After a week in Guaymas,
Mexico I've almost returned to my
regular routine. There remains just one meeting left before I can try to put the whole trip behind me. Far behind me. During the trip I was at first frustrated, then angry, and finally just embarassed.
I may cause one of my co-workers to be fired - something I've never done before. It was really his trip, I was along as a last-minute addition. Unfortunately for him, I have little tolerance for incompetence, less for deceit, and none at all for those who expect me to be complicit in their dishonesty.
In my work there are certain things every job requires; equipment, accessories, tools, and procedures. Before we left I asked my co-worker if all these had been shipped in advance. He assured me he had taken care of everything. He has nearly twenty-five years experience, there was no reason to doubt him. Still, I was uneasy. As it turned out, I had good reason to be.
I traveled 2150 miles only to find that I didn't have the right equipment, had to borrow accessories and tools from the customer, and had to make up procedures on the fly. In nearly twenty years of field service I've never been to a site where we were so unprepared -- we must have looked totally incompetent.
If this lack of professionalism wasn't bad enough, my co-worker suggested I just fake the test results. He's a retired Naval officer. I spent four years in the Army. In either branch of the service, just making the suggestion that someone should fake test results would likely lead to court-martial and dishonorable discharge.
After we returned, the owner of our company stopped by and asked me how the trip went. I told her. Bluntly. She was understandably agitated. I'm not sure if her concern is with the attitude and actions of one of her employees - or the possible loss of business from the customer in Mexico.
The three of us were supposed to meet and talk about the trip today - but the owner didn't make it in.
I was heavily recruited for this position last year. I declined. They came after me again this year and I took the job - starting just over a month ago. I really hate being put in this position so soon after starting with the company, but the only alternative was to ignore it and be complicit by my own silence. And that's an even worse way to start.