Trying to keep my job

[bleedinbrown58]

I have a question for the OP...what was the joke about heroin that you told your helper??

 

[By The Book]

There are so many replies that I don't know which one to address. But Ive told the entire story. As far as using my phone for navigation, i was an rtd driver, only on the road from end of October till Christmas which of course I didn't make it that long. It was not a regular route that I've ran for years, it was a fairly new area to me, I think my second week in that particular area, sorry for not knowing every street. As far as using a map, well maybe it's different in different areas of the country but trying to find a map for the smaller towns, rural areas where I live is like trying to find a dinosaur, they no longer exist. So I use my phone for navigation. I was fired on the 15th, for theft of time because I paid my phone bill. I realize now that I should not have made any comment about drugs at all but it was intended to be a humorous statement, I was expressing how frustrating the job can be. My helper apparently was a very religious person and took offense to my comment. I wouldn't want to ride around with someone who is on drugs either, but just because I don't share the same sense of humor with someone else doesn't lead me to believe they are impaired in some way. I was asking for opinions, help for my particular situation. Some of you have tried to help and I sincerely appreciate it, even if the hole I've dug is insurmountable. To those that have labeled me a drug addict that doesn't deserve my job, well, your comments are much less appreciated and I think you're naive at best, I assure you many of your coworkers, people you respect and think do a good job, would be in the same situation I'm in if they were asked to take a drug test. I knew this conversation would go this way, more responses about the evils of weed than input as to how I may save my job. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I for one do not catorgorize marijauna to be as dangerous as the many painkillers that are being taken during work hours by many drivers. I smoked weed on a Saturday night, off the clock, in the comfort of a friends home. I regret losing my job over it, I regret my situation but I do not blame the evil weed. I accept my decision to smoke weed has cost me my job, but I blame ups, had I been impaired on the clock then I would not even bother trying to fight for my job but I wasnt, I smoked off the clock, on my own time, in a safe place. Again, I was completely sober Monday morning when I reported to work, how many drivers reported to work Monday morning feeling like crap because they were drunk all weekend? Yet they get a pass. My ba even said if I had alcohol in my system he could fight it, I could get into rehab, yet because I have the remnants of a drug I used 2 days prior to the test in my system I have no chance of keeping my job. I understand that's the law, that's corporate policy, but that's ludicrous just the same. I would feel much safer riding with someone that smoked a joint last weekend then I would riding with a driver who had spent all weekend drinking and reported to work with a hangover.

I believe contract law can't supersede state law. What I mean is if your local refuses to represent you, have them sign a document stating this and get a lawyer. From all of your posts there were times the company didn't follow their own procedures as it applies to the drug policy. That being said you say you were fired for stealing time. Did you take all your breaks this day within the times you were allowed to? What I haven't seen in your posts was if you were fired for drugs. The tests may come back under the limit. I'm not telling you that drug use is ok because you somehow justify it by saying there are more addictive drugs that can be used. I think you know that you need to own up to your choices and now have a choice to make. Are you going to fight for your job or are you going to find work somewhere else. If you're not ready or willing to admit you have a problem with drugs then you will continue to blame others for your misfortunes, and wherever you choose to work these problems with drugs will keep coming back.

 

[STFXG]

OP, sounds like you have a great sense of humor. Joking about getting heroin. Hilarious.
You know what I find funny? Losing your job because you're acting like a teenager and getting high on the weekend. Now THAT'S funny.

Maybe losing a good job will help you to grow up. Good luck in your future endeavors.

 

[Kingofcardboard1andonlyme]

Put your chin up find a new job don't wast any more time with ups. Your BA and most of the Union are burned out garbage collectors that's what they do!
Lie & cheat the system! Or just plain LAZY Don't let ups or this ineffective Union turn your life upside down ever again. They love drama shame on you ups. That's why 80 plus percent of drivers are alcoholic or druggies ups doesn't provide professional help with the stress from the job.
Why not ?
Get cleaned up find a new Job or start a small buisness trust me your life will be so much better!!! 32.00 hour ha ha start making real money$$$ don't bother thanking me just go do it. You deserve it!

 

[smapple]

I really doubt it's because of 1 comment. At least 1/3 of the people I unload with usually come in high and I can smell the marijuana on them. I don't report it because I figure it helps them pass the time, but I would think operating a vehicle while high is a different matter.

 

[pickup]

I have a question for the OP...what was the joke about heroin that you told your helper??

What's a girl who holds your stash when the Po' Po' pull you over?

Answer: a Heroine.

 

[toonertoo]

Marijuana has no physical addiction, there is no physical response to stopping it.

Marijuana can be mentally addicting, as people can get used to that euphoric feeling and feel that they need it all the time. This especially worse for depressed people or people already with addiction tendacies.

Marijuana has many uses, though. It can be effective for counteracting Bipolar episodes, and is safer than the prescription drugs. It is useful for counteracting chemo reactions. Trust me, from family experience, the drugs they prescribe for the chemo nausea are worthless.

As someone that has smoked weed in the past, cigarettes are more addicting than weed. Those damn headaches when you try to quit cold turkey is a bitch, and my wife says i turn in to an ass too.

There was a couple of cases in the SE, which i can't locate now for some reason, where older people, in 50's 60's, started smoking again. They were used to the 1960's weed like tijuana gold, and were smoking hydro grown modern strains, which has about 100 times more thc. The problem was they were smoking fast, and large qty's. They had reactions due to the amount of thc they put in their bodies in such a short.

All this being said, you have a $100,000 and are risking it by smoking...

It is sad, and probably designed that way, to keep marijuana illegal. It stays in your body 30 days or more. Crack, meth, heroin I believe 2 days tops. The latter have no medicinal use, the former does. Some states have been smart enough to recognize it, most not.

I would prefer my husband have legal marijuana available instead of killing him slowly with prescription drugs for pain. Ones that kill your liver, kidneys, and eventually shut down the body, and need to be increased occasionally because he has been legally addicted to a pharmecutical drug.

I would prefer that for anyone. If a simple weed could kill the pain enough to keep the pain away so he could function, all for it. Instead he has to take crap that has all the warnings of bodily shut down. And God forbid if he smoked it illegally that monthly test would shut him off, and now hes addicted.

it is all about the money. A person taking the "legal" killers if shut off get to make a rehab house, 30 k a month, the lawyers get money, the drug people get money, the doctors make money. the poor sap loses his job, for being "funny" trying to have a helper on car, less intrusive, possibly more productive, by lightening up the tense environment we work in.

If he was hung over from the night before and said he needed to get some more "hair of the dog" no big deal, but you can bet hes less productive and probaly less reactive than a guy who did a doobie once in a while.

I dont do it, havent in over 25 yrs. But you can bet your bottom dollar, once it becomes legal, I will have a bushel.

It is ridiculous in my world a man should get fired for it. Yeah I know its a law. There should be a test, like ovi, or dui for it, and used in such a case. He would have been fine. To see if he actually was under the influence, or a victim of something he did on his time, like drinking, that he no longer feels the effects from. How many of us on here could go to work Friday, if alcohol stayed in our system, for 30 days? Just saying

 

[ArcherUTR]

It is sad, and probably designed that way, to keep marijuana illegal. The latter have no medicinal use, the former does.

I wouldn't go that far.

Crack, i.e. cocaine has a long medicinal history as a pain killer and stimulant.

Meth, loosely imo is used to treat ADD.

Heroin is what Opioid pain killers are based upon.

 

[ArcherUTR]

I have a question for the OP...what was the joke about heroin that you told your helper??

Somewhere above...was having a ty day delivering out of box car rental and said...

"Today is so ed we might as well go get some heroin and say it"

 

[dumbmuthertrucker]

...I don't do it, haven't in over 25 yrs. But you can bet your bottom dollar, once it becomes legal, I will have a bushel....

Damn girl, that is almost an exact quote of what I told my helper this year. Back in the day, a six-pack would last me two weeks or more because I preferred a toke instead. I only have a few years left at UPS before I retire and you can bet your sweet hiney I'll be blazin' after that, whether it's legal or not.

 

[toonertoo]

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2014/04/weed-1-sanjay-gupta-cnn-weed-2-2947808.html
You make my point actually. But most people smoking weed, dont get addicted, or steal from their mother to get money for more. Or kill her.
And so a heroin derivative is ok to treat people with, as in oxy, morphine, vicodin, but not a simple weed, with no additives.

 

[clean hairy]

I really doubt it's because of 1 comment. At least 1/3 of the people I unload with usually come in high and I can smell the marijuana on them. I don't report it because I figure it helps them pass the time, but I would think operating a vehicle while high is a different matter.

How do those folks get to work?
I presume they drive as we do, so it is a different matter as long as they are driving their personal vehicle but not a company vehicle?

 

[toonertoo]

Half of the world I deliver to are smoking openly, when I go to the door, ...once they finally answer. It was a real eye opener for my helper. 20 yr old youngster. And there is the reason most of them cannot get jobs, because they smoke weed. Its ok to be on welfare, and smoke weed, no one cares, but have a job and smoke it occasionally, OMG must fire. That is so totally backwards.

 

[HEFFERNAN]

There are so many replies that I don't know which one to address. But Ive told the entire story. As far as using my phone for navigation, i was an rtd driver, only on the road from end of October till Christmas which of course I didn't make it that long. It was not a regular route that I've ran for years, it was a fairly new area to me, I think my second week in that particular area, sorry for not knowing every street. As far as using a map, well maybe it's different in different areas of the country but trying to find a map for the smaller towns, rural areas where I live is like trying to find a dinosaur, they no longer exist. So I use my phone for navigation. (1)I was fired on the 15th, for theft of time because I paid my phone bill. I realize now that I should not have made any comment about drugs at all but it was intended to be a humorous statement, I was expressing how frustrating the job can be. My helper apparently was a very religious person and took offense to my comment. I wouldn't want to ride around with someone who is on drugs either, but just because I don't share the same sense of humor with someone else doesn't lead me to believe they are impaired in some way. I was asking for opinions, help for my particular situation. Some of you have tried to help and I sincerely appreciate it, even if the hole I've dug is insurmountable. (2)To those that have labeled me a drug addict that doesn't deserve my job, well, your comments are much less appreciated and I think you're naive at best, I assure you many of your coworkers, people you respect and think do a good job, would be in the same situation I'm in if they were asked to take a drug test. I knew this conversation would go this way, more responses about the evils of weed than input as to how I may save my job. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but (3)I for one do not catorgorize marijauna to be as dangerous as the many painkillers that are being taken during work hours by many drivers. I smoked weed on a Saturday night, off the clock, in the comfort of a friends home. (4)I regret losing my job over it, I regret my situation but I do not blame the evil weed. I accept my decision to smoke weed has cost me my job, but I blame ups, had I been impaired on the clock then I would not even bother trying to fight for my job but I wasnt, I smoked off the clock, on my own time, in a safe place. Again, I was completely sober Monday morning when I reported to work, (5)how many drivers reported to work Monday morning feeling like crap because they were drunk all weekend? Yet they get a pass. My ba even said if I had alcohol in my system he could fight it, I could get into rehab, yet because I have the remnants of a drug I used 2 days prior to the test in my system I have no chance of keeping my job. (6) I understand that's the law, that's corporate policy, but that's ludicrous just the same. I would feel much safer riding with someone that smoked a joint last weekend then I would riding with a driver who had spent all weekend drinking and reported to work with a hangover.

1) Dude, this is ridiculous. If you had a phone call for 5 minutes, you wouldn't get fired. How you got fired for this THEN was asked questions about drugs is unbelievable !!
2) You smoke marijuana and your union contract laws says you can't have it. Cut and dry.
3) Dude, you don't get it. You possibly lose your job over it, yet you think the system is wrong, not you. Really??
4) Proof of #3
5) Feeling like crap and having enough alcohol to fail a test are 2 different things. That you smoked enough to fail the test (you assume) says it all.
6) Genius, even if it becomes law, UPS will not allow you to smoke it if it's agreed upon in the contract.


Bottom line: You pissed off your bosses enough to get fired for something crazy. Whatever target was on your back, was there for a long time. Not one center manager would want to lose a veteran driver this peak. Yet you were canned on December 15th. WOW Your past transgressions won't be made public but I'm sure you were in the center manager's office many a time. You smoking marijuana is not the problem, It was just the brass nail that sealed your UPS career. Like I said earlier, fight it, but damn it man, don't act like a victim.

 

[silenze]

For future reference
Pot users should ask for a blood test.
Note: (Reasonable Cause)
At the time the urine specimen is collected, the employee may opt
to also give a blood sample. If the employee takes this option, the
blood sample must confirm positive presence for the substance con-
firmed in the urine test. If no positive is confirmed in the blood
specimen, the employee will be given a warning letter, offered an
opportunity for rehabilitation as set forth in this Article, and the
employee will be required to otherwise satisfy the requirements
imposed by the DOT regulations. However, if there is a second
occasion where reasonable cause testing results in a positive urine
test, the employee will then be subject to discharge.

 

[bleedinbrown58]

1) Dude, this is ridiculous. If you had a phone call for 5 minutes, you wouldn't get fired. How you got fired for this THEN was asked questions about drugs is unbelievable !!
2) You smoke marijuana and your union contract laws says you can't have it. Cut and dry.
3) Dude, you don't get it. You possibly lose your job over it, yet you think the system is wrong, not you. Really??
4) Proof of #3
5) Feeling like crap and having enough alcohol to fail a test are 2 different things. That you smoked enough to fail the test (you assume) says it all.
6) Genius, even if it becomes law, UPS will not allow you to smoke it if it's agreed upon in the contract.


Bottom line: You off your bosses enough to get fired for something crazy. Whatever target was on your back, was there for a long time. Not one center manager would want to lose a veteran driver this peak. Yet you were canned on December 15th. WOW Your past transgressions won't be made public but I'm sure you were in the center manager's office many a time. You smoking marijuana is not the problem, It was just the brass nail that sealed your UPS career. Like I said earlier, fight it, but damn it man, don't act like a victim.

Heff said it best. The OP was a problem child....not fired for failing a drug test, but for stealing time for something minor...in the middle of peak! Hence, there is more to this story than we know. We all know..if management wants you gone, they will find a way.

 

[HEFFERNAN]

Heff said it best. The OP was a problem child....not fired for failing a drug test, but for stealing time for something minor...in the middle of peak! Hence, there is more to this story than we know. We all know..if management wants you gone, they will find a way.

Honestly, I'm not calling it evil. I think it should be regulated and taxed.
But in the context of our employment, there is a threshold limit we can have in our system.
It's in our contract and I'm sure the fry guy at McDonalds signed a paper with the same language.
The center manager wanted him gone and the drug test is the star on his Xmas tree.

 

[BrownBrokeDown]

It is sad, and probably designed that way, to keep marijuana illegal. It stays in your body 30 days or more. Crack, meth, heroin I believe 2 days tops. The latter have no medicinal use, the former does. Some states have been smart enough to recognize it, most not.

I would prefer my husband have legal marijuana available instead of killing him slowly with prescription drugs for pain. Ones that kill your liver, kidneys, and eventually shut down the body, and need to be increased occasionally because he has been legally addicted to a pharmecutical drug.

I would prefer that for anyone. If a simple weed could kill the pain enough to keep the pain away so he could function, all for it. Instead he has to take crap that has all the warnings of bodily shut down. And God forbid if he smoked it illegally that monthly test would shut him off, and now hes addicted.

it is all about the money. A person taking the "legal" killers if shut off get to make a rehab house, 30 k a month, the lawyers get money, the drug people get money, the doctors make money. the poor sap loses his job, for being "funny" trying to have a helper on car, less intrusive, possibly more productive, by lightening up the tense environment we work in.

If he was hung over from the night before and said he needed to get some more "hair of the dog" no big deal, but you can bet hes less productive and probaly less reactive than a guy who did a doobie once in a while.

I dont do it, havent in over 25 yrs. But you can bet your bottom dollar, once it becomes legal, I will have a bushel.

It is ridiculous in my world a man should get fired for it. Yeah I know its a law. There should be a test, like ovi, or dui for it, and used in such a case. He would have been fine. To see if he actually was under the influence, or a victim of something he did on his time, like drinking, that he no longer feels the effects from. How many of us on here could go to work Friday, if alcohol stayed in our system, for 30 days? Just saying

I have someone in my family on disability with severe Bipolar. The disability insurance for medication has a threshold that the person hit part of the way through the year. The medicine they take costs like $600 per month without insurance which they cannot afford. The doctor at that point switches them to lithium...Requires monthly bloodwork to make sure the levels in the blood are not exceeding a threshold. If the levels exceed that number for any amount of time, more than likely i will have to attend a funeral. And that is not even taking into account the side affects.

 

[ArcherUTR]

I don't smoke anymore. Haven't for a long while, mostly because it stimulates me rather then brings me down.

A long while ago when in feeders, I got called in for a random DOT drug test. I didn't smoke at the time back then either; however, I had had a wild night with a chick that in the next morning culminated in some hair of the dog Puff puff.

The random DOT test was about 4-5 days later. Like the OP, I was a bit caught off guard and worried. I had been in feeders for a year and had never been tested.

As time went by, it's not like I could go to management and and be like, "How'd I do? Did I pass, did I get a 70?"

After enough time went by, I assumed I passed it. I still assume I passed it.

 

[smapple]

How do those folks get to work?
I presume they drive as we do, so it is a different matter as long as they are driving their personal vehicle but not a company vehicle?

A lot of them actually take the bus. I usually see them waiting by the stop on my way home.