Dear Phil,

Please let Carol and Mike know that I'm praying for both of them.

What a bunch of sad situations, but God is in controll, and I believe 
that Mike will be able to keep his job, and I'mpraying that they will 
treat him more kindly.

Please let them know that they are both loved a whole bunch, and that 
I send my usual lovings and squeezings in abundance.

Love and Blessings,
Pat Ferguson
.





At 01:59 PM 2/11/2009, you wrote:
>Forwarded message.
>
>Hi all,
>
>Please could you pray ...
>
>We have a lot of difficult things going on in our lives right now and are
>seeing God's moving ...  However, some things are a little daunting,
>saddening etc. and now another situation has escalated and it's not good!
>
>This is likely to be long so please don't read to the end if you don't
>wish - but just pray if you can!  If you wish to, however, here's the
>situation!
>
>Mike has worked for over 40 years in various jobs and has always had a
>reputation of being "good at his job ... nice, kind, pleasant, easy-going".
>Anyway, he even got the Employee of the Year award at his present job a few
>years ago ... and had a very supportive team with whom he worked.  Well,
>that has all changed because the owners of the hotel have decided to run it
>themselves instead of letting a large, respectable, well-known franchise do
>it for them, largely because they wouldn't shell out for needed repairs etc.
>...
>
>The owners took over last April, with a new manager who said there would be
>no redundancies.  In a very short time the first of two phases of
>redundancies began ...  Mike ended up going in to some pretty awful meetings
>with staff who were afraid, upset and very badly treated in order that he
>could take notes on their behalf.  (He ended up taking notes for many senior
>staff who left because he was the most able of those few left behind!)
>
>Things have moved on and a large area of the housekeeping has been
>outsourced, and it's looking like more redundancies!
>
>Meantime, along come lots of new staff who just do not listen at all to any
>of the old-stagers.  On one occasion, because of work carried out, Mike's
>switchboard was not available in his office.  Instead of letting him work
>out front (as he had in the past) they moved his switchboard out of earshot
>of other receptionists.  This meant that when he was not there, no calls
>were answered!  They have done a whole load of other such rather ridiculous
>things too and won't ever ask his advice ... and that's just one example.
>
>Things have moved on and now there are only a handful of folk left who were
>there before the change!  None of them like it and some are actively looking
>to get out!  Mike came home a few weeks ago and said, "I need to look for
>more work ..." and told me that they'd removed the drinks machine.  As he
>speaks all day on the phone, the removal of that cold water was just the
>last straw for him!  However, he's continued on bravely, because it's
>difficult for visually impaired people to find work, and his age will do him
>no favors.  If he just ups and leaves then he will lose disability benefit
>as a result of his actions.
>
>During the past months, he has had a new manager who made it his business,
>on their first meeting together, to tell him that someone had complained
>about his manner when asking for assistance to get drinks.  ((Most
>colleagues would simply have realized he was coming again for a cup to be
>filled ... and, as a regular request, he didn't always need to say "Please,
>would someone kindly help me and ...")  Nevertheless, he took the point
>onboard.
>
>There is now a lot of building work being carried out and he's had to have a
>few words when he hasn't been able to get into the building alone (as he
>usually can).  On one occasion he was particularly cold and couldn't get in
>because of many cars taking up the space at the front of the hotel.  It was
>agreed they'd look out for him (as the staff working under the old
>management had naturally done) but it hasn't really happened.  This has
>added stress to his life, together with the fact that the building is
>currently unsafe for him to go around on his own and that means he can't
>even get to the toilet without saying "Please may I be taken ..."  Further
>to this, his new boss wouldn't even take him!
>
>Last week, with all the difficulties of the bad weather, a taxi was ordered
>for him on Wednesday morning.  The company they have has been used by the
>hotel for about four years and so he is well known and there's a good
>understanding about the help that he needs to get him to the doors when he
>arrives, especially at present as there is major building work being done
>for the hotel.  Wednesday's driver was not briefed, nor did he appear to
>understand Mike's problem when he was finding it difficult to get out of our
>front drive because of the snow and ice and he'd gone straight back to his
>car.  When they arrived at his work, the driver just said, "OK, you can get
>out now" and expected him to make his own way, not being aware exactly where
>the man had managed to park ...  Mike suggested he really needed help to get
>to the door.  The driver's English was poor, which didn't help.  Suddenly
>Mike found himself being pushed through the revolving doorway, with a dog in
>his hands.  (This is not really safe or recommended, especially if there's
>an alternative, which there is.)  Mike started by insisting that the door he
>needed was not the revolving one ... but the driver didn't understand and
>continued to push.  Eventually Mike was both anxious, stressed and tired of
>it all and raised his voice somewhat, though he did not swear or anything
>like that.  Eventually he got in and the incident was soon forgotten by him.
>
>Well, his line manager came to him again yesterday (the second time he'd
>ever come to talk to him about his work) and said, "I have a print letter
>for you inviting you to a disciplinary on Friday ..."  I have written
>statements from members of staff ... etc, etc.
>
>Well, Mike knows he wasn't as patient as he could have been and will of
>course offer apologies, but it seems that the person who has complained is
>the one who had lots to say about the water incident before and on this
>occasion she didn't offer help very readily either.  Also, I would suggest
>that his boss's actions were nothing short of "Bully Tactics", making an
>already stressed Mike even more stressed!
>
>Sorry to have written at length, but I felt I wanted to share it all with
>you and just to ask for prayers.  He is attending the meeting on Friday
>afternoon and is continuing to work, though that's not easy ...
>
>I found myself at first very angry about the situation yesterday and went
>immediately into my "Suggest" mode, but I realized this morning that I
>really needed God to take complete control here and to trust Him, so prayed
>specifically about that.  It's pretty stressing for me also and I don't like
>to see Mike treated this way, especially as it's likely to be the final job
>of work for him.
>
>We are both taking a holiday break next week and can't wait for it.  My 60th
>birthday falls in the middle and we think my brother may come.  That could
>also be pretty stressing and I'm getting rather apprehensive (because of so
>many family difficulties in the past) but he's only staying two nights so it
>should be perfectly OK.
>
>Forgive the long post and thanks in advance for any prayers offered on our
>behalf.
>
>--
>Carol
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