3. My all-women department once went to a shooting range for a super fun team building event at one of their self-defense courses. OP, feel free to call out sick. If you look at the links other commenters have posted, theres actually little evidence that making people go through traumatic active shooter drills teaches them anything that they can put in practice if it really happens, so the usefulness of these drills is questionable at best. Then you have a Soldier with real issues like a family member dealing with cancer and there is no allowance period. Well have to reschedule another time Im afraid! Seven hours is unbelievable, but sounds more like a training event for the police than your workplace. There was a lot of push-back, not just from us, and now we simply have to do crisis drills (which could be anything from active shooter to chemical spill to emergency lockdown to student elopement) guess what we dont do? Im usually okay with this kind of dark humor; but not in this case of a very real and traumatizing event. I didnt read through all of the comments, so perhaps this is addressed upthread. Yup. Youre exhausted from your week and want nothing more than to collapse on the couch and watch an unhealthy amount of Netflix. Seven hours is unbelievable, but sounds more like a training event for the police than your workplace. When my grandkid was 5 their school was involved with an active shooter, luckily, it was resolved fairly quickly, but thinking about how it could have happened still makes me shake. Shop hundreds of premium Divi products like Divi child themes, Divi layouts, and Divi plugins on Divi Cake, the community-driven Divi Marketplace. We didnt find out until later in the day that it was staged. Your sporting team is playing in the finals. Were in the same school district as the Tree of Life shooting, which happened on a Saturday, and the following week was Halloweensomeone called in a threat to my kids elementary school that day, and my oldest was in swimming at the time. Read More 7 Common Types of Spam Emails and How to IdentifyContinue. Or what about the people who have to eat food/take pills at certain times of the day because of health conditions? I hope theyve fixed things since Katrina: that was four years after New York had similar problems during 9/11 with the police and fire departments not being able to communicate because they were using different frequencies. If someone has a heart attack in my vicinity, I can call emergency services or run a few hundred yards to get the defibrillator, but someone else will have to start CPR. you may be) and youve found that youve hit a certain point where things have taken a massive swing. What's a Good Excuse To Tell Your Boss Not to Work on the Weekends? There wont be chaotic running through the halls. Oh god. The introvert/extrovert divide is the most fundamental dimension of personality. Its a little trickier because youve already told him youd rather not attend, but if this is the easiest of the options for you, you can do it. I vote to call in sick. My blood boils thinking about it. We managed to cover fire, health emergencies, active shooters, bomb threats, weather evacuations, you name it, all in the span of a couple hours. OP, pick whichever option works for you, but I would think explaining yourself in a firm, unwavering way would not only be empowering to you, but also eye-opening to your boss. Oct 21, 2005 #2. I full stop do not trust any training that requires multiple hours and comfortable clothes. As a teacher I participated in lockdown drills and in ALICE training, which is the run-hide-fight style that I guess is more popular now, rather than the hide-and-lock-the-door style we used to do. Im a teacher and this comment might be where I have to stop reading this thread for my own mental health. What are they planning for 7 hours? Dominic Perrottet Is Officially NSWs New Premier So Heres Everything You Need To Know And I dont live in bad area.. Not minimizing the OPs fear but I relate to it. You only need 50 points for a Good Year. Do they also do a seven hour fire prevention and response class? Are you prepared to weave this story into conversations for the next few months to cement its accuracy? Please believe him. Our active shooter training is online, so you can just play the video and ignore it & still get credit. I know you dont want to do that, being the only woman and all, but I find that sometimes I spend too much effort holding myself together, and an honest reaction sometimes solves the issue. I dont think I could do a drill again. This took an hour, and I work in law enforcement! I used to live in a country that had earthquake drills. The half day will be for transportation. by We remembered the event very differently. Im sorry. Im in charge of working with our local law enforcement to conduct an active shooter training. CLICK HERE to get your copy from Book Depository. 7 hours is ridiculous Id definitely call in sick. Copyright @ Azentek Online Inc | All Rights Reserved, How to Convince Your Wife to Get Breast Implants, Talk to your commander about your concerns, They may be able to work with you to find a solution that doesnt involve attending drill weekend, If you have a medical condition that prevents you from participating in drill weekend, provide documentation from your doctor to your commander, If you have a family emergency or other pressing engagement, talk to your commander about getting excused from drill weekend, In some cases, they may be able to accommodate your request, If you absolutely cannot attend drill weekend for any reason, talk to your commander about the possibility of being placed on inactive Reserve status, This would exempt you from attending future drill weekends until you are able to reactivate your Reserve status. theres nothing we can really do about it, We can, but we wont, because US Americans generally refuse to take responsibility. You're going to an important family event, 9. SEVEN HOURS of active shooter training? Basically a small org thought they were getting a powerpoint presentation and instead someone showed up with a real gun shooting blanks. Read More 10 Reasons Why You Should Work From Home Today!Continue. I spent a little time thinking about what I would do if we were robbed. Assuming I cant get additional details about the itinerary or assuming I do, and it includes a simulation or other modules that I know will be extremely triggering to my mental health what do I do? Sometimes you just dont want to go to event and thats okay, we get it. Make up a story of how your roommate needs your special attention since they are suffering from a fever. No one processed the paperwork and the slot got filled up every single time. If you felt deeply about every shooting you hear about as you did about the first, youd be in a padded room. Im not sure I agree with Hes a nice person.. Workplaces do need to do security training, but it should not be hard to provide training that is specific and actionable without turning our offices into a badly-planned cop LARP. You mean before that 9am brunch? Being broke sucks and everyone knows it. 1 When Something Comes Up & You Still Want To See Them Shutterstock "Hey, I'm so sorry, but something came up tonight and I. I am in my twenties, and I grew up in the modern era of mass shootings. They know what has been happening and alsoif you say you dont want to participate, that should be good enough. Wtaf. The idea that active shooter training is effective at reducing deaths and injuries in the event of a real active shooter is not. You can easily use this one if the host lives far away. I'll keep it short. Each year the US Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its data on volunteering in the United States. OP Thank you for writing in. Criminals have bad aim and bullets dont discriminate. On top of that, everyone was ordered not to use their cell phones. Even worse was what they advocated we teach kids they expected that we would teach 5-year-olds to run in a zigzag pattern across the playground and show them a safe location to run to (like the next school down the street), or discuss the possibility of an active shooter with them every fall. (I mean, safety is great, but this person is hilariously the most accident-prone person we all know, and always has a story about falling down the stairs or getting a ticket for speeding on the way to work. The point is, now, when you get the same news, and youre not as excited as you may have once been. I graduated high school a few years before Columbine, but can still completely empathize with what people who are younger than me have been through. Many would not even know to run if we told them; they cannot comprehend the danger. How are those guys SO obvious, and yet everyone still keeps believing them when they say theyre not Nazis? You are going to cause someone mental anguish for little if any payoff in this situation. And boy, was it poorly handled. If your employer or client asks why you can't or don't want to work on the weekends, you are not obligated to provide a reason. But youve already established your workplace isnt likely to be reasonable. Dealing with Life Events or Advice, Texts and Messaging Templates. No one likes drill weekend. You should be wearing whatever you would normally be wearing at work, which just further underlines to me the uselessness of the training other than to provoke anxiety and fear. Anyone attending Drill Sergeant school in June of next year? Otherwise wow. My high school did that as well. 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. Career success can be easy only if you know how. 9 drill periods in one year it typically starts the discharge process. I have mild to moderate claustrophobia, and theres absolutely no way Id ever participate in an escape room. We get our images from the OG in stock assets. The OP could ask about if theyve done day long trainings on other disasters and how those were handled if that would make a difference, but Im guessing theyd need to opt out regardless. If they can do it, so can anyone else. I cant see how this should take more than half an hour or so at most. Whats your advice?. Your boss sounds like a huge jerk. It is also a less confrontational and frightening way to approach those issues, putting the onus to explain on him rather than on you. That would put you on the other side of the experience, have no surprises, be exposed to the useful material, and feel in control of the day for yourself. OP, go to your primary care provider. That sounds ridiculously triggering and excessive for anyone, let alone someone with anxiety. Seven hours of training is far more likely to be a poorly designed hands-on training that will only cause stress, fear, and trauma, possibly leading to worse outcomes if there ever is a real shooting. A peer/fellow manager can say things in a much more direct way than you might be comfortable with doing with your own boss because of the power dynamics in play. Turned out that was the best way to surround himself with friends to help remind him he was safe. You may not even know who the person is, but as long as your friends are going, youre good to go. I second Alisons phrasing of opting out as a prediction of the future, not as a request: I will not be participating, so how should we proceed? Oh its very simple, were supposed to die. Theyre homeschooling now. No. NTRW is supported by adverts and affiliate marketing links. The fact that we landed on lets continually traumatize victims as a preventative measure enrages me. I work in an academic library. Everyone knows how to call 911. Thank you for sharing them! If you cant make it for any reason, you need to submit a leave form ahead of time so your absence can be excused. Find out more about Divi Cake here. I would call in sick, but Id also plan on having a doctors note ready. date went to be described later to the party host. Because somebody who had no business owning a gun was able to get one, I almost died. Correct. How about we reschedule? Nope. It traumatized her. It has nothing to do with any practical benefit, IMO. Warning mentions simulated situation and actual shooting. OP, I am so sorry youre in this situation with insensitive unthinking people. Maybe you can convince them to reconsider? Could we catch up at a less hectic week? We just went through a mass shooting event at my university, and I can tell you the only information we really needed was to follow campus alerts, and to know the safe locations in our building to lock down. Ah, I bet you live in the same city as me. However, your commander then has it in his authority to deny you attendance of drills. After much hand-wringing, the law enforcement liaison finally convinced this person not to develop such training. We have to let the videos play and take multiple quizzes to get a certificate, but Ive now done them enough that I can let the video play while not really paying attention, and my anxiety has disappeared over the trainings. We were there for hours, literally, while they searched for the possible gunman, then after they caught him, clearing the university to be sure he didnt have an accomplice. You do volunteer work 8. That said, there is a little bit of the risk involved because either y, ou will end up making them feel bad or you. I understand how are hard this is and cant imagine having to deal with a unsupportive supervisor on top of it. 2. Heck any drill fir any length of time, for that matter. If you are in the military, or a reservist, there are times when you will be required to attend drill. Training as part of orientation. Each person should be allowed to decide the risk-benefit of having the training versus the impact on their mental health. Ill come out again soon when Im in a better place. Use it to your advantage! The last time we had an active shooter drill, HR neglected to tell emergency services that it was only a drill. We had a workplace training at OldJob that was a full day. Its very ableist to assume that all people can crouch/somehow hide for hours at a time without feeling pain. Call in sick and deal with it later. Im a designer-by-day whos fascinated by human psychology; youll find me learning about what makes others tick through all types of media and good old-fashioned conversation. We had a meeting with security at our clinic because now we are also a target. Now, chill and relax. Those chatty folks? That makes OP the expert here, and Im sorry OPs boss doesnt respect that. The whole realistic reenactment thing makes people in charge feel like theyre doing more than they are. If youre curious I can expand on that, but I dont want to derail the thread. It ruined my entire week-end. Things have been chaotic and I need a little time to recoop. 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. I think midterms and finals are possible reasons for an early dismissal the last day of drill if nothing important is going on. Others believe that you should use your weekends to relax and recharge. The messaging was very much this is the best way to keep you from getting killed, take your own life into your hands and fight back! And its like, well, given the current gun laws, yes, this is my best option but it felt insulting to be told this. I will have to miss 1.5 days of the conference to make it to drill on time. we had to watch those run-hide-fight videos at the old job and the entire time Im like how is this going to work for us. related excuse is only going to work if its not a work gathering. Id never treat a younger person badly for refusing this. In addition to being traumatic for employees, it also seems like a poor use of time. 100% agree with Alisons statement that active-shooter drills are counterproductive. The younger ones did. Its a nightmare. Many of us work in professions where we are obliged to work on the weekend, and there are some benefits to weekend work such as higher pay, and more freedom from your boss. She was fine, thank goodness. So. That said, there is a little bit of the risk involved because either you will end up making them feel bad or you will actually have to leave your house if they say yes. We were located in an area where street violence was a significant risk. Combine that with the militarization of police, and these trainings are an abusive nightmare. LW, I know youre worried that your boss will call you triggered or a snowflake or otherwise weak, but it is in fact very strong a brave to calmly stand firm at your limit. Security performance theater indeed. Apologize for not making it upto them,but you cant do anything about it? I wish very much I had opted out. Anyone else attending Berklee College of Music? It involved bringing in all the relevant gov/emergency departments that would get called if the situation was real (so chemical spill scenario was complete with fire trucks) and we didnt have the agenda ahead of time because it was being externally coordinated. LW, I am so sorry. I wouldnt outright say it was a mental health day, since this boss almost certainly wouldnt consider that a valid sick day given his opinions on mental health. Guessing they will breakout into groups and tour the building to find safe places to hide or ways to block paths. There's easily 100+ people that will be at the conference. Its a 5-7 minute trip (if youre sprinting) to the nearest building with one of those. They pointed out there is no way to think of and train for every scenario, and doing so could create a false sense of safety, not to mention costing a lot of money and raising anxiety among staff. Anyway Ive been thinking about it a lot recently because of the Oxford and MSU shootings. You were asked to attenda raging, booze-filled pub crawlon Friday? Between the GUN SHOTS outside the classroom, and the unbelievably unqualified instructor who gleefully talked about all the times his hyper-vigilance protected his girlfriend on the mean streets of our farm state, it was too much. This is a great excuse becauseit instills a sense of panic within the person youre cancelling on. Pretty much this. 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. For many of us, a side hustle allows us to: If you have the passion, stamina, and ability to have a successful side hustle, having your weekends free to pursue it is a legitimate excuse to avoid weekend work. This is a good perspective I can take to my leadership to let them know that while SOME of our employees might want this, it could also be detrimental to others. I wanted to go to school and cared about awards. Its not that he cant understand. Im almost 24. You have a work conflict . Its gone on far too long, we need real societal changes, not bandaid drills. If you have a doctors note stating that you are too ill to participate in drill, this is a valid excuse. This is a terrible approach in many ways and I genuinely hesitate to suggest it, but if you feel that #3 is your best option, when I had bosses like that the times when I could manage to, I guess, meet their style, went better than times I couldnt. A total of 27.2% of working people volunteered, compared to just 21.4% of unemployed people. So, maybe next time? If their is no way to get internet or their would be no time they could complete their assignments, i would approve the SUTA - I started out enlisted in MNARNG and have two AC/RC assignments. In that case, the advice to advance schedule a dr appointment for that day applies. Yeah, do an internet search for Catholic Charities and active shooter. This is all scary and horrible. The light up shoes remind me of the fact that it regularly comes up in online forums for parents of kids with diabetes that you cant turn off some of the blood sugar monitor and insulin pump audible alarms, due to FDA regulations. Weekends are usually the time when we schedule important family gatherings like weddings, christenings, birthday parties, and anniversary get-togethers. We all know how hard it gets to pull off financially at the last dates of the month. Call in sick. There was a mass shooting at a supermarket at her college town two years later. If you have kids use them as an excuse. If you needed proof that these idiots have not clue, this is it. Certainly when there was a real fire at my office, the quarterly fire drills made things worse people were going back for coats and purses , stopping off at the restroom and so on because they assumed it was yet another drill. Any good boss and company should want you to stay home and recover if you're sick. by The only way to conquer your fear is to face it. And law enforcement is the last group Id trust with my safety. Also also- there is no way in heck a seven hour (!??) You asked about the information parts of the training, and I can say that I have learned some first aid in these sessions that provides a little peace of mind (wound packing, improvising a tourniquet, etc.) My kids know no other world and Im sad and sick (and voting and advocating) for them. I definitely feel safer that the administration deems it more likely that we need immediate access to bleeding control than an AED. Working too much will cause you to burn out, which will be detrimental to your productivity and mental health. I have AT starting Aug 7. Burying your head in the sand wont change reality. Even ignoring personal history, seven hours is enough to upset anyone! So yes, after a while you realize not much will change and there is nothing you can do about it and you dont understand why people dont careand you never see any photos of dead children so it is almost theoretical and what can you do so you just get numb. Typically blanks are fired inside of the building (sometimes without specific warning) to simulate real scenarios. I have no polite words about your boss. Parents regularly talk about sending their kids with headphones so they can plug them in and divert the alarms to something much less likely to be overheard in the event of an active shooter situation. Here are some tips to help you make the most of your experience in the Drill Army Reserves: Generally if you submit early enough in advance and have a compelling reason, it will be approved. Because Labor Day is around the corner and we're all thinking about that coveted three-day weekend, we thought we'd come up with a list of the Top 10 Excuses to Get Out of Work, brought to you by Bloodsucking Bastards, a comedy/horror film featuring the one office you'd like to work in even less than your own. Multiple employees thought it was real, panic ensued, injuries occurred, and theyre all traumatized. They also handwaved off the fact that we work in a giant glass fishbowl and cant remotely lock the doors like you can with many other buildings on campus. Its the worst. Theres always That Guy who feels the need to comment. Thank you! We know which doors lock and we have a plan if there is a shooter in the hospital. LWs boss is nuts. And, even calling 911 can be difficult in a real emergency. Several of their colleagues/friends were injured, and the shooter (another colleague) died. My 5th grader needs to start practicing scaling the tall fence. I do think that similar to an ask for PTO that saying its an appointment that cant be moved might still get pushback or be viewed as disingenuously. There are a million other much more reasonable ways to devise a safety plan. No one will ask an explanation for this one as we all know how severe it hits. excuses to get out of drill weekend According to the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, approximately 44% of people in postsecondary education are adults over the age of 24. Might as well live to the fullest. There are a few reasons why your absences might not be able to be excused. something to consider! 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. That sounds much more similar to fire drills and tornado drills which can still be scary for kids (I was definitely the kid crying while hunched like a turtle in the hallway of my elementary school a few times) but are generally not long-term traumatic. Here are some reasons why employees quiet quit at work? They also talked about throwing things like your chair or a pencil (?) No amount of training can mitigate the danger of letting anyone have a gun. The self advocacy takes its own toll. See you in hell. They left FEMA after Katrina to join another agency which was setting up an emergency preparedness team as a result of what went wrong during Katrina. Im very pale, so my under eye half moons have a purplish tone. One time my office decided to do an escape room as a team bonding exercise. The kind of situation that can easily develop really complex emergencies that take skilled professionals to safely respond. It was a full hands on every emergency agency in our city was involved. Thats such a heartbreaking thing to hear and yet, I understand why shes thinking about it. should I be so emotionally drained by managing? My direct boss fought it and tried to get me excused, but her boss was firm that it was required. All The Best Squid Game Memes For Those Still Reeling After That Twist Ending It will not be possible for me to participate.. Is that the one that takes place in a bar? It is such nonsense. 1) Wont happen herewe are nowhere near the big city where these things happen. My husbands previous job did an active shooter training at their factory, with different employees pretending to be the shooter, complete with something like a pellet gun or paint gun (I dont remember exactly what was used). My kiddos are teenagers now, and several times a year we get a school communication (simultaneous call, text, email) that there has been a threat to their school. Is there any way you could volunteer to assist the people running the drill? I wouldnt be able to participate in one of these drills either and I HATE that they exist. That is worse than no training at all. Also, skip the hair routine, finger brush it out. Sure, but like, a real fire evebt would also take a lot longer than a fire drill takes, and I dont think anybody ever suggests that fire drills should be lengthened to be more realistic. how do you handle being pregnant at work? Local law enforcement trains other law enforcement organizations. For one we were on lockdown. What I wonder is, if you all spend seven hours at work doing not-work, will you have a huge backlog of work the next day? A person can seem nice on the surface without actually being a truly caring and empathetic person. Hes a nice person but has very deeply entrenched ideas about mental health, anxiety, young people, and triggers, and I dont want to have to disclose my own mental health diagnoses to him, make him think Im simply not tough enough to handle it, or come across like a millennial snowflake, etc.