Would you quit your job...

[WOT?*]

to follow your son's little league team to the world championships?

Her (former) boss sounds like a real peach. Must be tax season.

sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/mother-loses-job-cheer-son-husband-little-league-160800643.html


Mother loses job to cheer on son and husband’s Little League World Series run

by Cameron Smith | Prep Rally – 7 hours ago.. .

A California mother has paid the ultimate professional price for her commitment to her son and husband's baseball passion: She was forced to give up her job.

As reported by the Santa Rose Press-Democrat, Billie Ann Tomei, the mother of Petaluma (Calif.) National Little League star Cole Tomei and husband of the team's coach, Trevor, was fired for taking her vacation time to cheer on her family during the team's appearance in the San Bernardino region. Billie Ann had been serving as an office manager for a CPA, and with her boss out of town, he refused to let her leave the office even though she had accrued enough vacation time to take the trip.

"He wouldn't let me take time off," Tomei told the Press-Democrat. "He told me, 'If you go, write yourself your last check.' So I wrote myself my last check."

What the elder Tomei saw was a run for the ages, culminating in a trip to Williamsport for the Little League World Series. Once there, the Petaluma youngsters pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in recent baseball history, scoring 10 runs within their final three outs of regulation to force extra innings in the U.S. championship game before eventually falling to Goodlettsville, Tenn.

The team's run ended with a third-place finish at the event thanks to a 12-4 victory against Panama in the tournament's consolation game on Sunday.

If there were any concerns that Billie Ann Tomei might regret walking away from her job for a baseball tournament, those were answered by her actions on Aug. 19. Tomei's mother made the trip to Pennsylvania from California to cheer on Cole but was to return home on the 19th. Billie Ann flew with her so that she wouldn't have to fly alone, then immediately turned around and flew back to Philadelphia. When she landed, Tomei was told that there weren't any rental cars available.

The Petaluma National Little League All Stars — PetalumaNational.org

With just hours before Cole and the Petaluma squad played again, she did the only thing she could imagine: She jumped in a taxi and took it all the way to Williamsport. The trip cost her $400.

"I gave the taxi driver $400 and told him to take me as far as he could take me," Tomei said. "It was all the money I had. Fortunately, he was really kind and brought me all the way. I owe him $150."

Billie Ann Tomei, thy name is dedication. Even if the Petaluma kiddos didn't win the Little League crown, Tomei almost certainly won plenty of admiration for her refusal to back down to all the different factors bent on keeping her from seeing her son and husband on the biggest stage in their level of their chosen sport.

[vanillacourage]

Yeah, if the boss is out of town then the office manager is unlikely to get approved for vacation. Having earned the hours doesn't mean you can take them whenever you want. Sucks though.

[kadams767]

No, I wouldn't quit. She could have went for the weekend games. Just because you have vacation time doesn't mean you can take it whenever you want.

[Deleted]

My job? No.

A low-paying dead-end job? Maybe.

LOL.

[belovedbride07]

I'll go against the grain and say yes...if:

this were one of a series of incidents in which I had to miss out on family happenings that were important to me and thus I felt like my job was incompatible with the family life I wanted to lead

and

I could afford to quit/had reliable prospects for a new job.

Somehow I'm guessing the subject here wasn't giving it this much thought, though.

[CallingAllAngels]

I would, but my job is nothing special.

[kadams767]

Aug 27, 2012 19:34:32 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

My job? No.

A low-paying dead-end job? Maybe.

LOL.

One might think if she didn't have the extra $150 to pay the cabbie, she couldn't afford to quit.

You know, since this is MM and all. Lol.

[Deleted]

Yeah, but who cares?

A crap job is the best kind to quit.

[Velvetshady]

Aug 27, 2012 19:48:40 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

Aug 27, 2012 19:34:32 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

My job? No.

A low-paying dead-end job? Maybe.

LOL.

One might think if she didn't have the extra $150 to pay the cabbie, she couldn't afford to quit.

You know, since this is MM and all. Lol.

But she had the money for an extra flight from PA to CA and back.

If I had the money and didn't need the job, I'd quit. But I sure wouldn't blame my boss for rejecting a vacation request for a valid reason. And I wouldn't be letting my story be published. First, who cares? Second, this is not what I'd want potential future employers to find when they Google my name.

[WOT?*]

My MIL quit her post-retirement job because her boss wouldn't give her time off. She was clerking in an admin job at a local college, with her master's degree and a dozen universities courting her for her work experience (she was *the* grantwriter for a federal gov't department). She asked for a couple days off while family was in town, he said no, she said yes, he said if you go you quit and she said "fine I quit." But she was already retired with a good pension and didn't need the job.

I didn't quit my last job because it would have put my co-workers in a bind. I waited until the last person on leave was able to return before I "arranged" for them to terminate my employment so I qualified for unemployment more readily. But it was a crap job I didn't need. (Actually, I could live with the job, loved the benefits, didn't like the management style of the boss which was the big problem). It was more to fill hours and bring in money than something worthwhile or to put food on the table.

In her case, I think it depends on the household finances. Obviously she thinks "family first" and baseball is a big thing since her husband coaches and this is nationals rather than just some weekend scrimmage or whatever they call it in baseball. I'd have hoped the boss could make arrangements but if he was out and she was the only one in, I could see his position. Someone has to be there.

[Becca]

This kind of made me smile.

A co-workers son made the little league world series last year. They were a huge underdog, and co-worker never in a million years dreamed that her kid's team would make it.

She came into work, rearranged her schedule and informed us that she was going to be gone in a week for an unknown amount of time (until the series was over or her kid was out). The partners weren't pleased, but she went anyway.

We are CPAs, and although it is a 'good' job, it isn't worth missing the chance to see your kid play. I would have done the same as my co-worker. This was a huge deal for her son.

Would I have quit in this ladies situation? Maybe, maybe not - it depends on my family's financial situation at the time and opportunity for re-employment. But I know that if I didn't go, I would probably regret it.

I don't necessarily fault the boss either, but I need a work/life balance. And this is one of those 'once in a lifetime' things. (I am sure it meant the world to her kid that she was there)

[Deleted]

A local team made the Little League story there was an article about how the parents were taking unpaid leave from their jobs, etc.

It was damn expensive for those family and from the article it seemed a lot of them were teachers/policemen type professions.

And I can't even imagine how much school those kids missed.

[Becca]

Aug 28, 2012 5:35:38 GMT -5 @septimus said:

A local team made the Little League story there was an article about how the parents were taking unpaid leave from their jobs, etc.

It was damn expensive for those family and from the article it seemed a lot of them were teachers/policemen type professions.

And I can't even imagine how much school those kids missed.

I am sure a lot of kids didn't miss any school. Around here it doesn't start until September

[anna7602]

This sounds like the plot to a really bad G-rated movie.

It sounds like it all ended for the best for her, though. She should definitely have been looking for another job/profession if she thought it was outrageous that her boss could deny her earned vacation time when it was inconvenient for the business.

[takeonyou]

I probably would. I wouldn't miss my kid's passion for a dead end job.

[chessie]

I would not. And I can see the managers side, you can't take time whenever you like, arrange to go on the weekends and see practices after work. I know those leagues around here are very expensive as it was, I need a job to help pay for those activities so my kid could enjoy them.

[ddi741]

I wouldn't quit, I'd let them fire me. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for that child and I would hate myself if I missed it.

As a boss, I would hope I could figure out someway to let her go understanding that it wasn't like he was just playing some little leauge game and she could catch the next one.

[Deleted]

I probably would. I sucked at softball and H has never even owned a mitt so on the off chance our kid can actually catch a ball I'm not missing one minute of that.

[Deleted]

Aug 28, 2012 5:55:50 GMT -5 Becca said:

Aug 28, 2012 5:35:38 GMT -5 @septimus said:

A local team made the Little League story there was an article about how the parents were taking unpaid leave from their jobs, etc.

It was damn expensive for those family and from the article it seemed a lot of them were teachers/policemen type professions.

And I can't even imagine how much school those kids missed.

I am sure a lot of kids didn't miss any school. Around here it doesn't start until September

The kids in our area did miss school. We've been back since the beginning of August.