Never Assume

There was a guy at work, which we will call him Jack.  His real name will remain a secret.  Yet he was a good worker who came in on time every day.  This excludes so many in the crew that I am on.  So, he was an exception and always kind.  His outfits and shoes always matched. Jack was always at work with a positive attitude, which is missing in this place. If you had worked there, you would have understood the negative attitudes, too. Yet it was never a day without chaos, and Jack rolled with the flow.  No one really bothered him, and he did not bother others either. Jack sat at the back table near the board.  He never spoke up or caused trouble, either.

The days would drag on with the required overtime and no complaints from him.  Even when I was going to send my items close to the closing of a trailer, he never gave any attitude to that. Some were more annoying, but I do have a job to do.  The days of long hours continued, and many others called off, but not him.  He was faithful and always worked hard.   It was a long week for everyone and seemed to be never-ending.  The head bosses have always been that way. It was their fix to add something between days and hours without question.   Jack was coming in and did not talk about his personal life. It was funny that he continued if he considered the employee turnover rate very high due to the company expecting blind devotion. Yet the weeks dragged on as the many came and gone, but not Jack. 

Then, one day, he stopped coming to work.  I could suppose that he was on vacation or simply just quit.  I did not hear that he was fired, but that did not mean he was not.  He simply was not there.  I generally do not care about who comes and goes, considering that many have disappeared and some have returned.  My crew is constantly losing and gaining different members.  I did miss seeing him since he was one of the kinder ones.  I try not to pry into others’ lives since it is none of my business. Only when a crew member was found dead at home did that affect me more, but that only happened once.  I just kept busy trying to finish my job, hoping for the best for Jack.  I do hope the best with everyone who is gone and has finally escaped this awful place. Most that were gone were rumored to be fired, most likely because of attendance policy.  Most of the younger generation have problems showing up to work on time, yet I think my boss is covering for some of them now. I was not counted against during the last peak season due to an unforeseen circumstance that delayed me getting to work. 

Yet Jack was not returning, and time went on without anyone caring. The weeks blend, and the jobs must be finished to make our bosses happy.  This seemed to be the typical case of Jack firing or quitting.   The next thing we heard, Jack was coming back to work after he was on paternity leave for his two girlfriends.  I did not peg him for getting two women pregnant at the same time.  He seemed like such a good guy but was out on leave.  This is a rarer occurrence.  It was the talk of the crew and to have him come back.  This was good news since the crew at the time was low on workers, and we needed whoever we could get. 

I said nothing when he came back, and most left him alone.  I could only think he had a good sense of fashion and two pregnant girlfriends simultaneously.  I thought I had only heard of this plot in a soap opera.  Things returned to normal, and we did our work.  I only said anything to my co-worker that I guess my assumption was incorrect; I thought the guy was gay this entire time.  I never thought he was into women.  My co-worker also agreed, and we laughed about its nonsense.  I guess you never assume what you do not know.  Later, Jack eventually quit, and I totally understand the circumstances. I wish him the best of luck with the kids and keeping to one woman at a time.