It?s a cold and damp, drizzling and gloomy sort of morning. My mood matches the weather.
Billy had a ride home last night with his friend and co-worker, Kyle, but they were about an hour late and I was just about beside myself. I saw car wrecks and blood in my mind and I couldn?t get the images to stop. I called the police to see if there?d been any wrecks and the lady who answered was very soothing. If there was a wreck, I would have heard something by now (not if the car went off the road and no one could see it, I thought) and to give it a little more time.
It all turned out to be very innocent and would have been prevented if only Billy called to tell me that Kyle needed to go to an Acme to get something for his mother.
Billy isn?t on the work schedule next weekend. What he said didn?t make a lot of sense. He has to bring his other two letters of reference and he has to bring in some other paperwork before he can work on the schedule again. This is the part that didn?t make sense ? he said that Regal could only have him work a certain number of hours before they needed this other paperwork.
Huh?
TB thinks Regal might be getting ready to let him go. That thought crossed my mind, too. I feel awful. TB said he doesn?t feel guilty about it because we warned Billy right from the beginning that the theater was really too far away and that he?d need to arrange transportation. When we found out there?s no bus service on weekends, I thought, okay so we?ll drive him then and during the week when he works, he?ll take the bus.
The biggest hitch is, of course, working the closing shift. If he was right down the street it wouldn?t be a big deal. The thing is, we can?t be sure what time between 12:30 and 2 he will get out and so we have to sit in the parking lot a long time. One night we were there for over an hour.
Later ?
I called the Department of Labor to try and clarify areas in which I was confused. The woman who talked to me was very helpful. I didn?t file a complaint, just asked questions. I learned that 16 year old kids could work after midnight on non-school nights IF the parents signed a permission form. It turns out that is the form the movie theater wants Billy to bring. Ah! But I don?t know if I want to sign it.
TB and I don?t want to have to drive around at 1 or 2 in the morning. I guess it?s okay IF Billy and his friend Kyle work the same shifts. I don?t know if the schedulers would be willing to do that. I also don?t know if Kyle really wants to drive Billy home, gas money or not.
Another reason I don?t want to sign is that 16 year old kids are not supposed to work more than 8 hours in a day. I have a feeling the theater can get around that one because they provide a 45 minute break. That way, if Billy works from 4:30 to 1:30, they can still say it was less than 8 hours. I don't know, it seems shady to me.
The DOL lady asked if Billy likes his job and I said yes. I'd really like for him to keep the job if it's possible. The lady said if things don't work out, I can call to file a claim because there's grounds for it.
More later ?