Stood up at work

[itiswhatitisn't]

BG: So I work 7:30-3:30.  Best for traffic and then i can get to the gym before dinner.  Been here for over two years and that has never changed.  My boss knows and accepts this and it works well as I can start experiments early and have results to him by the time I leave, giving him 1.5 hours to go over any data before he leaves.

So last week we figured out that a major prepping step was left off a project.  I have to add a solution for five days, every day, and the prep is complete.  Everyone thought this was done offsite and it wasn't.  No communication as to who was in charge of this and yesterday it became clear at 2:30 that I was going to do it.  So the guy who made up the solution last time-it's difficult and I won't go near the powdered form of the chemical because it's not great for women-tells me it's in the freezer.

So I go to the freezer and see the chemical and 3 unlabeled vials that really look like the solution.  I"m almost 100% positive.  But it was wrong to pick up an unlabeled vial.  But no more wrong than to make solutions and not label them as that's a safety violation. 

I"m halfway done when I stop to talk to the solution guy.  He has no idea what's in the vials.  He thinks it may be oil.  I remember him remaking the solution and tossing any suspect vials last time.  But he doesn't.  So he wants to start over and make fresh solution.  This will take an hour.  It's now 3:20. 

I tell him I can't.  That I have a appointment at 5 and ith traffic heading north I need to leave at 3:30.  he gets all bothered and says I can't tell him at 3:20 that I need to leave at 3:30.  I point out that I always work until 3:30.  7:30-3:30 are my hours and I plan my appointments accordingly.  I.can't.stay.

I stopped by my boss's office on teh way out so he'd know what was up and pointed out that on any other day I'd stay, but not this one.  And I actually left.  I figured that a lack of planning on their part did not constitute an emergency on mine. 

[rashea]

Good for you. Generally I would say that you should have stayed, but his attitude makes it really clear that leaving was the best option that you had.

What did your boss say? I wonder if the unlabeled solutions bothered him more.

[itiswhatitisn't]

Yeah, the unlabeled solutions bothered my boss way more.  He understood I couldn't stay.  I come in early and stay late whenever needed.  But the solution guy wasn't my boss and I knew he was having a bad day and that I had just added to it.  Getting out was the safest thing.

[TootsNYC]

so you can't stay.

What's the diff? You'll start way early tomorrow, and by 10am, you'll both be in the same spot.

If he starts at 3:20, when will he finish them? Let's say 4. And if you started them then, how far would you get before 5? And if you came in at 7:30, and they're ready for you, at 8:30am, you'll be as far along as you would be at 5pm.

This way, he can make up the solutions, double-check his work, methodically label them, and they'll be ready for you in the morning.

Good for you, standing strong on your schedule.

[Mrs. Pilgrim]

Egad.  I always hate the "not a team player" manipulation that people try to use.  I'm not talking about the "team" where everyone pulls his own weight and tries to stay on target; I'm talking about, as here, the "team" where one person busts backside on a regular basis but still has to put in the extra effort because the rest of the "team" messes up.

Good for you on your stand.  Most people wouldn't have the spine.