Ridiculous interns

[Anonymous]

My intern emailed me to ask if he could go home early to beat this afternoon's storm because he forgot his umbrella. Are you kidding me?! Is it just me or does that seem ridiculous? Or did I miss a major hurricane warning? We're right at metro center, BTW, no shortage of umbrella shopping opportunities.

How would you respond to this? I'm leaning toward ignoring it since it's my day off and I'm only responding to urgent email. Too passive aggressive? Teachable moment? Smart kid otherwise, just occasionally entitled.

Anyone else field this type of requests?

[Anonymous]

Pretty easy to just say "no."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty easy to just say "no."

Oh come on!

OP, that's hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Maybe he has a 3 mile walk home after he takes the metro. Maybe he's an unpaid intern and can't afford to buy one of the many umbrellas at Metro Center!

[Anonymous]

LOL I remember being an intern and doing some stupid shit too.

If this is the first dumb request you can use it as a teaching moment and say "hey this time is ok but plan ahead next time and be better prepared." OR you can say "go buy an umbrealla" lol.

[Anonymous]

"Sorry, we need you here this afternoon to work on several things. You are welcome to buy an umbrella on your lunch hour or borrow my extra one as long as you remember to return it tomorrow."

Then I'd make sure to keep him busy all afternoon.

[Anonymous]

Agreed pretty ridiculous. But you know what I remember about most of my summer internships? How stupid they were and how I was too immature to see what a waste of time they were. Perhaps things have changed, but my point is: this intern is probably young and immature, and the internship may well be suited for the young and the immature.

Anyways, I think your response should be tailored to the reality of the situation. If you need the intern to be there because you are depending on them, say no (teachable moment). If you don't (my experience with many of my internships) then let it go.

[Anonymous]

Do you pay him minimum wage or higher? If not, you have no say over his hours. He can do whatever he wants. You get what you pay for.

FYI, there are severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings for later afternoon. Who knows how he commutes. You are kind if a jerk to make an unpaid intern walk home through a thunderstorm and tornado possibly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you pay him minimum wage or higher? If not, you have no say over his hours. He can do whatever he wants. You get what you pay for.

FYI, there are severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings for later afternoon. Who knows how he commutes. You are kind if a jerk to make an unpaid intern walk home through a thunderstorm and tornado possibly.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you pay him minimum wage or higher? If not, you have no say over his hours. He can do whatever he wants. You get what you pay for.

FYI, there are severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings for later afternoon. Who knows how he commutes. You are kind if a jerk to make an unpaid intern walk home through a thunderstorm and tornado possibly.

+1

Seriously? He is working in a professional environment. How much he does or doesn't get paid is irrelevant. He's there doing a job and he needs to act like it.

I agree with the PP who says to tell him he's welcome to take some time to go grab an umbrella before the rain starts or borrow yours.

[Anonymous]

Is he paid?

[Anonymous]

Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

Companies still have them. And it is really crappy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Sorry, we need you here this afternoon to work on several things. You are welcome to buy an umbrella on your lunch hour or borrow my extra one as long as you remember to return it tomorrow."

Then I'd make sure to keep him busy all afternoon.

This.

Even at my stupidest moments in my 20s, I never would have dreamed of making this request out loud. OP, help this intern out by sending the above response.

[Anonymous]

Op? You going to answer whether he is paid or not? That's pretty damn key.