It worked out exactly like it was supposed to. Just not what I expected.
After waking up at 12:30 am, then driving a couple of hours in the dark through a really creepy part of Texas, I got to the rig site just a little after 4am. I was supposed to sign it an 6.
I knew I was going to a shipyard, but I thought I would be staying and working in a dorm type facility. Good thing I didn’t because I found out later that the dorm area has rats. Big ones. Last week’s crew got to sleep with them, and I’m totally not making that up.
Instead, we were staying right on the rig, even though it’s only about 20 feet off-shore while it’s being retrofitted. So, even though it wasn’t far, and it was only for one day, I can say I’ve worked on an oil rig off shore. Do I get points for that?
I don’t know where to begin in telling you how bad it was. Should I talk about the manager who belittled, insulted, badgered and abused her employees all day? Who looked at them like they were dog shit on her shoe? Who accused them of not doing things they had just obviously finished, or of doing things they never did? Who called them stupid? And practically spit on them because they “ruined” her birthday?
Should I talk about her boss who showed up to chastise the whole crew and screamed at them, telling them how worthless and retarded they all were? Then slapped one of them?
Should I talk about the laundry detergent and cleaning solutions that are still burning my eyes and nose almost 5 hours after I left? Or the raw spots I already have on the back of my hands from tearing beds apart?
Should I talk about how after working for 10 hours they told me I wasn’t getting paid for the day because my logistics manager accidentally sent me out one day early and I technically wasn’t supposed to be there yet?
Should I talk about only getting a 20 minute lunch break during a 12 hour shift because we showed up to lunch 40 minutes late? Because we were finishing a project the manager made us do? And how she talked to us like we were thieves and bastards because we wanted the whole hour? Maybe it was the lack of sleep and the cornbread brick that almost made me choke that put me over the edge. It was about the end of lunch time that I started to cry, but I stuck around thinking I was just tired and it would get better. I was still crying when I drove home 5 hours later.
Crying like a little girl. I’m disgusted with myself for that.
Maybe I should talk about my trainer who was just trying to get through her day without quitting herself, and didn’t quite make it. She left at the end of the shift with me. So did one other guy. That’s three employees lost out of seven, on one shift. I guess that’s three less people to play the “Let’s create extra work for the next shift becuase they left extra work for me” game. Three less employees to bicker and back-bite. Three less employees to hate each other. Three less employees to insult each other all day long.
At the beginning of the day I thought my biggest problem was going to be the ongoing conversation my trainer was having with me that I couldn’t understand because she’s from southern Louisiana and has the Cajun accent to prove it. I’m not sure she actually paused for breath. Well, except during the deep breaths she took at the end of the day as she was fighting off the anxiety attack. It started when she was told to work off the clock for an extra hour re-doing stuff the manager decided she hadn’t done the first time, even though I was there when she did it.
Is there good news? Of course there is. You see that ramp in the picture? It’s attached to dirt. Dry land. As in not in the middle of the Gulf. Out of all the rigs I could have been assigned to, this is the only one I could walk off. Otherwise I’d be stuck out on it with those people for two weeks.
Also, I’m proud of myself for not putting up with the shit. I’ve never quit a job on the first day before and I hate that I did. But! There was a long stretch of time when I would have taken the crap and dealt with the abuse because I didn’t think I could do better. I told the manager that I could handle the job if I needed to, but I don’t need to. And I don’t want to. I have better options and deserve better treatment.
I missed my family and I hated every minute of it. I have never had a worse day that I can remember.
I am so glad to be home.
