I just got fired.

[shelliebear]

From a volunteering position. MEANING I WAS WORKING FOR FREE.
I'd hardly call it working, however. They had me show up for 2.5 hours and we had ONE client. They didn't have me do anything. They had me sit on the floor and do nothing but read pamphlets. Didn't tell me to bring a book. So I talked to one of the vet techs for a while. She didn't seem to mind.
Went to schedule for a week later, had to call in sick with strep. Scheduled again for today when they told me they had 0 clients today. Had to cancel today because Max's car broke. We're going to probably need a tow truck to get it to the repair shop.
I showed up yesterday because I put the wrong date in my phone. They let me go all the way to the back and change into scrubs before telling me it was the wrong date. So I got changed, and while waiting for Max in the lobby I was talking to the receptionist and said "Gosh, I feel bad, I ffed up Max's whole day." None of the doctors were around. You'll see how this ties in.
So let's go back to the first day I volunteered: The one client we had kept talking to me. She was talking about her dog, what happened to her dog, how she loves her dog, how she made her dog's little sweater herself, how the neighbors love her dog, etc. And so I talked back and told her it was a cute dog, I love dogs and my dog had to be put down, and seeing her dog made me smile and I thanked her for it.
Let's skip to today.
I get a call an hour after I had to cancel because the car broke. The doc interrupts me after she asks me what was wrong with the car and if it is fixed, and tells me she thinks I'd be better suited for a humane society. Says that they're a business. I said "so you don't want me to work anymore?" And she says, and I quote,
"Well, you used some inappropriate language the other day, and you kinda kept talking to clients."
I asked for clarification. "I don't understand. The client kept talking to me, when I was trying to listen to the doctor."
"Well, volunteers, you know, are supposed to be QUIET. We're a business." Emphasized on quiet.
So, I got fired. From a volunteer position. I gave my time for free.
In case you missed my inappropriate language I'm assuming it was "ffed up", which I told the receptionist and she must have told the doctors I said. And talking too much to clients, well, I humored a talkative, annoying client who wouldn't SHUT THE HECK UP for 30 seconds so I could hear what the doctor was saying about the dog's condition. yet I KNOW if i had said nothing, I would be being fired for being RUDE to clients and not acknowledging their rants about their stupid, nasty dog with clumped hair in its eyes that got out and bitten by a neighbor's dog because you didn't build a bigger fence.
All the people there were snobby, rude, talk-behind-your-back, preppy...I can't use the word I want to call them here. :cens0r::cens0r:
They weren't nice to me. Instead of the receptionist telling me when I walked in that I had the wrong day she buzzed me to the back and had me change before telling me. They laughed at me when I left that day and quite frankly I don't think I want to work someplace like that. The vet tech has been trying to get her license for 5 years unsuccessfully.
No thanks.
But it still hurt my feelings.
Live and learn I suppose. But how, how I ask you, do you learn to tell what businesses consider "ffed up" a curseword and what ones don't? I went to an orchestra rehearsal Monday and that's professional. It's a business--they make money from their music. The cellist next to me messed up and shouted out the "s" word. That was acceptable, no one even turned their head.
But at a vet clinic you say "ffed" in a lesser "inappropriate" context and get fired from your free work. Really? Really??
How do you learn? I need advice. I want to learn but the doctor wouldn't talk to me, she kept interrupting me. What do I do better next time? Avoid cursing and its abbreviations like the plague? Completely ignore the clients because I did the business a favor by working for free with a lesser title of "volunteer"? Isn't that also considered RUDE to ignore them and what they say? Or is that just part of the job world?
I don't understand. This was my first volunteer job. I don't know what I did wrong but I know I need to learn fast.
Please help. I'm really kind of crushed inside, despite the anger. I was there for the animals, not the clients, and I got fired for something that had to do with the clients and what happened in the lobby.
I wanted to help and I got rejected.