Never Enough

When I took this job I did so only because I would NOT BE IN CHARGE. I'm a great second in command, not a manager. I'm the person you want working behind the scenes. I think about things and usually have great suggestions. Implementing them? That's your job boss.

Problem is, my boss is new and I'm old. Well, not old really, but I have a year's experience and he hasn't done the job since...well, he's never been a lead in this position. AND his experience is mostly with a different branch, so not everything carries over exactly. Don't get me wrong, he's a great teacher, but as a manager of staff, well, he lets just say he makes me feel better about my own past mistakes.

So when he decided to tell us he was taking off for the weekend (at 2pm on Friday) when the whole thing kicks off on Saturday, I COULD have stepped up. Thing is, he put someone else in charge. No problem, I figured I was off the hook. Except I've been somewhat of a leader the past couple of days and a phone call from a co-worker made it sound like people left behind were unhappy that I wasn't there. They didn't really know what to do (not a surprise since our boss didn't explain or leave instructions before heading off).

But I wasn't really scheduled to be there. Okay, I was, but only for a one hour class. I asked someone to cover it since I didn't want to drive one hour there and back for ONE class. The person who took over was the one who complained...but he agreed to take the class. Sure my boss SHOULD have said I should be there, but he didn't. And I don't see any reason to report to work on a Saturday without explicit instructions to show up.

I'm not in charge
I wasn't told to be there
Someone else was put in charge of the day
That person didn't ask me to be there
Things got rough (because I'm the only one who seems to know what's going on around here)

And I feel guilty.