It's A Fine Line Between Bitch And Doormat

Today, I chose the former.

If you read my blog regularly our driver troubles will not be new to you.  In fact, you may be tired of hearing about it.  If you are, stop reading now.

Earlier this month, unbeknownst to us, our driver, Ma, had asked for some vacation time to do some work on his house.  Tuesday I got the following text message from Ma:

I'm sorry! Jane I flag Lin rice at home have something to leave a few days ago now can be a serious work for you until you leave shenyang please tell m flag Lin, thank you Jane。

Obviously I had no clue what this message could possibly mean.  I had to call my Chinese teacher and have her speak to Ma to find out what in the world he was talking about.  She explained that he had booked time off but had changed his mind and decided not to take it.  He wanted us to call the company and tell them, even though we had no idea that he had even asked (It definitely would not have been an issue if he had.  We would just have gotten a temp).  I called a lady there and tried to explain that we didn't need a temporary driver, but apparently she didn't know he had planned vacation time either because she was confused.  I had to get Ma to talk to her then she explained it to me.  He was going to use the time off to work on his house but then became concerned that if we had a temporary driver we might decide to keep him and let Ma go (I guess we have a reputation among the drivers).  He likes working for our family so he found a contractor to do his house instead.

Fast forward to yesterday when I explained to Ma that I would be going out with friends today to one of the play places.  He made the humming and hawing noises that he does when what I'm saying doesn't jive with him.  Finally he said that he would drop us off at the play place, go to his house, then come back and get us in the afternoon.  Remember that all our conversations are carried out in Chinese so sometimes things are lost in translation.  This morning he showed up at 9:30 like I asked and drove us to the mall, arriving around 9:50.  This is where things got sour.  As usual he wanted to know what time to come back and get us (I really shouldn't have to specify since his job is to be available when I need him during working hours) and I told him 1:30.  Again, humming and hawing and a screwed up face.  Then he actually said "I'm going shopping".  I just shook my head in bewilderment and jumped out of the van.  I was giving him several hours to do what he needed and he was trying to negotiate.  No way.

We went into the mall and had a nice time with our friends, although I was still bothered by the fact that Ma was using work time to go shopping (sound familiar?).  Around 1:05 I was chatting with some ladies and got a text message saying he wouldn't be there until 2:30.  I was ready to scream.  Friends offered to drive us home but I said no, that he needed to see and hear how irritated I was.  No doormat today!

As we got in the van, as expected, I heard "Sorry, Jan.  Sorry sorry".  Then, as much as I could in Chinese, I let him have it.  I told him that I had things to do, that a friend was supposed to come to my house at 2:00.  (This wasn't a lie but not completely true, either.  I was supposed to have a friend come over but she had messaged earlier to say she couldn't make it.  Really, it's irrelevant.)  He tried to give me an excuse about his house but I told him that he is supposed to be working, not shopping.  What I wanted to say is that he knew this was going to be an issue or he wouldn't have asked for the time off in the first place, then decided instead that he would just do it during work hours, using our vehicle and gas.

I hate to be such a bitch about this but I know if we let him get away with this stuff, it will get worse and worse like it did with the other drivers.  The thing I have to remember is that he isn't an innocent, helpless person just looking for a break this one time.  There have been other things that I have let go and, like all the other drivers we've had, he's "mistakenly" tried to get paid for time that he didn't work.  Lucky for me,  Tim gets the unenviable task of reviewing time sheets and pointing out days that we claimed but not worked.

By the time we made it home he had tried unsuccessfully several times to get me to cave and say, "It's okay.  No problem.  Don't worry about it." like I have the last few times.  He knew I was angry and I hope it makes him smarten up.  He should have just taken his few days off and gotten his shit together.  If he's worth it, and so far (compared to the others) he is, we would gladly have used a temporary driver for a few days or even longer.  Everyone needs time off, he just shouldn't expect it to be during working hours when we need him to be available.

Well, there.  I've vented.  Now I must go make supper for the boys.  They are getting hungry.  Have a great day!

Sincerely,

The Bitch