it over with your wife, maybe call a lawyer and pay for an hour of his time and make the call. Going to work looking over your shoulder? Not ideal. :-\
FQ13 who has no real wisdom. I'm pulling all of this out of my ass (except the lawyer bit) but sometimes it helps to think out loud and we are always here to listen.
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Stop kicking yourself over this.
This man is supposed to be a supervisor you said...?
I assume he is at least of Adult age...?
And of Normal intelligence...?
Then the only one who is responsible for his actions is him.
I have been working the same job for two years without a raise and I haven't thrown a tantrum like a two year old, quit my job and run my rental car into a ditch.
So maybe he has had a bad day...but if he is allowing a bad day to turn into a bad week/month etc....then he is obviously not happy with his current employement and should be seeking a job elsewhere. And good luck to him with the current job market.
As I said...don't beat yourself up over the actions of this guy.
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You guys are absolutely right!
This is his fault and I need to relax and ignore it for a bit then come back level headed.
I've heard about "making book" and will start doing that now.
And P3 is where it needs to be. ;)
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Sounds like the supervisor needs to attend "Anger Management Training". For it to take him a week to get over an incident tells me that he is in the wrong position. If it were my company I would want a supervisor that could think with a level head under pressure.
You should definitely watch your back and I would document the whole scenario and any additional confrontations. I take it that the manager is regarding the possibility of you working in a "hostile environment"?
Take care