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Grex > Agora47 > #116: The next chapter in the life of a Customs Officer. | |
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| 25 new of 196 responses total. |
tod
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response 150 of 196:
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Nov 3 19:52 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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mcnally
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response 151 of 196:
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Nov 3 22:10 UTC 2003 |
I tend to side with gull.. Personally, I have been unwilling to
share my thoughts on the matter because I think they're not highly
likely to help Bruce.
In general, I'm usually not a big believer in brutal honesty unless
there's a very high likelihood that the advice I'm giving is going
to make a big improvement in someone's situation or prevent them
from making a terrible mistake. In my experience, such situations
are very rare and for the rest of the time there's an appropriate
time and manner to share hurtful news, even when another person
asks for you opinion.
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tod
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response 152 of 196:
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Nov 3 22:54 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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bru
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response 153 of 196:
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Nov 3 23:21 UTC 2003 |
Keep in mind our primary mission here guys. To stop terrorism.
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other
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response 154 of 196:
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Nov 3 23:31 UTC 2003 |
re #153: I assume you're making a point, but I'm not at all clear
on what it is. Would you please elaborate?
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tod
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response 155 of 196:
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Nov 3 23:55 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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mcnally
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response 156 of 196:
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Nov 4 00:33 UTC 2003 |
It would explain much if Bruce was under the impression that his
primary mission was to stop terrorism while just about everyone
else (including his superiors) believed that his primary mission
was to try to control the flow of goods coming into the country.
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tod
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response 157 of 196:
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Nov 4 01:00 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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bru
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response 158 of 196:
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Nov 4 04:12 UTC 2003 |
No, thta is our primary job at this point, hammered into us again and again
at the briefings. Screw the revenue, stop te terrorists. And catch the drugs
while you are at it.
From one briefing.
You have three primary responsibilities.
1. stop the terrorists
2. stop the terrorists
3. stop the terrorists
and how did we go about stopping the terrorists? By interviewing truckers
and processing their paperwork within 2.5 minutes and sending them on thir
way. Believe it or not, you can get a lot of information out of someone in
2.5 minutes.
They did not give me a gun and tell me I was a cop. they trained me for 12
weeks, made me pass every test with at least a 72%, ( graduated with 86%),
an made me go thru a 12 month bacground check. Then they put me to work under
a 2 year probation with teh understanding that even one entry into my B7 file
could cost me my job.
Think you can survive two years without making a single mistake on the job?
I made two mistakes, both of which I informed them of, which had I not they
may never have found out about. And then I pissed of a supervisor. I don't
even know how I pissed him off other than he seemed tomake me jump thru hoops
none of the other inspectors had to jump thru.
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happyboy
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response 159 of 196:
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Nov 4 08:47 UTC 2003 |
why are you posting all of this here, to *vent*?
to get *back at them*?
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mary
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response 160 of 196:
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Nov 4 12:42 UTC 2003 |
Did you call in sick? Were you still in your probation period
when you went on record with a disability (carpal tunnel)?
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bru
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response 161 of 196:
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Nov 4 13:01 UTC 2003 |
I missed two days sick in the past year. I had a repetative motion injury
to my shoulder, but I never reported it as a work related injury, and it had
cleared up within a short period.
158 was indeed a vent. But not at customs. It was aimed at people like you,
happyboy.
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mary
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response 162 of 196:
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Nov 4 13:07 UTC 2003 |
Did you at any point have restrictions placed on your
work activities to help the shoulder problem? Are you
very sure your employer or other employees had no
knowledge whatsoever that you had health issues
that could be chronic?
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anderyn
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response 163 of 196:
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Nov 4 15:27 UTC 2003 |
No, he didn't have any restrictions put on him for the shoulder.
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bru
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response 164 of 196:
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Nov 4 17:45 UTC 2003 |
I never discussed the shoulder with anyone at work. The only way they could
have learned of the problem was through my health insurance.
I have no reason to believe they did so.
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slynne
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response 165 of 196:
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Nov 4 18:03 UTC 2003 |
Hmmmm. Bruce mentioning that the supervisor was pissed off says a lot
to me. That might be it right there. Seriously. I could probably
theorize about why a supervisor might not like Bruce but I dont think I
will.
I think it is ok to hire someone on a one year probation and then
extend the probation to two years as long as the person is notified of
the change. I have a feeling that those two incidents are not the real
reason for the termination. Because if they were, he would have been
out of there a while ago.
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tod
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response 166 of 196:
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Nov 4 18:49 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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scott
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response 167 of 196:
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Nov 4 18:50 UTC 2003 |
If the whole aim is stopping terrorists, why all the discussions about
illegally-imported meat a few months ago?
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goose
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response 168 of 196:
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Nov 4 18:53 UTC 2003 |
A diversion...
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tod
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response 169 of 196:
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Nov 4 19:01 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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aruba
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response 170 of 196:
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Nov 4 23:09 UTC 2003 |
It sounds to me like the company line is "Stop the terrorists", but that
doesn't mean the inspectors don't have to do everything they had to do
before, anyway. Kind of like an "unfunded mandate".
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i
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response 171 of 196:
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Nov 5 01:26 UTC 2003 |
It seems pretty obvious to me that "Stop the Terrorists" is a message/
mission coming down from the political-level leadership in Washington,
and should be read "don't ever get caught looking like you might have
exposed even a sliver of the top brass's asses". It smells of small,
stupid minds inside the beltway, but differing with top command's list
of priorities is very definitely not entry-level Bruce's job.
I think the Bruce was canned for failing to humor Supervisor Chip O.
DeShulder. The reaction he reported from the Internal Affairs crew
(who'd know how seriously his offenses were normally treated) supports
this.
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happyboy
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response 172 of 196:
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Nov 5 08:48 UTC 2003 |
why did you get fired, bruce?
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tsty
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response 173 of 196:
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Nov 5 10:02 UTC 2003 |
fired or on suspension?
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bru
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response 174 of 196:
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Nov 5 15:10 UTC 2003 |
DIDN'T i GO THRU THIS EARLIER?
1. I handcuffed and helda suspect for the police while off duty. This was
a violation of Customs proceedure.
2. I missed a COMPEX (Computer Generated Exam) by failing to enter the
information into the computer in a timely manner. (everything was done
correctly, but just an hour later than it could have been)
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