Your boss sounds like a huge jerk. 100% agree with Alisons statement that active-shooter drills are counterproductive. I know your boss is a big influence in your life/career now but he wont be there forever. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/workplace-shootings-research-.aspx, https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/436994-active-shooter-training-fails-because-it-relies-on-fear/, https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/05/23/teachers-active-shooter-trainings-ineffective-stressful-column/3754113002/, https://www.insider.com/young-school-shooters-grew-up-doing-active-shooter-drills-experts-2022-6, https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/blog/advocacy/active-shooter-drills-harmful-or-helpful/. So why not plan this up again someday?. He has to fly armed. Weve had enough fires in our building (five during 2020-2021) that everyone knows the fire sprinklers go off and the big problem is flooding. 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. Because somebody who had no business owning a gun was able to get one, I almost died. https://www.everytown.org/solutions/active-shooter-drills/. Youve successfully canceled every plan you had for this weekend. Maybe they dont want to relive their experiences either? Federal law and regulations (in some states) protect active duty, guard and Reserve military personnel who are attending post-secondary education schools if they must miss school due to military orders. Your sweet, naive brain thought it was a good idea to make plans to fill every second. I already know how to do nothing. Take care of your mental health first. If you have one disgruntled employee in your midst, that person now knows there will be a seven-hour interval in which everyone will be expecting what they think is a simulation of gun violence. except that some law enforcement dont recommend doing this because in the event of an active shooter, its a high probability going to be an employee or former employee. Failure to call before you miss your drill weekend or immediately thereafter is considered an unexcused absence by the military. The trainings have been optional. Regardless of what OP decides to do, I dont think the boss can be trusted to react sympathetically. That means if you click and buy a product, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. - From a Soldier perspective. They are however, sadly outdated since most of us are remote workers now. This means that even though the weekend has traditionally been a time of leisure, modern workplace trends mean that a lot of people work on the weekends. Hes that cavalier about mass mayhem?? Would a forklift operator be able to opt out of forklift classes on the same grounds? Yup. I could see someone thoughtlessly approaching it like rehearsing a play. 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. The introvert/extrovert divide is the most fundamental dimension of personality. Id call in sick, but if I felt thered be any room or worry about grief Id schedule a doctors appointment for that day in advance to get some kind of note related to headaches, gastric distress, bad allergies or any other kind of generic ailment that could be having a flair-up. Not a lot you can say to that. We highly recommend these tried-and-tested tools: The Elegant Themes membership gives you complete access to 87 amazing themes and 3 awesome plugins, including Divi, the ultimate WordPress Theme and Visual Page builder. I was forced to go through an active-shooter training despite protests, and when a group of us were able to push back as a group, I used the word consent a lot. william lancaster obituary; how to open aegis bait station without key; rooms for rent in trenton, nj; Hello world! They dont have any problem with reading anything, its the simulations. I was the first person they tried to take as a hostage, it was something new. Its not worth getting worked up over. I feel for commanders and NCO on this issue because the people at the top REFUSE to truly find ways to resolve this issue because a number on the books is all that matters. In this article, we listed the best excuses you can use to not work weekends. I think Alisons language about what to say to your boss is really useful. You Have a Doctor's Appointment 3. Not to mention, what are people with physical disabilities supposed to do? This means if you click a link and/or buy a product, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. If you do not own a car, you might be thinking that you got to pass all the car excuses. Whatever. Exactly. Im sorry you are going through this, OP. 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. want their party blessed by the presence of these little party wreckers. Each year the US Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its data on volunteering in the United States. Its naturaland can happen to anyone. No job is worth having coworkers or your boss threatening to put you in harms way, joking or not. I wouldnt be able to participate in one of these drills either and I HATE that they exist. But the elderly retired people didnt evacuate, even the ones who can do stairs. Take the next day off too. Did no one think any of this through? Yup. I bet some dudebro with delusions of heroism thinks it is a cool idea. Weve had some real fires, but unless the sprinkler system fails, the building will just flood instead of burning down. But in terms of living vs. surviving, it doesnt affect me at all in the way LW described. Follow Alisons advice to talk to someone above her. However, life happens and there may be times when you cannot attend. Again, its like, well yes, I want them to have survival skills in this reality we live in. Im in my late 40s and Columbine happened very late in HS for me so I must admitId be a person who would not have anticipated this reaction. If something comes up that requires your immediate attention (such as a death in the family), this is considered a valid excuse for missing drill. As someone who has frequently been the only woman on the team, I certainly understand the concern of being additionally seen as different if you opt out. Wtaf. 3) (last resort) try to take down the shooter. Many religions have weekly religious events. Ive been fine since then knowing in advance it would happen and simply closing my door. With a subscription you get 24/7, unlimited access to over 13,000 business, design & tech online courses and with a free month. The drill was ultimately canceled after my employers legal counsel also reviewed the release and advised that an employer should not be asking employees to sign it. Just another site. i hope you get out of this smoothly op! Intruding boss never asked detailed questions again. The next thing that could happen is getting an official reprimand. If you feel you need to address it with your boss directly, you could do that while being vague. LWs boss is nuts. We were about 1hr 25 min away. Scripts & Templates for Lifes Uncomfortable Conversations. I have a PhD in firearm violence and injury prevention, and while I wont say that there isnt training that could be beneficial, I will say there isnt any solid of benefit. Be sure to provide your commanding officer with the note as soon as possible. Hey [Name], thanks for the invite but Im going to use this evening to recharge. This LW has already had a lot of training. Thankfully events like this are never mandatory at my job, so its unlikely to come up. The trainings I have had have been locally-created garbage not based on evidence. LW, your boss has shown you who he really is. I am so sorry for you and your child. They just notified me on July 24 of this change. This will help you be more alert and less grumpy during drill. You Had Other Car Issues 11. It could be anxiety/PTSD or something else, regardless it puts them in a place to have the sick note for work if theres any pushback. The answer is maybe. And we allow guns! They are not going to find out; unless they know your father very well. For this office, I would avoid a mental health day and really focus on something physical. Boo yeah! A drill period is usually one 4 hour period. Weve talked about where to run to and how to get the heck away from our building as fast as possible more than once. This workrelated excuse is only going to work if its not a work gathering. My former workplace put us through a fairly intensive and realistic training, with one of the trainers shooting off a fake gun. Or maybe if no one from your department is going to be there. I was rather pleased when, about six months after I quit, my favorite former coworker mentioned that theyd installed motion sensors to replace the timer switches. and it will be late till you reach there. These drills get elaborate heck, the one at the middle school in my town a few weeks ago had a police helicopter overhead so that the kids knew thatd be a standard thing in the event of a real shooter. Like what was really scary about the drill at the time was the impression that if it did happen, not only would we be dead, but worse than that it would be our own (collective) faults. What's not to love? If you're looking to develop your communication skills for professional environments even further, we think youll like the following video course from LinkedIn Learning. Id call in sick. Often, the employees are the main reason why employees quiet quit their job. Edit: please understand I am NOT a highly motivated soldier. One does begin to wonder how much change could have been wrought if instead of drills and training we had opted to spend that time protesting or in political action. You are sick. They did this at a local mall. I work in a school and I think our staff training maxed out at like an hour, and half of that was about identifying and preventing threats. I hope you can push back on this and would hope theyd realise that its inappropriate for it to be mandatory, but at the very least, please call in sick and protect yourself, OP <3. Footage & Music Libraries. 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. The first thing that could happen is that your commanding officer could give you a verbal or written counseling statement. Ugh you mentioning the scary videos just reminded me that my old jobs (fairly long) active shooter training involved straight up showing us footage from Columbine. Which will be entirely true. Same shoes. Im likely close to the same age as the LW, and at the risk of making everyone feel ancient, I was born the year Columbine happened. I asked for active shooter training at my current workplace because our current safety training is very spotty think staff not knowing the nearest exits or how to lock doors. Jonathan Sandahl Former Private First Class at US Army National Guard (1996-2002) Author has 503 answers and 4.3M answer views 4 y Depending on the circumstances, yes. I got volunteer hours and free pizza, and I was 12 so I was very excited to mess around with fake blood and brains. He does not understand the psychic toll that shootings have taken on many people in my generation and does not understand that anxiety means something more than just sort of worried about something.. If you graduated high school in the last 15 years, youve done active shooter drills. Im surprised at the number of commenters who seem to reject calibrating reptilian-brain thinking. Along with multiple growth options, free site transfers and domains, built-in Content Delivery Network integrations, WordPress support, AND human support we wouldn't go to anyone else. MP00 PEB Forum Regular Member PEB Forum Veteran May 21, 2012 #9 Thanks for the info You must log in or register to reply here. But as long as we expect children to go through this, we adults need to also, dont we? However, your commander then has it in his authority to deny you attendance of drills. Call in sick and dont ever apologize for it. Heck, I would probably nope out of any training that long, regardless of topic. Find out more about Divi Cake here. Id been through a training so I found the safest (not safe, safest) spot in the room and went to it. 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. And honestly, shes been doing them her whole life in school. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. SEVEN HOURS? Ive never had (or heard of before now) building-specific active shooter training which is really sad because that would be so useful! I actually now feel I did not stress enough that this is an exceptionally dysfunctional and terrible approach, and should only be used if a) LWs knowledge of their boss says it will work and b) theyre out of other options. And Im autistic, so the alarms and strobes are hard on my nervous system. Youre very charitable in your interpretation of dark humor, for me thats a line that shouldnt be crossed. I have a perfect non-attendance record for the last 10 years of active shooter training at my firm. And a quality training, I cannot stress this enough, does not last seven hours. That way, you have the documentation if you need to go to HR. Whether or not your weekend work is a regularly scheduled shift or some overtime thanks to work that was not completed during the week, asking for time off to attend an important family event is perfectly justifiable. Were going to have people sit in a conference room and a deputy will speak. And if that fool makes another joke, look him in the face and say Did you just try to joke about me being murdered to save yourself? There is no generational excuse. My supervisor (largest waste of space ever) still talks about how much fun she had getting shot at with foam disks. We need to do better. So far theres no talk of a repeat but wow. We watched a couple videos at my office, and had some PowerPoints. Maybe hes friendly, but that doesnt equate to nice or kind. Dealing with Life Events or Advice, Texts and Messaging Templates. this one never gets old. Woke up this morning for drill and my car would not start. Please take a sick day, or do whatever else you need to do to take care of yourself. No one in management cared. Balance this wisely. The hangover excuse is a bit of a gamble anddepends entirely on your relationship with the friend. Your email address is only used to send you NTRW updates. Shop hundreds of premium Divi products like Divi child themes, Divi layouts, and Divi plugins on Divi Cake, the community-driven Divi Marketplace. Yeah, at the last staff meeting, there was some talk of replacing our annual watch this decades-old video active shooter training (whichI hate that video so much. It is usually best to work these issues out with the chain of command or have someone do it for you. You dont know how you will react until you are in a situation, but a one-time seven hour LARPing of a horrible situation will not help you and certainly can traumatize you. If you miss your drill weekend without contacting the Reserve unit and securing permission in advance, you incur an unexcused absence.