excuses to get out of drill weekend excuses to get out of drill weekend

Exactly. Because lets be honest, who does not want to have a hot mug of coffee on the terrace while watching the rain pouring onto the glass of your windows, making a thud sound and yet so calming? To this day I can remember everything about Columbine and it felt like there was this huge shift that altered the rest of my school experience. We like them because we get expert-led courses that we can access anytime, anywhere. My 18 year old brother called me in a panic because his girlfriend was in one of the buildings they thought the shooter was in, and Im pretty sure the panic in his voice is going to stay with me for the rest of my life. If you miss your drill weekend without contacting the Reserve unit and securing permission in advance, you incur an unexcused absence. I ended up going through orientation like four times, and in later ones I just stepped out of the room for that part. I said That was pretty intense. You were asked to attenda raging, booze-filled pub crawlon Friday? One last thought- I know theres no grandboss per se, but is there a CEO or owner? They were clearly making an effort on all sides not to alarm the kids, and my own kids were totally oblivious that anything was amiss. SEVEN HOURS? by Several of their colleagues/friends were injured, and the shooter (another colleague) died. Unless a midterm or final is involved, college is not an excuse or missing drill. According to the National Guard, these circumstances include but are not limited to: Thankfully my boss was fantastic and made sure I didnt have to attend an actual training. Sometimes you just dont want to go to event and thats okay, we get it. 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. The fact that there is no apparent option besides hands-on training is deeply concerning, as is the length of the training. Hey you! excuses to get out of drill weekend Follow us. Send her home before she kills us all with her germs!. So better use that if its the 20th or later of the month. We then had a staff meeting to discuss their concerns and a number of my staff expressed anxiety about mass shootings, workplace shootings, and what their kids went through with drills at school. An avian flu outbreak was even the disaster they had to simulate! Know both your annual drill schedule and your college course schedule. But for moments like this and in workplaces like this where there isnt a great way out this is what these lies, excuses, or pivots are for. Including expert advice, conversations with wise friends from all walks of life, easy ideas to try, activities to complete - and the little things that have made a difference to her own, sometimes-bumpy life - this book is a friendly reminder that Calm is a place that exists in us all, we just have to find our way back to it. Look at my complete answer. We cover a LOT of material in one day. If you feel you need to address it with your boss directly, you could do that while being vague. Its a good idea to discuss this with your employer so that they can arrange alternative working arrangements for you. or is there something unique about this type of training? I appreciate that my kiddos school practices emergency in a general sensehere are our hiding spots, could be something weather related or physical security related. I hope it goes well, and click send. We remembered the event very differently. I am fairly traumatized by all this, because what if it IS a fire and/or flood this time and not just a glitch in the system? Call in sick and deal with it later. Its very ableist to assume that all people can crouch/somehow hide for hours at a time without feeling pain. Youve already got a serious medical condition, and now you get to worry that if your blood sugar plummets or your pump fails during an active shooter situation that it will get all your friends killed. Im sure that wont hurt kids mental health at all. That said, carrying a concealed weapon is forbidden, and most cops only carry a taser unless theyre dealing with something like a hostage situation. I know you dont want to do that, being the only woman and all, but I find that sometimes I spend too much effort holding myself together, and an honest reaction sometimes solves the issue. Boo yeah! Before you comment: Please be kind, stay on-topic, and follow the site's commenting rules. Build from the frontend or backend. Never did an illness/epidemic one, which is too bad, because the covid response here was pathetically weak for the first year or so. Does this count as an excuse if its likely true? Copyright 2007 - 2023 Ask A Manager. Its naturaland can happen to anyone. Same shoes. You also get children with really poor emotional regulation (like, toddler level) and they absolutely need the practice. I dont know what field youre in, but if the pharmacy field where they deal with peoples health/health insurance daily, doesnt have to deal with it, it seems highly unlikely your field should too if it isnt education or medical. Each section contains a mixture of fascinating research, creative prompts, activities and instructions, sensory stimuli, and inspiration. (They literally had us hiding in our offices while the public was still in our spaces creating a safety hazard while doing safety training!) The half day will be for transportation. The two are not the same. Hey, would love to come tonight- would you mind picking me up? This is considered a valid excuse and your commander should work with you to find an alternate solution . There is a solution that has worked just about everywhere else in the world, and its not this. But I don't anymore. https://www.everytown.org/solutions/active-shooter-drills/. I cried, honestly, because even though it was very low key and not big budget, it was very effective at showing what its like, to have a normal work and school day completely turn on its head. Agree. Culture The storeroom was in the basement, where the ceiling was low enough for me to reach without standing on tiptoe. Boost your business with the right images. Basically a small org thought they were getting a powerpoint presentation and instead someone showed up with a real gun shooting blanks. I havent read all the comments, but this makes me truly ill. To be fair, I was already angry on your behalf before reading this letter. First, try to schedule any conflicts well in advance so that your unit has plenty of notice. Take care of yourself! There is no active shooter education for the workplace that should take seven hours, unless maybe if your workplace is law enforcement or something where you will be the ones actually dealing with a shooter. ). This individual lived through a civil war in their country of origin and understandably was not keen on the idea of triggering difficult memories in a professional setting. (Funny how this rarely happens when the rental office is open; some hapless security guard has to try to decode the alarm system fault codes and tell the fire department what happened.). I wouldnt outright say it was a mental health day, since this boss almost certainly wouldnt consider that a valid sick day given his opinions on mental health. Here are the best way you can write a professional email at work! Is there something about your workplace that makes this a particular concern? Hey [Name] Ive got some stuff going on and I think that would make it difficult to be around me at the moment. This is horrific. **Several other events over a long time including the loss of a police officer in the line of duty at a traffic stop at the organization, a murder at the organization, a supervisor I knew dealing with a suicidal worker (despite all of his training, I had to order him to inform the police) and many false alarms. This happened in effing Silicon Valley with the VTA shooting just 2 years ago. I am sorry that you have to go through the process of saying noit should not be that hard to opt out and if they push back, it is wrong on so many levels. Our organization lost one person in the large event because they couldnt believe it was happening and went to go see. They left FEMA after Katrina to join another agency which was setting up an emergency preparedness team as a result of what went wrong during Katrina. This letter-writer already knows the most common-sense run-fight-hide advice. asthma? I know you said you dont want to look like the only person not tough enough to participate, particularly as the only woman on your team. But seven hours? Take the day off. The vultures swoop in when a shooting takes place, pretending to offer support as they build their trauma resumes and then move on to profit from death, offering lockdown training and recovery services. My workplace does building-specific workplace shooter training and it lasts maybe 30-45 minutes tops. Please stand firm on the accommodations that you need. As everything that could go wrong did go wrong, they ended up doing a whole a lot more than IT as it basically became an all hands on deck situation. College is not a good excuse for not attending drill. We managed to cover fire, health emergencies, active shooters, bomb threats, weather evacuations, you name it, all in the span of a couple hours. I work for a public-facing government agency. And because he isnt reasonable you cant reason with him. And I dont live in bad area.. Not minimizing the OPs fear but I relate to it. Its similar to gallows humor. (gag). I am in my twenties, and I grew up in the modern era of mass shootings. It happens so much and theres nothing we can really do about it (other than vote and organize), so \_()_/. I would absolutely call in sick. The closest thing we have is the second-most senior employee, who has an easier time taking up issues with him because of their long-standing relationship. This isnt going to be the first time someone tries to tell him that people have traumas and mental health needs. So, maybe next time? Add me to the chorus of people saying #4 is both legitimate and honest. Privacy Policy. Thats insane. If not, I would call in sick the day before and after to solidfy the excuse. 4. My library system makes staff watch Active Shooter Training videos each year, but theyre just videos. One of our providers is a speaker in an education day for LGBTQ+ providers and there was a threat called in to the event this year. The idea that I could be leaving them behind AND as a result, might never see them again because a twit with a gun he should never have had access to shot up their school is utterly unfathomable. In the past 10 years, both employees and employers have recognized the importance of fostering a work-life balance. what about people who cannot lift a chair? If the host does not know about your dating life, you can easily go with this one. Unfortunately, David is your work colleague, and this party is a big deal for him. There are many good reasons why you might not want to work on the weekend. I was home sick that day and watching messages pour in over our communication app on my phone; cant even imagine being there, but Ive heard similar things from coworkers. Theres a difference between practicing things so you can do them in an emergency, such as CPR, and traumatizing people so theyre more likely to panic when confronted by real danger. Most of the employees on campus did not directly participate, but many of us had to complete a very very long online training. Joking about the shooter choosing another target is horrifically awful. The number of are you feeling ok questions made me never skip it again. It was horrendous to experience. But I like a little theatre. My apartment building fails fire drills because we have false alarms EVERY GOSHDARN WEEK. I personally couldnt be a stay at home mum, as I love my career but I think if I lived in the US, I would very, VERY seriously consider homeschooling. I really hope this changes some day in the US. I definitely feel safer that the administration deems it more likely that we need immediate access to bleeding control than an AED. Correct. this isnt an Im calling my lawyer so I can sue knee-jerk thing, its consultation on employment law and options when the obvious ones are made inaccessible for one reason or another. Protagonist is South Asian or possibly Middle Eastern man who is meeting a woman for a date? 4) Bring a book or something else to occupy your mind if you get bored during drill. I learned in boarding school that a very light coat of green eyeshadow around the eyes works a treat to make that puked-all-night aura very believeable. Unfortunately, not all units are able to participate in Drill Weekends. They are however, sadly outdated since most of us are remote workers now. I would go with calling in sick the day of the drill. I choked up reading that and I have no kids and am not in the US. Please take a sick day, or do whatever else you need to do to take care of yourself. If she calls out sick, she can just insist Im sick; cant come in regardless of what the boss says. Its the worst. I didnt know any of this when I went to school that day and it was one of the worst days I can recall (my friends accident hadnt involved alcohol, but the response was almost identical). The statement Repeated [high-quality] training hones reflex actions is true. The site ate my previous post, so Ill do a shorter version. The active shooter training was performative and to tick off an insurance requirement. Take care of your mental health first. The staff came to me and I asked him to go lock it in his car, which he did without question or argument. Im just old enough to have gotten out of high school with very minimal active shooter type worries. A chemical material handler from HAZWOPER? Updated: Monday, March 20, 2017. Unless responding to active shooter scenarios is a commonly expected part of your job duties, theres no way this training is a reasonable requirement. Do they work in a higher-risk area or industry? What poor timing! Again, lockdown, except for the three classrooms that were directly underneath this workplace grudge-match turned fatal, we scurried like hell into the hallway to the next wings classrooms. I grew up in the Seventies and Eighties in the UK with the IRA. -Use your weekends wisely. Sometimes the messages are after the fact, to let us know that the school was on lockdown, but everything is ok now. I was voluntold to participate in my companys active shooter drills and I said straight out NO. If anything would persuade me to learn how to do make-up well, its this lmao. I second Alisons phrasing of opting out as a prediction of the future, not as a request: I will not be participating, so how should we proceed? Hey [Name], Im going to stay home tonight as things just ended with [Insert Your Partners Name]. I absolutely think you should absent yourself from these in future (regardless of how open to it the boss, is, call out sick if you need to). cristina's restaurant salsa recipe. She knows what to do. Some people believe working on the weekends is bad for your productivity. I doubt random company is coordinating with outside agencies. As a result, theres this whole industry of emergency preparedness which means some are doing useful drills coordinated with governmental departments and some are just selling useless single day trainings so companies can check off a box that says they did it. Again, its like, well yes, I want them to have survival skills in this reality we live in. What action should OP expect to be taken, as a result of this call? Its almost perfect. For more info, please see our Earnings Disclosure. Also want to say: I hear that there are differences between younger folks experience and us middle aged people who grew up prior to mass school shootings being so frequent. Im sorry about your boss, OP. What are they planning for 7 hours? Which could be related to all the drywall replacement weve had to do after the fire sprinkler floods. Call in sick is what I would do. 5. Teachers arent allowed to opt out. Yeah, the duck and cover drills for nuclear war were equally not reassuring when I was a child, Im not clear on how those were helpful. See also so many links and comments above on why these do not work. But I was wondering how can reasonable accomodations include opting out of mandatory safety related training?