The best place to work in San Diego

I printed the confirmation page of the Great Place to Work Trust Index Survey which I today completed and wondering what token would I be getting this time. Not another Scrippshealth backpack I hope. By doing the survey, I was actually saying thank you to my employer. I would do the survey over and over again and would keep giving all the 5's, the top score to my facility and unit. As a nomadic worker once, I have probably seen the worst and could tell the best place to work when I see one. From the foothills of a coastal town in Northern Mindanao to the 'badou' inhabited deserts of Saudi Arabia, I believe I have seen em all.

I must have started on the wrong foot. ROC situation, ridiculous obstacle challenge, to borrow a co-worker's sport without permission.

I remember emailing Kaitlin M my intent to work at Scripps till I am gray and gay almost four years ago while I was still completing my 90 days probation period. I don't know what the issue was all about but it had something to do with complaints from Kathy and Jane, both then hotshot new grads from San Diego State. Kaitlin M, my then supervisor, was the one who called in Ibsen Valencia from the human resource department to translate for her and Britney what I was going to say in Tagalog. Aghast, I made an appointment with Ibsen which she scheduled in three days.
I told Imee, a former social worker at a Non-government office in the Philippines who had worked with Scripps for the last 10 years as CNA about Tagalog translator incident: "That's nasty. Isn't that harassment?"

The following day, Kathy, then Department Lead who told me twice that she is a heartbeat away from being like Kaitlin M, told me to work on more menus after I have already clocked out. I told her I would work on the menus but I have already clocked out and I am not allowed for overtime. That moment, she called Kathryn who came back to the Department immediately from a meeting with Britney and got me in a closed door meeting. I went home very angry that night that I had to use the back roads of Sorrento Valley, a longer route. The following morning I went back to work but told Kathryn I could not work that day.
"Are you quitting?"
I looked her and our eyes met. "No, I am not quitting," I replied.

From Kaitlin M's cubicle, I went straight to the Human Resources to see Ibsen. Ibsen handed me a box of Kleenex and she asked me to use her computer. From Ibsen's computer, I applied to a non-technical position. Someone must have told Kaitlin M I was talking to Ibsen with a box of Kleenex on my hand at the Human Resource office that Kaitlin came into the office while I was at the computer and gave me my pay slip which she knew I really didn't urgently need. I don't know anyone at Scripps who pays attention to pay slips because everybody seems to be on direct deposit for their wages.
Two weeks after putting in my application to another position from Ibsen's computer, Min Park Lee from La Jolla contacted me and set an appointment. Min was an angel from South Korea and we talked in my usual nonchalant way. Must be that Asian vibe between us. She didn't ask me why I was getting into a lower position and she called me at the house phone an hour after I arrived home from meeting with her to ask me what size of uniform I wear.
"Extra small?"
"Nope medium."
"I wear small and you looked tinier than I."
"Okay, I am small."
It was Debbie Watson who first mentioned about hearing my transfer to La Jolla. Debbie was another Department lead but she never told me that she was a heartbeat away from being like Kaitlin M. It was Debbie who one time asked me if I was okay after one of those cubicle talks with Kaitlin M. I told Debbie I needed a hug. She gave me one: refreshing, comforting and warm. I was given a muffin stand-up on my last day. I knew about about the plan and wanted so much to ditch it.
The muffin stand-up came and Kaitlin tried to find some nice words for me while everybody listened. I don't remember anything she said because I was wondering if she invited Ibsen to come and translate for them what I was going to say in Tagalog. Britta referred to La Jolla as the "big house" and said something about "what happens here stays here". I didn't get a second hug from Britney, she gave me a welcome hug more than 4 months ago as a new hire.

Kaitlin did email me and sent me pictures of the muffin stand-up she had for me on my last day. The pictures was all camaraderie and warmth with the friends on my short stay with the facility. I also heard that she was no longer working with Britta but still in the facility. I got another email from her before our household switched to AT&T from Time Warner.

I have since moved to my third facility. Pride, camaraderie, trust, respect, fairness and credibility: the same factors that must have helped me hurdle the ROC experience when I was starting kept me in the best place to work in San Diego.