05-15-2017, 12:02 AM
(05-14-2017, 10:01 AM)fredtoast Wrote: Sorry to hijack this thread but I have great true story.
When I was finishing up my undergraduate degree I thought it would be a couple of years before I started law school. I applied for a position with the Chattanooga City Fire Department. The hiring process was a series steps. it started with a written test that hundreds of people took. They eliminated a bunch of people then about a week later there was a call back for a physical strength/endurance test. They elimnated more people then about a week later I had to take the MMPI and a lie detector test. The final step was a physical exam by a doctor that included a drug test.
I had been clean for weeks anticipating this drug test. But after I took the MMPI and lie detector I did not get a call back for well over a week. i assumed that I had been eliminated so I smoked it up big time. The very next day I was called to come in for the exam. I schedualed it for a couple of days away and then tried all sorts of crazy stuff to try and pass (drinking vinegar etc)..
The next call I got was an offer to join the CCFD.
The funniest part is that when this happened it was impossible to get one of those jobs without someone already on the force to recommend you. they usually hired about 5 or 6 guys a year. But in 1985 they instituted a drug testing policy and a few guys had lost their jobs. So they hired 14 new firemen that year and I was able to get on because I scored so high on every test. So even though I was a pot smoker I was able to get a job that someone lost possibly for smoking pot.
Something similar once happened to me. I was working at an airport in baggage sort and had been there for about 2 years. I was getting high just about every day at the time, and never thought much of it because I never really saw anyone get randomly tested.
They did, however get tested when there was any sort of accident, which was the farthest thing from my mind TBH. One afternoon, I got assigned a huge flight of about 150 bags. It would require about 3 carts to be hauled out by one driver. I got two good ones and had to scrounge up a shitty old mail cart for the third. The wheels creaked and the tow bar was barely hanging on, but I figured it would get the job done.
I was wrong. The third cart fell over on the road when I took a tight turn. The tow bar had finally had enough, and it twisted and detached from the other cart, sliding across the ground shooting sparks and dropping luggage.
I was pretty nervous. I got called into the lead office to meet my supervisor, where he would then drive me over to the main building to piss in a cup. I told him point blank that I had smoked the night before probably every night before that with a few exceptions since I passed my initial hire screening. I told him I'd just prefer to quit and go to the house to avoid the embarassment.
He begged me to take the test for about 20 minutes and told me that I had nothing to worry about, although obviously I did. I caved and took it. I never heard about it again. I worked there for another 6 months before I left for a better job.
Funny shit.
