Two seasons ago, right before we left WQ to head out for the season, one of the drivers for the show said he had a friend in Florida who was looking for a job and willing to come up here to work, and that he (the driver) would pay for the bus ticket. He claimed someone told him it was okay, and got the guy up here. Well, I ran a background check on the guy, and it was three or four pages long. Theft, embezzlement, bad checks, but no drugs, assault(s), or anything that would have put him on the sex offender list. Well, I had to bring it to the owners attention, and the answer at first was no way, send him home. But the guy pleaded and said 'look, I have been out of jail for three years, haven't been convicted of anything in almost five years, I have turned my life around, all I ask is for a chance.' So, he was given one. Turned out to be a great guy, set up and tore down and ran rides, did carpentry work on the bunkhouses and other repairs, made sure the water was hooked up for the show each week and picked up each week after teardown, was friendly, always willing to give a helping hand. Everyone was glad he was allowed to stay.
THEN, it happened. One day he disappeared, for two days. So did his driver buddy. When they showed back up, the driver said he had went to a friends house and his kidney stones acted up, so he stayed, and second chance guy stayed with him. We thought something was up, but even with a drug test we could not prove it. A month later, same thing happened, and this time, they admitted it....they were off doing crack. We were like WTF? We give the guy a second (and really, even a third) chance to work and keep his life on track, and this is what he does? Needless to say, he was let go. You just can't have guys doing that stuff. Who knows if maybe they do it right before the show opens then go operate a ride, or drive a load. You can't have those folks around, even if, as the case was with this guy, they are nice, friendly, and hard working. A shame, really.
We had another guy come up and want to work, get hired, clean background check, passes a drug test, everything looks good, then he says, "I can be paid off the books, right? I am on disability for my back, and can't make over a certain amount each month or they cut off my disability." WTF? You're on disability for a bad back, and you want to work at a carnival? Either you're a fool, stupid, or you lied and got doctors to lie to get disability. He was told 'no, you're on the books, taxes, SS, all of that.' So he said no thanks and left. Really?
We have had guys come up to the office saying they were looking for work, and when asked questions, say 'look, I don't really want the job, but I have to show I am looking for work. Can I fill out an application or get a note of some sort showing I was here looking for a job?' Again, really?
It's like for every two or three good American workers we got, that worked hard, did what was asked of them, didn't cause trouble, and valued their job, there were nine or ten others that were just the opposite.
Surprise surprise, the background and drug tests did you absolutely no good. I'm curious, do background checks check databases in Mexico or other foreign countries?