The Content of Character

Some damage took place at work in my area of responsibility this past week. I cannot say yes or no as to whether or not it was my fault. The thing is that if I do cause some damage to our product I get it taken care of immediately as is our standard operating procedure. One of the plant big wigs was making a big deal out of it and my supervisor called me in to speak to me about it. The Supe is a nice guy whom I respect a lot and he realized that there was no way to prove that the damage was my fault as other workers were in during the day and could have caused the problem.

Well the plant big wig would not let it die this week and wanted me to have an Oral Write Up about it. Oral Write up means that I sign a piece of paper that says that I was given an oral warning about the damage. Well I am a member of a union and there was a big deal about it because no one could prove if I did the damage or not, even my Supe thought there was a witch hunt going on. I told him that I may have done the damage without knowing but the amount of damage was beyond me to not notice during a 12 hour shift. He knows that I am a good worker and that I take pride in what I do so after the union stepped in it was decided to get the plant big wig together with me, a union rep, and another worker who does the same exact thing that I do and get to the bottom of all of this hoopla.

I am not worried at all about the outcome as I have a reputation for doing my job and that well. The thing that blew me away about all of this was my fellow worker Jon. He went into the supervisor and said that if he was going to write me up for the damage then they were going to have to write him up to as he helped me a bit that night. He said that it was not fair to single me out and that since we work together we will take the blame together. I was touched that he would take the blame when he clearly didn't have to at all.

I talked to him about this and asked why he stepped up like that and he said, "We're a team and your my brother. We look out for our own, and I got your back." I literally was awestruck and saw such character in this guy who a year ago I thought was a character. Man was I clearly wrong about him then. He showed me that there is still a thing called honor and loyalty out there. Ever since he started working on my crew back in January I was amazed at how much of a team player he is and I really found that working with him made a huge difference in how I viewed work.

I am honored to know and work with someone like Jon who has gone through a tremendous amount of anguish and suffering this past month with a sickness in the family and the death of a close friend. He could have easily put the focus on him and what he was and is going through but he didn't. He could have been like many out there who live as if they have a monopoly on human suffering but he has chosen not to play the martyr. He is a good kid and I will make damn sure that I will be there for him whenever the need arises. His parents raised him well!

Be a Jon to those around you and see how much richer you make their lives!

Be Good,
Mac