In 2001 I turned down a job as Personnel Officer with ICL Plastic in Maryhill, Glasgow. On 11th May 2004 a gas explosion ripped through the premises killing 9 and injuring others, some of the injured are still unable to work thanks to the injuries sustained on the day. The company has just been fined £400,000, it hardly seems enough yet the judge had his reasons and I think the justification stands up.
I remember the day I heard the news on the radio, sitting in my Clydebank office, and I remember in that moment feeling as though I’d just been pulled back onto the kerb as an out of control motor tore across where I would’ve stepped. I don’t change employer readily and had I accepted the job there’s no doubt in my mind that I would have been on site that day.
It’s funny (in a strange way, not a ‘ha-ha’ way) because I still have sketchy memories from the interviews that I attended. I remember how backwards and eccentric the Chairman was, how he was impressed that I drove a clapped out fiesta as it showed that I knew how to take care of the pennies, how the Personnel Director had been interested in my very basic REHIS Intermediate Health & Safety training and that I had undertaken the advanced training to.
I remember how backwards the company felt, with ashtrays in the offices and the stale reek of cigarette smoke in the air. I remember how cramped and warren-like the premises were, I seem to recall being told that it was a Victorian building and they were stuck with it. I recall a area where the ovens were, and a man working there. I wonder if that’s where the explosion was. Everything seemed so outdated.
Originally I accepted the job before some further research highlighted something from Amnesty International pointing to the manufacture of electric batons and shields for supply to unscrupulous governments. Something which was as good as admitted when I put it to the then Personnel Director … maybe she still is.
Not unsurprisingly I withdrew my acceptance of offer.
Life changing moments sometimes seem so innocuous.
Related links:
BBC News - Propane gas pipe caused carnage
Socialist Worker online – Scandal behind Glasgow’s factory fire.
Wow.
Thank God you weren’t there.
You were obviously meant to be here.
By: Jo Beaufoix on 28 August, 2007
at 8:37 pm
Chance. It’a all a question of chance … or miracle’s … or karma … or a smoothie of all three!
By: Alasdair on 29 August, 2007
at 10:57 am
You just have to go with your instincts, whether it’s by analysis or gut feeling. This is what carries you through the journey of life. I agree with Jo, Alasdair you were not mean to be there and thank goodness.
By: 21st Century Mummy on 29 August, 2007
at 11:05 am
[...] in Scottish business at 11:21 am by idea15 This gentleman turned down a job at the plastics factory in Maryhill. Apparently the “Life on Mars” atmosphere, sleazy [...]
By: Doing your homework « Tips from Idea15 Web Design on 29 August, 2007
at 11:21 am
Nice to see someone calling these things what they are – backwards – rather than people like us being told that we’re uptight and crazy for even questioning them.
By: Heather on 29 August, 2007
at 11:57 am
21stMC – you are, of course, absolutely right. We all have choices and how we reach them isn’t necessarily as important why we reached them … or something … my brain hurts!
Hi Heather – I’m always glad to see a comment from someone new, especially when they have been gracious enough to link back from something they’ve written.
I stayed in the job I didn’t leave to take this up until 2005 and they were also backwards and they treated me as the young and niave chap you described in your post … at least they did for the first 3 or 4 years until I managed to chase the backwards factory manager from the building when he ‘resigned’ … he was driving a forklift truck the last I heard :twisted:
By: Alasdair on 29 August, 2007
at 1:52 pm
crazy story. i lived quite near it when it happened and it all seemed very surreal
By: michaelgreenwell on 29 August, 2007
at 3:21 pm
Aye, it’s definitely a small world … I think that when anything like this happens in your locality it’s always a bit surreal. Afterall these are things that happen in far off lands that we normally ever have a passing association via our news broadcaster of choice.
By: Alasdair on 29 August, 2007
at 7:28 pm
hooeee. It’s a full moon here tonight and between your and Jo’s posts, I’m a little fearful of going out to the barn to feed the animals tonight. I wonder whom I may meet on the way?
By: leendaluu on 29 August, 2007
at 11:39 pm
Oooooo, I saw a film recently that featured a barn, a lassie possessed by a demon, and a rather unfortunate snake dropped on the head of a preacher man … the end result wasn’t pretty!
Any sheep in that there barn?
By: Alasdair on 29 August, 2007
at 11:51 pm
oh, send the kids away before you click on that one!
By: Alasdair on 29 August, 2007
at 11:53 pm
I agree with 21st Century Mummy on gut instinct. I believe we do have a sixth sense about things and sometimes we can’t explain why we do things (or don’t do things) it just feels right at the time. This makes me wonder if our destiny is planned out for us or we control it. Oh it’s too late in the afternoon for such deep thinking!
By: ingeniousrose on 30 August, 2007
at 4:48 pm
Hi Ingenious, I don’t like the idea of ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ or anything else that suggests that I’m not in control in the direction my life is taking. Having said that though there are certain decisions we take which will predetermine the course of our life for a while … even if it’s only because those decisions will require you to conform to certain social or cultural norms. Having kids would be a good example of that.
By: Alasdair on 30 August, 2007
at 6:21 pm