Someone may be listening

Its been a hell of a week. A triumph of evil in Norway, Amy  Winehouse joined the 27 club, a government minister in Ghana has called for a roundup of those suspected of being homosexual, there was a deadly train crash in China which seems to be in the process of being covered up by that government, a couple of large businesses have announced layoffs in the thousands, Comic Con has been going on, the debt crisis has pushed way past political theater into surrealism, Casey Anthony was set free, the stock market has been writhing, 3650+ small town post offices may be closed,'The football players and management came to an agreement so there will be a season after all - how much bad news can one take? Has evil become a palpable real entity slowly enveloping the globe?

Late last night, I started to put the birthday write ups here. I have to substantially change things for the same material to show properly thru Blogger. I worked on it for over a half an hour, there were problems. I gave up and went to bed. I don't know if I'll get around to fixing it.

Instead, I just have to tell you what life in America is like for an average nothing job at the moment. See, the company I work for, part of an international conglomerate, has been bringing the boot down. On Sunday, I was made to watch - and there was a quiz to pass - a new computer presentation (45 minutes!) about confidential material. After going through the obvious (credit cards, checks), the program spent a good bit of time discussing the necessary confidentiality of possible company secrets. You never know who might be listening. It could be the competition, ready to steal all our ideas. Oh, and by the way, the company considers its pay levels a secret. We should never talk about them - even to each other. The same is true for anything from discussing the hours we work, to disciplinary actions to... well, just about anything. Transgress and it is a fireable offense. Oh, and by the way, writing about the company on a blog is a fireable offense too. Do I feel intimidated? Actually yes, I do. Does it bother me? Yes, it does. Will I stop? No, not really. I don't think I've ever used the company's name on here. I may not have used mine, actually. If you wanted to match blog to person, you could find the info quickly enough.

This morning, I was pulled aside several times. The first discussed our policy of ID'ing everyone who looks 45 or under, regular customers included, for beer and or wine purchases. It's a younger age for cigarettes. These rules must be strictly enforced. Even if the customer comes in everyday. They say this every now and then, and after a month or so things will settle down a bit. However, this time we were told that corporate will pull and watch the surveillance tapes of the cashiers, and listen in to our conversations with customers. (Oops, I think I just broke confidentiality again..) If they don't hear us ask for ID, it's a "step" offence. Three steps and you're out.

Then I got pulled aside and told that our "rings per minute" levels must get up to company standards. They already go over our "scores" with us daily. Well sir Jim Bob, if'n we don't make the proper scores, it's a step offense, three steps and you're out.

Later I was pulled aside and told about my clothes. The pair of pants I had on had worn spots which had begun to look like holes in my clothes. That was unacceptable. I think my boss also said "indecent" but I'm not positive about that.

I already skip most medications and doctor visits because there isn't any money. Not with what they pay me. I started in 2007 - and I still haven't worked my way up to $10.00 per hour. Even buying recycled "re-loved" clothes from the hospice store means skipping another day or two's food. If I pay rent on time, and with my money the damned eagle had the grin squeezed out some time back, such steps must be taken. And just when did it become permissible to tape and listen in to your workers? The boot is coming down. Did I mention that I overheard someone in authority tell a customer that we keep trying to hire, we're hiring all the time, but we can't get anybody.? They actually don't understand why people don't want to work for them.

Maybe Amy Winehouse had the right idea. Anesthetize yourself, sedate yourself, do everything you can to escape the reality outside your body. Of course, if you fail the piss test you'll never get a job as good as mine.

July 26 is the 207^th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
 There are 515 days remaining until the end of time.