This is how I feel"
-
under construction -
please forgive anything that makes no sense.
it just means I haven't finished it yet.
One Flew over the Blanchard Grinder
or...
How I Fight to Preserve my Sanity for 40 Hours Each Week
My name isn't important. I
work in a shop. A poorly run shop. Run by an idiot who knows nothing
about a machine shop. An idiot who would rather be elsewhere, doing other
things. An idiot who, through his ignorance and apathy, is succeeding in
driving this shop into the sewer. Try this: the next time you're in the
bathroom, listen to the water swirling in the toilet bowl when you flush.
Imagine yourself as one of the spinning turds, caught up in the circling tide,
drowning, helpless against the disappearing, all-consuming vortex which will be
your ultimate end. That's how I feel every day I go to work. Every.
Single. Day. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine the dread with
which I watch the clock as the minutes painstakingly advance towards that moment
of no return when I HAVE to go to work? A polite person would say
"Bummer, Dude". That's putting it mildly.
This is how I feel"
Let me offer details. (note to self: this might make for an interesting TV series - a day in the life of a regular person...say, a shop rat.) After 8 years, this idiot's crowning achievements include waxing a floor & securing a room that nobody uses. His over-riding priority seems to be achieving a 100% participation in the "voluntary" safety program. Safety is JOB #1 - unless it costs money. He refuses to maintain critical machinery. He refuses to upgrade old machinery. He fails to provide adequate tooling for the machinery that still runs. He does buy new computers for the CNC equipment but he doesn't hire people who know how to run the machinery. He refuses to cross train people to have a pool of qualified operators in reserve. He creates an atmosphere of distrust with petty rules & changes of policy. He...ahhh, I gotta stop this before I get worked up. You get my drift. This is a megalomaniac who seems to delight in breaking his employees spirit just because he can - instead of running the business as a manager should.
A quote by a well known
oceanographer, Jacques Cousteau, seems appropriate.
He said "On ze Calipso, sings moost roon lack ze finely tuned watch
or zair weel be trooble.
We canna have ze deektator who cares not for hees people.
We moost have ze deeplomat, who underztandz hees crew and zair
needs."
A wise man, indeed.
This is how work used to be: smiling faces all around.
But things have changed.
There are some compensations. Some of the employees are interesting people who bring relief in regular doses. And the work they perform - or don't - can amaze & intrigue, all at the same time.