Unusual Pattern - Flash Fiction
Updated: 2 days ago
A flash fiction story about a pattern that is easy to miss until it isn’t. In “Unusual Pattern,” Greg Luti follows a manager who notices young employees leaving suddenly, with no complaint and no real explanation — and begins to wonder what he’s actually seeing.
I noticed an unusual pattern where I work, most of the guys in their 20s leave without much of a hint or heads-up to the other boss or me. One day, the man will walk in, say he is going to quit, and that is that. Sure, some of them say they can still be on the schedule for the next week they were supposed to be on. There are some who even text me this notification, but the handling of it by the guys is always the same.
They never brought up to anyone that they were looking for another job, or even that they were trying to leave. There were times, I am sure, when I spoke to them about the current work environment. How they are doing well here, what the place is trying to do, what they can do better… And while we went over all of that, there was never an utterance or anything about the fact that this guy may not even be here next week.
I can name a handful of men who did this.
There was Conor, the worker who never showed up on time, but was good with the children, so when he was here, he showed he was competent. The other manager wanted to get rid of this guy as soon as she could, but I needed the body, so I kept him as long as I could. Until one morning, on my day off, I received a message from the other boss, Conor quit. He sent an email to the owner, one I didn’t receive, and he will not be returning.
Then there was Dan. He left abruptly, too. One day, he texted me he was leaving. He tried to come back for whatever reason he had. I never really knew what he was trying to do with his career. So he quit, and then he asked if he could come back. But when he did, try to come back I mean, he then told me shortly after that he was leaving for good. It took the guy two times to realize the job was not for him. At least he stayed on the schedule the last week he was here. That is appreciative.
Unlike Ismail, who did not. He texted me about not working there any longer. Now, this was in the middle of the week, and he was still on for a few days, but what happens? His day comes, and he is nowhere to be found. I even texted him and reached out to him the day of to see if he was coming in. He didn’t respond. I don’t even remember how I solved that problem.
Then there was Chris, who, a month after being given employee of the month, told us he was leaving. He got another job in the same field for better pay. The other manager was relieved by his departure, as the guy was always late. I think he will be back in a month, for not many places have tolerance for late workers. Not only that, but he was requested to be on for a certain day by someone, and so I put him on for that one day. He can follow through with this one thing he started. Of course, he never confirmed the date, and I was left having to quickly figure out what to do when he was not there. To add more humor to the situation, he had the balls to go to the Thanksgiving party, even though he had just quit.
Oh, you think that is it?
Nope, there is more.
Patrick, one of the best workers we have, and someone whom I could rely on many times, came in last week and said he is moving to NJ with his girlfriend. He is leaving, just like that. He is a good guy, which means he will do what he can to show up for the times he was supposed to be on. That sounds good, but that also means there is a very good chance he won’t be on for a few days, because life gets in the way, and he already quit, so he doesn’t mind not coming in. Plus, when I was speaking to him, he seemed to imply he was leaving to go to NJ sooner rather than later.
Then there was Jeremy, who texted me about not coming in anymore, for reasons I don’t even remember. He was fine with even coming in for the last few shifts he was on, but he wasn’t needed then, so I wished him the best of luck, and he went on his way. He wasn’t even that great of a worker, honestly, but an incompetent body is better than no body. I can train the fool. I can’t train the wind.
Every single one of the guys had one thing in common: they did not tell me or anyone that they would leave ASAP. When they could, when the time came, they left. Some of them we were happy about letting go. Others, we were upset because we thought they were great workers.
Nevertheless, they had no issue with leaving.
It didn’t matter their skill level, their communication ability. Their effectiveness on the job. How I felt about them. Any of that. Because the glaring truth is that no matter what we did, they did not bring up the fact that they were leaving, they didn’t even give us a heads-up.
Conor never said, “Hey, so you know, if something comes up for me, I am going to take it.” Neither did Dan. Chris or Ismail didn’t say, “If another better-paying job comes my way, I am going for it.” Patrick or Jeremy didn’t say, “If something happens in my life, I am out of here.”
Nope, we got none of that.
I told this to the other manager because it seems our trust in 20-something-year-old men should not be that high. They are all playing a different game and not telling us about it. She doesn’t think much of it.
As for me… I am going to have to tell her something when I go in later today.
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