This is a great example of a bad situation that turned into a good one. At first glance, this guy shouldn’t have been working and firing was the only option. Luckily, someone took the time to see the real need, reach out, and help him.
“We got a new contract for two [receptionists](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/je3ras/whatisthefastestyouhaveeverseena_new/ DanielleAntenucci We got a new contract for two receptionists to sit at our front desk. The company did not send their sharpest knives in the drawer because it was a low-dollar contract for only one year. You could consider the positions temporary. They sent a guy that my security manager called “Sticks”. He was incredibly malnourished and thin. We had a front door that was double door paned glass. I always exited through the side door and would look in through the glass doors every day when I left for home. On Sticks’s second day, I looked in through the glass at the dark reception area and saw one of the office chairs behind the reception counter as it slowly spinned. I entered back in through the side door and came into the the back of reception. I found Sticks laying on the floor with an ergonomic office chair that had fallen on top of him. His head was bleeding from where he struck the floor or some other object. Also, in my peripheral vision, I saw a can of compressed air (the type for cleaning keyboards). The company did not send their sharpest knives in the drawer because it was a low-dollar contract for only one year. You could consider the positions temporary.
They sent a guy that my security manager called “Sticks”. He was incredibly malnourished and thin.
We had a front door that was double door paned glass. I always exited through the side door and would look in through the glass doors every day when I left for home.
On Sticks’s second day, I looked in through the glass at the dark reception area and saw one of the office chairs behind the reception counter as it slowly spun.
I entered back in through the side door and came into the back of reception.
I found Sticks laying on the floor with an ergonomic office chair that had fallen on top of him. His head was bleeding from where he struck the floor or some other object. Also, in my peripheral vision, I saw a can of compressed air (the type for cleaning keyboards).
Sticks said he was perfectly fine. I helped him up and sent him home.
Over the next few days, other admin folks reported to me that they kept finding Sticks collapsed in the reception area when no one had been around. I finally called his corporate supervisor to come to take him away. When the supervisor arrived, Sticks had locked himself in the supply closet and refused to talk to me. I could hear him huffing air behind the door. The supervisor talked to him through the door and finally escorted him back to company headquarters.
They fired him.
I called the company, and I learned that Sticks was a former service member who had served in combat. Looking at his résumé, I knew he was also a former EOD team member. I suspected he had substance abuse problems stemming from PTSD and head trauma.
I still had his contact information, so I contacted him a week later. From then on, I coached him every day until I finally got him an appointment with a volunteer from AMVETS who got him and his family help and care.”
