eyes to the sky

i am an establishment
Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006 @ 12:20 a.m.

a co-worker of mine told me today that when she was nine her family died in a house fire. she lost six siblings and both of her parents and was sent to live with her aunt where she was made to work in an illegal betting house all day. she went home crying every night, went to bed and then woke up and did it again.

my father was born in 1933, and by 1942 he was working in the ontario legislature as a page. at the time, he was the youngest ever to work in that position (i'm not sure if the record stands), but he wasn't working because he possessed abnormal talent: he was working because his mother had bills to pay and it was his responsibility as the only man in the house to bring in money.

last year, i was certain i had found a great employee--one who always arrived for her shifts on time, was helpful and courteous and was constantly remarked upon as a friendly and competent individual who brought a good name to our business. i promoted her at my first opportunity because i really thought she was different from the rest. a story not quite as impressive as the first two, but mentionable nonetheless.

over the next few weeks there will be rumours asserting the following: that i am an intolerant boss who fires unproductive emo posers whose only crime is one of fashion. i must take this opportunity to assure you that if you see such a rumour, you may consider it to be an absolute (rather than a general) truth.

for the most part, the next generation of workers with whom i am in daily contact doesn't invest any care or consideration in its work. it's impossible to pay someone to care, but having always taken pride in the tasks i am given (even if that work is serving coffee and danishes) i expect something similar from my co-workers. when i am told i've made a mistake, i take it to heart and when i'm asked to do something, i do it as efficiently as i am able. all hoping that i won't leave room for criticizm, and knowing that when it comes--because it always comes--i will be able to change and grow and perform even better than before. i don't want a raise. i don't want a shining star. i want the respect of intelligent people, and i know that that respect is bought only by hard work done with a positive attitude.

with this in mind, i have nothing to say on the work ethic, job performance and general attitude of the younger employees at my place of employment. there's nothing to report. from what i can see, they feel that they deserve more than what they have and they don't want do anything to earn it. what's worse, based on recent observations the few who do care (because there are still some) are prone transform in an instant into unfeeling, unappreciative and unresponsive dummies just like the rest.

this afternoon, the formerly star employee mentioned above came in with a huge gold ring obscuring my view of her (rather sizable) nose, shrugged as she told me that she knew she wasn't permitted to wear body jewellery of this variety and laughed as she said that she really didn't care. and when i followed my instructions and abashedly told her she would have to leave if she didn't put in something suitable, she was genuinely shocked--as though i was saying something completely foreign, and that she never considered that i would actually question her blatant disregard for the dress code that SHE KNEW she was violating in the most ridiculously avoidable way. on a sidenote, our employer does allow staff to leave piercings in, however it is required for safety (as well as to lessen the shock to our mainly elderley customer base) that they wear only small studs or retainers if the piercing is on their face. and not that it matters, but my formerly star employee was reminded specifically of this code when she got snakebites pierced three months ago. and so to her (to katie) i have the following to say as the most constructive criticism i can muster:

you work in a fucking grocery store, you stupid goddamn retard. you're not a pole-dancer, you're not a suicide girl, and this is not the circus. if we were running a freak show, we'd employ people with more talent than the power to throw up after every meal and act brooding and disaffected all of the time. you work in a minimum wage job just like everyone else, and your only asset by which i mean THE ONLY THING THAT SET YOU APART (clearly, your respectability) evaporated somewhere between the day you showed up at our house crying at 1 am because you had a fit and ditched your friends, and the time we had to keep the store closed until you arrived (drunk) to open it fifteen minutes late. and since you haven't earned anything, you therefore do not deserve anything.

if this post had a moral, it would be that just like it's cousin chivalry, la politesse seems to have died a spectacular, gruesome death while i was looking the other way.

so today at work i did what i was told, and sent katie home for becoming just another deadbeat kid without enough self respect to drop her egocentric attitude and consider making a change. and i'd do it again, because as a representative for 'the establishment' it is my job to kill buzz, outsource, downsize and otherwise be a puppet of the man. a job that i take pride in, for a man who understands the value of a good day's work (having learned very closely from others that it's not as hard as it could be) and who upholds his values without a huge gold ring through his left nostril.

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