Bullying

still exist in the workplace. I was the subject of this awful behavior and it does not feel good. For all of my adult life, this has not happened to me. I hear of it happening to other people or co-workers and I tell them to fight back and write a letter or report them. I hardly ever find out the resolve of their problem. But when this happened to me? I felt the violation, the urging, the pushing, the intimidation and I needed to write my own letter to a superior. This behavior has to stop. My letter writing caused several other co-workers to write similar letters of their own. A Supervisor contacted me two days later and stated that he will remedy this problem. I am not sure of what the plan of action is or will be but I do hope for resolve soon. There should be ZERO TOLERANCE of bullying in the workplace. ** Names have been changed to protect those at work ** Good evening, I am writing to inform you about an incident that occurred this morning before the start of my 7:30 AM shift. As usual, I clocked in and checked to see what my assignment was for the day on the schedule board located outside the Supervisor's office. The board stated that my assignment was to be in MOD 2 Additional Services or the "C" position located in the Lobby behind the Ticket Counter. I had a few minutes before the start of the 7:30 AM briefing and proceeded to the board in the hallway to see if they had posted our new bid shift sheet for May 2014. I was talking with a co-worker, Scooby*, about what shift we picked. As I was talking with Scooby*, Service Director Sheena KweenBee* interrupted our conversation without a "hello" or "Good morning" and TOLD me, rather abruptly, "When your shift starts at 7:30 AM, I need you to go out to the "Ticketing Position" in MOD 1 to relieve an agent out there who hadn't received a break yet, she's been here since 4:00 AM"! I replied, "I want to go to my 7:30 AM briefing". She retorted very tersely, "You don't need to go to your 7:30 briefing, just go and relieve that agent"! She added, "You can go to the 9:00 AM or 9:30 AM briefing, but I need you to go out there when you start at 7:30!" I replied, "I am going to my 7:30 AM briefing, there are a lot of other agents that can go to the Ticket counter to relieve that agent"! She then loudly stated, "I'm going to go talk with DooWright (Supervisor AM) and see what she says!" I replied, "Good, I'd like to hear what she says too!" By then, our briefing had started and I felt like I was being intimidated and bullied by being "targeted" due to the fact that I am "pre-merger", a Continental Airlines agent, being forced to do a job that anyone else can be asked to do. I was angry and upset by this intentional act to leave me out of a briefing (which I always attend) while at least 15 other agents (probably 3-5 of them I have Seniority over) were available for the task. I take pride in myself by always being available to help my co-workers. I frequently sign up to be a mentor and I take this job very seriously. Starting off the morning feeling bullied, harassed and then working for 8 hours is toxic. It is not a good environment for anyone and I don't feel like I performed to the best of my ability today. Thank you for taking the time to read my email.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Every time I hear a story about an airline incident, directly affects me due in part that I work for a major carrier and I interact with all of my passengers on a personal basis. The conversations between myself and the passengers and their families only make me part of their families for a few precious minutes. To be on the ground and then to fly hundreds of miles in a metal container and what happens is beyond anyone's control. Accidents such as this "hits home" for me. My heart goes out to the families and all those affected. It's been a few weeks and speculation is rampant due in part because they can't seem to locate the aircraft or it's passengers. They brought scientists in to map the aircraft's route, they have been "combing" the passenger list to see who might be a terrorist, speculation is on the crew, the cockpit, the passengers, the aircraft and all those involved with Malaysian Airlines. The list goes on and makes it all the more news for the media. The waiting for any little piece of information to be given to the families, the hope and the unknown that they must be going through. I tense at these incidents of airliners. I, too, am hoping for recovery. To put the families mind at ease and the passengers soul to rest as to what cause that might have happened. My deepest condolences and prayers to all. ***************************************************************************************************** (This is the last coordinates according to Wikipedia - 01:34 02:15 18:15 Last primary radar contact by Malaysian military, 200 miles (320 km) NW of Penang, 6° 49′ 38″ N, 97° 43′ 15″ E)

Milestones

My son, Manny, bought a brand new 2014 car this week.

It came as no surprise because he had been talking about buying one for quite sometime. Not long after passing his drivers licenses, it was about a week later that he had gone with his father and friend to shop for a car. He found one and it looks like he made a good choice. Compact, economical, sporty and he fits it well. He came over for a visit and to pick up a Fed X package he had been tracking containing his brand new laptop! In his short years on this earth, he has completed many "firsts" in his young life as have all my children. Now comes the worries about other crazy drivers, distractions and fear that all mothers go through, which our children will never understand until they have children of their own. We talked about his next step in the Air Force and he stated that he has been "extended" again until August but now he has to move out on his own and find an apartment with a buddy of his. The AF will give him per Diem monies that will cover some of the cost of his rent. He will need it if he to meet the monthly payments on his car. He seemed worried about something but didn't want to talk about it at the time. As he looked through my food pantry at home, he declared that he was hungry. I told him there wasn't much in the house but there is an "Inn-n-Out" down the street from us. Besides, I wanted to ride in his cool looking car. It handled very well and he seemed very comfortable to drive in it. He showed me all its features and was very proud of what he had worked and saved so hard for. He was a little anxious to get back on the road and left after dropping me off at home. We said our goodbyes and wished him well on his drive back to Fairfield. I'm very proud of my son and all his accomplishments.