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Man stabs himself to get out of working the night shift

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Filed under: Career

What do you make of a guy who doesn't want to go to work so badly that he stabs himself in the leg? And then calls the police to report that he's been knifed? All so he can avoid working his shift at Blockbuster Video.

The Denver Post reported earlier this week that when 29-year-old Aaron Siebers walked into Blockbuster at the start of his evening shift, he claimed he had been attacked by three people -- skinheads, he said at first. Indeed, he had a deep wound in his leg and several lesser cuts.

A manhunt soon ensued, complete with police dogs. Then the police started finding holes not just in his leg, but his story, For starters, he claimed to have been attacked near a Target, but the cameras didn't pick up the incident or show any suspicious activity.

Siebers eventually recanted and admitted that he had abducted himself at knife point.

As a police spokesman told The Denver Post, "If you are going to concoct a story about being stabbed, don't do it near a Target Store."

Siebers was arrested, of course, and hopefully, along with a good lawyer, he has retained a good psychiatrist. I certainly know I'm wondering if he is crazy, as in mentally ill. Why else would you stab yourself in the leg and put your life at risk -- or at least put yourself into such pain -- to avoid working?

On the other hand, maybe he's just lazy. But not so lazy, since his excuse took some effort on his part... I mean, most of us would have just called on a cell phone and said we had the swine flu, hung up and called it a day, but maybe he had used that excuse already.

I almost feel for the guy. While a video store may have looked like a fun place to work--after all, who wouldn't want to work in a business where you're constantly talking about movies--the reality is probably quite different. I'll never forget working at a bookstore a few months out of college. I thought it would be the next best thing to writing books -- until I had to lug piles of book to shelves, stock the shelves, sweep out the back alley and work the cash register. Suddenly, this fun job was just a job. And the pay was dismal.

Maybe that's what happened to Siebers. Maybe he found himself feeling stuck, stuck in a job, stuck in life, and... and yet, even as I try to understand why he did it, I still can't picture myself or any mentally healthy person taking a knife to their leg as a way to get out of work. I feel sorry for people who are desperate for a job, any job, and are reading this right now. There's a lot of unemployment, after all, and even if Blockbuster was the worst place in the world to work, I'm sure a lot of people would have happily taken Sieber's place.
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