Well i had my first race this weekend with CCS, sorry couldnt make cycle jam, to much money for me to travel when i only live 25 mins from summit. But anyways, in my second race I lowsided in T1 at summit point and bruised up my knee pretty bad. I have to where a brace just for a couple of days, My problem is I work for a really good company with great benfits, but they do not like me racing, Another guy at my company drag races his 8 second mustang and his 8 second hayabusa every weekend and they love it and dont give him any shit, but when it comes to me, all I hear is your going to kill yourself. When i do track days on sunday, i still show up for work on sunday night, even though im exhausted, I have never taken a day off for racing since last year and have never missed work because of a injury since i started doing track days. While wearing this brace some fellow co workers have been saying that the boss might sugguest to me to quite racing! Because i cant perform to my fulliest, I do tile work and have to be on my knees, but i still get the job done i just work around my injury, What do you guys think about it, see ya Dale
from what I understand (and I can be wrong at times, ask my umbrella girl) they really can't say anything to you unless it an be documented that it is interfering with work. They need hard evidence.... just go out on STD (Short Term Disability you bad minded thinking people) and show them....
I got a similar reaction last year from the company I work with. It's a UK based company and we have several Brits over here. I had only been working there for 2 months when I crashed at Talladega. Messed up ankle and elbow. I moved REALLY slow for several weeks. Anyway, one of the worldwide directors cornered me to give his opinion of how dangerous racing was, how "key" personnel in the UK have to sign papers to not participate in dangerous recreational activities, and how if they knew I did this beforehand, I probably would not have been offered the job........ anyway... I'm still racing (haven't crashed since either!!! ) It didn't help the situation that one of my responsibilities is for plant wide safety!!! I just told them that I was a living example of how wearing the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) can save your life!!!! Chad Novice #271 Charleston, SC
Yeah, my HR director joked about writing a new company policy to prohibit employees taking part in dangerous activities. He was only half joking, but I told him to forget about it. He knows he could never get it to work, but if he could find a way, he would. (btw, he's American, and I'm British - it works both ways.... )
Quit telling everyone that you race. I bet they wouldnt have a problem with you playing softball would they?? If you hurt yourself, tell them it happened somewhere else. Your employer cant dictate what you do on your time off.
Do they really do things like that in England? I thought he was just joking at first. He saw that I wasn't taking him seriously and got pissed and started yelling!!!
I'd be suprised if they could do that there, most of the rules are about the same as here, but who knows. Tell him that you would have expected that kind of approach from a risk-averse nation, (such as France, say). But you're suprised to hear those views coming from such a noble and brave nation such as Britain. He'll be so ashamed he'll back down immediatly for fear of dishonoring the country. Oh, and tell him he's a wanker from me - he'll know what I mean Damn it, at the end of the day, if its a legal activity, what fu$kin right has ANYONE got to tell you not to do it????
1996: The company I worked for knew I rode on the street and raced, but they didn't say anything. Even after my TGPR sweeper crash that cost the insurance company $130,000 and I was out of work for all of my available short-term disability. 1998: The company I worked for (a different one), didn't even know I rode a motorcycle until my Road Atlanta crash in March put me in the hospital for a few days. They never said anything about my riding or racing.
Unfortunately most companies don't give a crap about people any more and just care about the bottom line. Motorcycle racing isn't that popular here in the US and you rarely hear anyone say that an athlete should quit a sport like football or baseball when they get injured. They're simply expected to heal up and get back to playing as soon as possible. I get shit all the time at work about my racing, but it's just co-workers and I've never been told I should stop or else lose my job or benefits. That would be quite illegal. It's just the mentality of people who don't understand our passion for the sport or commitment to it. Don't let them phase you and if you love it keep doing it. No matter how much crap they give you you'll still have a big ass ear to ear grin at the track while you're racing.
This is pretty funny. I thought I was the only one who went through this stuff. My boss went out of town for a while, so he asked me to fill in for him. He first asked me if I was planning on racing any time soon...
The best thing to do is never tell anybody at work what you are doing. They don't know what they are talking about anyways. I played ice hockey for 2 years and they never stopped telling me how I was going to get my teeth knocked out and break my legs. Hurt my back lifting some freight on the job and one of my supervisors kept insisting the injury happened on the ice. I guess he thought he was some kind of claims adjuster or something. Riding my bike to work gets everybody into a frenzy. After awhile, I just started answering "NO" when asked if that was my bike out front. Saying yes only causes them to recount some motorcycle accident they saw. Always includes grisly details of painful deaths, limbs amputated or paralysis. It is amazing how stupid and inappropriate non riders can be.
Unfortunately... if the employer doesn't like it, they can get rid of you one way or the other. Pass you up for promotion, take away responsibilities, assign you to clean the latrine. If they so desire, the first layoff that comes around your name can be at the top of the list... Work is way wierd these days...
Sadly, in most US states, if the boss wants to FIRE you for racing, he/she can do so legally. In fact, they don't have to have ANY reason to fire you. What they can NOT do is fire you due to your membership in a protected class (race, religion, disability, etc). Your boss can literally walk up to you and say "you have brown eyes. I hate brown eyes. You're FIRED." And you're done. No legal recourse. Unless of course, you have an employment contract which changes things drastically. Most of us do not have one and are "employees at will." It's this way b/c it's considered a two way street. You can walk into work and quit, w/o reason or notice and the boss can't sue you either. Welcome to the world of employment at will, gang. Be careful and know the deal before you do/say anything. Slick. My $.02
That's bullshit! I don't agree with a company trying to regulate what you can and can't do with your free time. IMO if your at work on time and can get the job done who cares what you do on your weekend? We all know that racing motorcycles isn't as safe as basket weaving, but I think most people try to take every saftey precaution that they can to try and avoid injuries. Oh Well just my opinion.
AMEN! I get the EXACT same crap here. When the chickenshits at work start in on their spiel about "murdercycles" or their 17 year old dumbass neighbors squidly child who ___________. and is now paralyzed/maimed/dead all because of that damn motorcycle. It makes me want to my standard response is to tell them that I "refuse to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death, because nobody gets out of life alive."
