Work from home dont only give you the benefit of only flexible working time and let you sleep a little later than normal. excuses to get out of drill weekend You asked about the information parts of the training, and I can say that I have learned some first aid in these sessions that provides a little peace of mind (wound packing, improvising a tourniquet, etc.) Thanks, Tell the host a detailed story of how hectic your last week was with all the office meetings, official tours, and prepping up for the big seminar that went great today. Some people believe working on the weekends is bad for your productivity. He likely is superficially affable, but what you have related is not at all the speech of a nice person. The problem is some people say This is horrible, we have to do something so kids dont get shot at school and suggest, to them, reasonable ideas like getting rid of automatic weapons or raising the age of gun ownership, etc. The point is, now, when you get the same news, and youre not as excited as you may have once been. As the World's Most Accurate Online Grammar Checker, Grammarly Premium goes beyond grammar to help you ensure that everything you write is clear, engaging, and professional. Just reading the stories in this letter and in the comments has given me nausea. But drills for fire alarms, tornadoes, shooters, etc are necessary in my opinion. Im sure its some package a security company sold someone. Or maybe if no one from your department is going to be there. Agreed, why is this training seven hours long? On my stomach lining, which makes me puke, nearly immediately. Yup, this works, so well that it kept me using makeup! It may help to know as a 5th option for opt out that the law enforcement facilitators will almost always offer the opportunity for individuals to opt out of simulation portions by self identifying at the very beginning of the training. Best practice is to allow people to opt out, for any reason. The site ate my previous post, so Ill do a shorter version. Having your dog eat chocolate means youre stressed, youre worried, you gotta take it to the vet, you gotta figure out if its OK. Theres so much going on! Some of them screamed when the police and campus security came in with the biggest freakin guns I have ever seen. This came up in the meeting: Run-Hide-Fight includes an active shooter inside the building targeting us, but what do we do for a shooter whos outside targeting someone else? This knife-edge behavior, scared enough to schedule drills, not scared enough to take it seriously it has to stop. That would put you on the other side of the experience, have no surprises, be exposed to the useful material, and feel in control of the day for yourself. Its not a video game. Since the official communication didnt call it mandatory Im guessing its not deny PTO-level mandatory. When I voiced my concerns, he made a few jokes about how he would simply redirect the shooter to a younger person, then asked if I was saying I wouldnt be able to take it. Absolutely nothing about this is funny to me, and this made me feel even more alienated. The half day will be for transportation. With a subscription you get 24/7, unlimited access to over 13,000 business, design & tech online courses and with a free month. Part of our run-hide-fight training is a very well-done, professionally-shot video set on our hospital campus. This means that if youre a devout member of a particular religious faith that has weekend devotion, you have the right to do so without fear of losing your job. I would be looking for another job immediately if my boss said that to me. Regardless of that, though, opting out should be a reasonable accommodation for anyone with cause to believe the training will have mental health ramifications for them. I have never ever called in sick for any reason other than actually being too sick to leave my bed. how do you handle being pregnant at work? However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. So I can see the value of having people exposed to, and not react to, something like a helicopter or other distraction. I have interceded on employees behalf from that position many times, i.e. Apologize for not making it upto them,but you cant do anything about it? 5. I got upset, started crying, and had to ask to leave. Well. If your employment requires that you work on the weekend, organizing a spontaneous weekend away might not be possible. Another pro-tip for basic make up: if you want to pick out a lipstick/tinted lip balm that will look good on you, apply the sample to the tip of your middle finger then pinch your finger just above the first knuckle. Have a great night. A chemical material handler from HAZWOPER? So it just doesnt arise as a thought in the way that, say, the possibility of sexual harassment or sexual violence is always part of my situational awareness. My organization has gone through several stages. Hey [Name], my stomach is not in the best of conditions at the moment so its probably best for everyone if I stay at home this evening. Its similar to gallows humor. Im a designer-by-day whos fascinated by human psychology; youll find me learning about what makes others tick through all types of media and good old-fashioned conversation. Career success is just inches from your hands. I was very glad to not witness that or it would have left me in tears again. Which is even stupider than forcing everyone to do active shooter training in the first place. We have a lot of jerks in my city who flout the fireworks bans (wildfire risk) and he said the clouds of smoke glowing with fireworks and sunset accompanying intermittent booms and crackles had an uncanny resemblance to firefights where he had been stationed. Sorry, I got a bit over-emotional here, but anyways you got what. We all know how hard it gets to pull off financially at the last dates of the month. In Quiet by author Susan Cain, the reader is shown how the brain chemistry of introverts and extroverts differs, and how society misunderstands and undervalues introverts. (I am not being facetious or flip or glib here run means get away from the situation. Sometimes the truth comes out when people pretend to joke. Im looking around to get away cause Im scared of gun being pulled. Before starting this site, A.C. has 10+ years of experience as management professional in a Fortune 500 Company. I can give you your card then. This article may contain affiliate links. Youre going to move on from this job at some point, and his opinion wont matter so much anymore, but reliving trauma sticks with you. Also, youre making some broad assumptions here about the quality of training delivered in all workplaces. Not only was it bad in general, but he had a dumb smile on his face the whole time, using military and law enforcement terminology to make his points. Anyone who schedules a 7 hour mass shooting drill is not right in their head. This pretty much forces your boss to explain his awful thinking. and stick to your story. Most units require at least a month notice, but the sooner the better when it comes to requesting to be excused from drill. My supervisor (largest waste of space ever) still talks about how much fun she had getting shot at with foam disks. Tell them how you were all dressed up for this party, but at the last moment, you found out that your car tire is punctured. A colleague is American and was home over the Christmas holidays. Sure, but like, a real fire evebt would also take a lot longer than a fire drill takes, and I dont think anybody ever suggests that fire drills should be lengthened to be more realistic. Best case, that employee will now have even more inside information about strategies, hiding places, and escape routes. Know what youre signing up for. And leaving them alone would be a big question mark to the whole face of humanity. I imagine the people who put these together were just as out of touch as this boss. It was brief, watch the video and discuss. To enhance the dramatic effect, you can fill up your voice with tears and can have a catharsis you were longing for. They played it in the background or had it up during lunch and walked away in order to get credit for watching it. It was on my mind constantly. My school responded with were going to ring the fire alarm at X time, dont go outside, its too cold and this is ridiculous anyway. Thankfully it was a cold winter and after a few temperature reports to whoever mandated it and a lot of angry parents (especially at other schools who did make kids stand outside on a day that was probably -10F), that stopped. As it is a work emergency,no one is going to know that you are bluffing. Theres just not that much to cover. In college, we watched Run/Hide/Fight training videos and we all glanced at the massive glass windows in the classroom to the hallway. update: is my future manager a bigoted jerk? Nice people care when someone is distressed. Its basically go to X room if you can, use Y furniture to block the door, use Z panic code on the phones to silently call law enforcement to your location. So why not plan this up again someday?. In fact, many units have had to cancel their Drill Weekends due to budget cuts and other constraints. No job is worth your life. I do think that similar to an ask for PTO that saying its an appointment that cant be moved might still get pushback or be viewed as disingenuously. Additionally, if you are pregnant or have recently had a baby, you may also be excused from drill. I think about my plan a lot bc the patients we serve make us a target. Jesus. Oct 21, 2005 #2. Not sure if you can find information about it in English, but here in Japan we have frequent fire and earthquake drills; there is also a very loud and scary alert that goes from the earthquake detection center to your cell phone. I have to do the Run, Hide, Fight video at work. Basically a small org thought they were getting a powerpoint presentation and instead someone showed up with a real gun shooting blanks. I wanted to go to school and cared about awards. Hey you! Thats such a heartbreaking thing to hear and yet, I understand why shes thinking about it. Then you can avoid the worst of the after-event commentary. As a former company commander in the NG I routinely let my personnel miss or make up drills. I dont think I could do a drill again. Since its not one ofthefrequently used excuses, people are most likely to fall for it. They need the weekend so that they can complete their volunteering obligations. Dear god. Could we catch up at a less hectic week? The cop who did presented on active shooter protocols casually started discussing a mall shooting in another state part way through the training. Ill clear my head first, get in a better place and come to the next one. But as long as we expect children to go through this, we adults need to also, dont we? I mean, it had a helicopter so that the cops could bill the school board or the city for helicopter deployment.