They don't ...

.. fire you for missing work.

It's a novel concept. And they don't dock your pay for being sick or pull from your vacation hours because we're salaried -- with the ability to earn overtime.

I was astonished to find out that there are "attendance guidelines." There is no attendance plan. There are no points. You can have "an occurrence" but guess what? If I'm out sick for 15 consecutive days -- and I have a note from the doctor, or bring the doctor with me -- IT COUNTS AS ONE OCCURRENCE.

How fucking crazy is that?

/begin Leonidas moment

*Crazy?*
THIS IS X... Y... Z... INC!

/end Leonidas moment

Yeah.

My boss? He really, really dislikes HR conversations. He really dislikes firing people. It's really hard to get fired. In fact, he told me that the way he sees things, when you put someone on an "attendance plan" you might as well start walking them to the door.

Hmmm....

I think I like my boss. Not that I'm going to abuse the attendance plan. Why bother? I have vacation time. And can take sick days if needed.

So. After three days on the floor, I've come to realize the following:

1. Our customers are pretty good, especially the ones who have been in the service long enough to be promoted a few times.

2. Windows XP doesn't suck ... compared to a root canal

3. These calls are easy and I should have a handle time below 20 minutes most of the time

4. Better pay and benefits mean more than people think

5. Tomorrow is my Friday, we can wear jeans and I have a four-day weekend coming.

6. Overtime means Jen can get Macbook Pro sooner.