Occupational Hazard?

I work in an office.  I am an office monkey.  I've never worked in an office environment til this past January, when I was taken off the floor in receiving because apparently the powers that be identified some kind of ability in me to oversee part of the office and troubleshoot problems that arise in the SAP system we use.  Of course I haven't actually received the promotion that goes in line with this job (but you can bet I do the work), but I'm hoping to by the end of the year.  In the office, as with all other areas of the warehouse I work in, we use mostly temporary labor.  I would say probably 75-80% of our workforce is temp.  I started out as a temp.  I think its a credit to our management there that we put out the numbers we do with very few actual company employees on-hand.  Many of the temps out on the floor in shipping and receiving have been there over a year, some over 2.  Its a good place to work, a very good environment.

So I stop off at work today even though I've been on vacation the last couple days because I have a camcorder I'm trying to sell and want to use the digital camera there to take a pic and post it up by the time clock.  So I get there about first break time and my bosses are outside enjoying the weather on a nice day, smoking cigars and whatnot.  I go over to say hey (and take the requisite shit about being there on a day off, even though they knew I was coming up) and just to bullshit in general.

I find out almost immediately that my boss fired one of the temp girls in my department that morning.  We've been having a hard time in the office with turnover, mostly because we are getting a bunch of 19 year olds who are only working because mommy and daddy told them to get a job and would much rather be partying.  We train them, rely on them, then they decide to start calling off and we have to cut them loose.  The other fulltime person in my department is going on maternity leave soon, so we need to have all hands on deck by the time this happen.  The last 3 hires we made I thought were good; however we now have only one of them left.  The first one was really good and was going to be with us through the end of the year when she went back to college.  However, she wound up getting a scholarship offer to play basketball for a college and had to give us her 2 weeks notice and split a few weeks ago.  We were glad for her actually, it was nice to see someone leave us to better themself and she was a very nice girl.  It hurt to lose her because she did a great job, but it was a good thing for her.  We had a second girl in place who seemed good, but there was a maturity thing lacking that was concerning us (this is the one that got fired).  The third one we had in place was a replacement for the third girl and seems to be working out fine, with a good attitude. 

I should mention at this point that the only things we expect from people we bring in is to learn the system (we train very well, no one has ever not learned it), show up every day, and take the job seriously because we need people we can rely on.  Not exactly strict guidelines, just common sense stuff.  We also pay well for a temp gig, $11./hr to start.

So about this girl that got canned today.  She just turned 20 and had a kid in May with her bf who was 31 and had 4 kids of his own already.  Lots to do there, but none of my business.  I started to notice things though, like for example when her birthday came around she told me next year her bf told her she could choose between Vegas and Hawaii for her 21st birthday.  I commented that dude must have some cash, and she was all happy and said that yes he did.  Thats nothing out of the ordinary (especially if he has 5 kids, those aren't cheap), but later in the week she asked if she could take her lunch later in the afternoon so she could pick her bf up from work.  I had to tell her no, because the afternoon is right in the heart of the busy part of our day and we couldn't lose her for 30 minutes.  I should mention that a few days before she mentioned something about her bf being at the temp agency looking for a new assignment.  I had thought I misunderstood her, because I don't know many temps who can support 5 kids and vacation in Hawaii.  So about the lunch thing...she comes to me later and says that her bf is working at the warehouse down the street a bit and someone there was dropping him off at our place, would I mind if she ran the keys out to him when he came up?  Of course that was fine, but it just seemed off.  There was something in general about her that was...off.

So then later in the week she got a flat tire.  She told me she hit a rock and it probably punctured it.  That happened to be the day I left early in search of a doctor when my ankle was all jacked up. and on my way out I saw my bosses out there explaining to her that she couldn't sit out there waiting on her bf to come, she had to come inside and actually, you know, work since she was being paid.  See some odd signs there?  Well, from what I was told later her bf rolled up, total gangbanger from head to toe.  Then she told him that she didn't know what happened, it was flat when she came out for lunch.  I guess he still screamed at her and pitched a fit etc, which would explain why she lied.

So I find out today that yesterday she didn't come in, she called her agency and said she had some kind of family emergency downstate.  However her bf was seen at least 3 times cruising through our parking lot, obviously looking for her.  She just didn't show up today and I guess he was seen again in the early morning looking for her.  Big mess there.  So they had to contact the agency and make sure someone from there was up by us Monday to prevent her from coming on the property (since she probably hasn't called anyone and doesn't know she's been canned) and to pack up her personal effects and remove them from our office.

I'm guessing she probably took the baby and bolted.  I'm not making light of this situation at all, because I'm sure she's in a very hard spot and I feel for her.  But there's that old saying "lie down with dogs, get up with fleas" that I think applies here.  Plus (and thus the title of this blog) we're kind of hoping he doesn't come up and find her there and start shooting.  Cause that would suck, and because my cubicle is between her's and the door.  :(

So anyway even though I wasn't supposed to be at work today I had to go talk to the one remaining girl and explain to her that its all in her hands now.  She's been doing great (she has been, and I've told her this before) and she now has the long-term temp assignment.  And she better not flake out on me lol.  Yeah, I actually told her that...something like "Its all you now, so you better not flake out on me and disappear because I need you here...the job will be your's as long as you want it and as long as it exists as long as you just keep doing what you've been doing".

So yeah, just hoping there's not going to be a shooting at work.