You could lose everything within an eighth of a second.

Say you have a secure job wherein you do graphic design. 30 thousand a year. You do your work, you have good days and bad days, come home and sleep at night. You pay your bills because everything becomes predictable. You enjoy being able to have weekends off and a little extra in the bank. Then you start to enjoy life, and you have a little extra fight in you.

Then, the company you work for gets sold. You know you're not your job. You opt for retail because it's within walking distance of your place. The corporate-heads monitor your every move. You can't go to the bathroom without asking someone's permission. They scrutinize your every move at eight bucks an hour. Your humanity sinks like a stone.

How do you cope with this? Those who have been thru same?

;-) And warning people against Stein Mart.

I work in graphic design for several newspapers and understand how tough it is these days, especially with the market the way it is. No ads, no job.

We also have new managers in several positions (Some positions newly created just to have more managers!), and they love nothing better than giving you the Big Brotherly love.

Think of some online art business we'd be good at, SS so we can get out of this rat race! :P

:D I think EVERY DAY how nice it is not to be homeless and to be working. Those were good days, the graphic design ones. I never took them for granted. You're helping me add fuel to my fire today. :hug:

former IT worker here, keep your self esteme, raise your head higher, dont start to hate everybody as I did for several years.

This is not your fault. :hug: :cry:

8643

This is my day off. I think. Schedule gets a bit weird around now. You-->:yourock:

:hi:

thats sure easy for me to say. huh. It is so sad as to what is happening to our country.

:loveya: *one of the best posters EVAH* that you answered this is like a sweet warm breeze.

I'll let you know if I ever get there.

:loveya:

Personally, they frighten me.

I FREAKIN LOVE YOU. :loveya:

The "tell on 'em" sort never carried sand with me. You are someone I'd like and cherish IRL.

:hide:

Hopefully, one will chime in explain the benefits of spying on your employees?
:popcorn:

Unfortunately, the only way to find out which "they seemed so nice" people are really thieves (since thieves rarely tattoo such information on their forehead so everyone can shun them) is to "watch for theft."

Its insulting to those of us who are *not* thieves, but on a positive note, it does provide Jobs for people that can require minimal effort -- for example, "sit here and watch this screen; alert someone if you see something suspicious" -- which does not require a college or high school degree.

Candy bars or cars -- taking someone else's property is theft. Fortunately, the vast majority of citizens learn appropriate respect for the "do not steal" rule as children (sometimes with a small candy theft) and so we only have those who feel "entitled" in some way who are disrespecting the rules society has agreed to live by.

Its good to know you are one of those people who would *NEVER* take someone else's property (dire circumstances excluded, of course), but unfortunately, employee theft is the biggest retail loss factor out there (or used to be -- I'm out of touch with things lately), followed by customer shoplifting. Some of the thieves do it for the thrill, some do it because they can, and some just do it because they feel "entitled" to take from others. I would say "desperate" theft is the rarity (a "one time only" run with diapers or food), unless you take "need money for illegal hobbies" into account, while the biggest "I'm an employee who is going to steal" factor is probably "being pissed off with visible management."

Anyway, until you can come up with a way to visually identify the Honesty-Impaired without looking....?

:)

:hi:

http://retailindustry.about.com/od/statistics_loss_prevention/l/aa021126a.htm

Retail Theft and Inventory Shrinkage
2002 Retail Security Survey Shows U.S. Retailers Losing $31 Billion to Theft

"Inventory shrinkage, a combination of employee theft, shoplifting, vendor fraud and administrative error, cost United States retailers over $31 billion last year according to the latest National Retail Security Survey report on retail theft, which analyzed theft incidents from 118 of the largest U.S. retail chains.

"According to University of Florida criminologist Richard C. Hollinger, Ph.D., who directs the National Retail Security Survey, retailers lost 1.7 percent of their total annual sales to inventory shrinkage last year. The surveyed portion of the retail economy transacts over $1.845 trillion dollars annually, making the loss worth over $31.3 billion. Total inventory shrinkage was down slightly from $32.3 billion in 2000.

(snip)

Source of Inventory Shrinkage % of Loss* $ Lost

Employee Theft 48.5% $15.1 billion
Shoplifting 31.7% $9.7 billion
Administrative Error 15.3% $4.8 billion
Vendor Fraud 5.4% $1.7 billion
Total Inventory Shrinkage $31.3 billion

(more at link)

And for more recent numbers, http://www.wonderlic.com/resources/newsletters/2006Fall/combatingEmployeeTheft.asp

"On the darker side of workplace behavior is employee theft. Reports differ as to how much theft costs U.S. companies, but it’s somewhere between $60 billion and $100 billion per year. Amazingly, retailers lose more merchandise and money to employee theft than they do to shoplifting. Boiled down to a per company rate, you can estimate that you’ll lose roughly two percent of your yearly revenue to employee theft." (more at link)

:popcorn:

"Pay me more, and I won't steal from you" is an insult to every HONEST employee who gets paid minimum wage, and still doesn't steal from their employer because they have integrity.

What a disgusting view of humanity you have. :puke:

theft from employers isn't the answer, it's just theft. You have the option to go find a better job.

:nuke:

chumpette :P

Stealing is wrong.

:P

If I saw someone stealing, and I have plenty of times, I'd keep it to myself. However, your butt is yours to share :)

Thanks, baybee.;) :rofl:

in a Loss Prevention department (office) for a local drug store chain, so unfortunately, I have seen some of the sadder examples of life (and heard about them). At one point in time, my family was threatened when my father was working to break up a million dollar parts stealing operation, so bite me if you don't like hearing things that don't make you happy.

In my family, I am considered an Optimist.

Just because you don't like reality doesn't make it go away. Some people steal; some people don't.

:shrug:

Instead of spending more money on loss prevention and surveillance, plus eating the loss due to theft, perhaps they'd be better off if they just paid their employees a living wage. Most people won't risk losing a good paying job with benefits.

who feel entitled to things they haven't earned from stealing (see Bush & cabal as an obvious example, thank you).

Either you steal, or you don't. "Most people won't risk losing a good paying job with benefits" is nonsense. My father spent 30 years in the automotive industry where people had good union jobs with great benefits, and they *still* tried to rob the company blind. The stories he had to tell were scary stupid, and the hoops that had to be jumped through to get the crooks fired were ridiculous.

A thief is a thief is a thief, and it doesn't matter if its a candy bar or a soft drink that you don't pay for, or a trunk full of assembly parts. You can pretend its about "living wages" but the truth is that some people are just crooks, and the rest of us are just as much the victims of their unethical behavior as their employers.

TAP THEIR PHONES - REGULATE THEIR BEHAVIOR - WATCH WHAT THEY EAT - THEY'RE ALL PARASITES - THEY'RE FUCKING CRIMINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You asked a question, and I've answered it politely. You make statements based on how you wish the world was, instead of how It Is. You make blanket comments, and then when faced with the facts, you resort to insults and hyperbole.

Personally, I like cameras. In some cases, I am confident it is a deterrent, while in others, it just helps you out afterwards (because some idiots forget they are there, and do stupid stuff anyway). I think the objective view of situations as seen afterwards is very helpful in preventing authoritarian abuse, as well as criminal behavior.

To be fair, however, most criminals seem to be complete idiots. My husband loves to quote a stat about how most bank robbers, despite seeing the cameras clearly displayed in banks, STILL don't bother to do something as simple as wear masks. If you google "stupid criminals" you come up with lists of people who just make you shake your head in wonder at the brain damage.

:hi:

That's me -- Authoritarian all the way! I stand for CRAZY stuff --

DON'T STEAL.

If that is what "authoritarian" meant, I'd be okay with it, but unfortunately, the word doesn't mean what you seem to think it does. And, as I said, my life experience (along with an awareness of more than just "the world should be the way I want it to be -- sigh") is such that I know more about this topic than I'd really like to.

I am also pathologically honest, so one of the things I've had to struggle with is "understanding" that not everyone thinks the way I do. Stealing is wrong, and I don't feel sorry for folks who get caught, especially because the odds are such that they will do it nearly ten times before "the system" finally catches them. By that point, they've already done the mental adjustment such that they feel entitled (heaven knows why), and aren't worried about things like "consequences" because that's for "other people" who aren't them.

No thief (or other criminal) ever plans on getting caught. You've got to dance through some serious mental gymnastics, or have been raised poorly, to believe that "stealing from your employer" is good.

Frankly, I think its kind of twisted, and I don't want to be around people like that. :shrug:

in the back bar area to watch the employees. It was a TOTAL joke because we all knew for a FACT that the ones who were doing the stealing were the little kiss a$$ managers they had given the keys too. Those jerks had been stealing FOR YEARS yet they were promoted and given keys to the place. :wtf:

Yet they put up a camera to make sure the rest of us honest employees were not drinking on the job for free. :argh:


All this surveillance bullsh*t doesn't mean squat when the REAL criminals & thieves in this country are holding high government offices or own corporations that are ripping off the middle class blind while they continue to get away with it. :puke:

1) You knew people who had been promoted were stealing. What happened when you and the other employees individually and as a group reported this to the owners? (I'm guessing you didn't, leaving them to be completely clueless as to where the funds were going because they were being bamboozled by a bunch of crooks, and you didn't help them figure it out?)

2) There were cameras put in place to stop "everyone else" from stealing / drinking on the job. If no one was doing it, then it must have been "not that big of a deal", right? (I'm guessing *some* people were doing it, and had to find a new place to relax, but I'm just going on basic common sense here.)

3) Personally, I can be disgusted by small time crooks, as well as big ones. And I think a big problem with our society is the folks who "look away" when bad things are going on because they don't want to be bothered.

Retail managers? How much are sit-on-their-asses stockholders paid? hedge fund managers? mortgage brokers?

Let me make this clear from the outset: I don't condone theft. But I also consider, marxist that I am, the obscene profits of corporations, their high-level executives, and the firms that trade in stock of those corporations to be thieves as well.

But they aren't under surveillance. They aren't scrutinized. They aren't threatened with loss of a subsistence-wage job if they're caught STEALING a grape from the produce department.

The Wal-Mart store I worked at in the late 90s serves as an example, and just one out of many I could cite. The store manager -- I won't mention his name even though I'd love to -- routinely sent "associates" out to the parking lot to pick up empty packages, especially toys during the holidays, to be brought back in and recorded as "stolen" to boost store sales and his bonus. As a cashier, I caught several shoplifters, but they weren't stopped or held for the police or anything else, because the "proof" of their theft could be used to improve store profits and the manager's bonus. The attitude of the "associates" shifted from honesty to turning a blind eye. It wasn't that we "didn't want to be bothered." It was that we knew it wouldn't do any good. How did we know? Because we tried. I personally spoke with the district manager twice; he did nothing.

Understand, IdaBriggs, that these were for the most part very honest people. The DIShonesty of management changed them. We all knew the little black balls in the ceiling held cameras that were watching us all the time, and stealing so much as a pack of gum was grounds for firing. We watched as one of us was arrested -- yes, the cops called in to arrest her -- because she put a pair of shoes that had gone on sale in the back room so she could PAY FOR THEM later. This is against Wal-Mart policy: customers/guests always get first crack at merchandise, so an employee who puts something back for him/herself is a thief. This particular employee had not STOLEN anything from Wal-Mart, unless you want to count the 10% discount she'd have gotten on the sale, which a regular retail customer would have had to pay.

What management could do in terms of stealing was never going to show up on the surveillance cameras. They could mark items down that they wanted to buy, and they did. Oh, sometimes customers bought everything and the dept. managers never got to take advantage of their own markdowns, but far more often, they did. I remember one incident in particular: The dept mgr wanted an entertainment center, a cheap piece of crap like everything Wal-Mart sells, but still, he wanted it. So he waited a week or so, and while there were still some in stock he marked the price down 20%. Then he had a friend come in and buy one, at the reduced price, and two or three days later, the friend returned it as "damaged." There was nothing whatsoever wrong with it. After the return had been processed and the store wrote off the "loss," the dept mgr "bought" the "damaged" entertainment center for about 1/3 the original retail price.

I was the cashier who handled both the original sale and the return. The dept mgr was an acquaintance, and I knew his friend as well.

One of the cashiers, a young woman I worked with frequently, was routinely stealing cash. The rest of us cashiers all knew it, to the point that when we went on break we would pointedly ask that she not cover for us because our cash drawers would always come up short if she'd been in them. She stayed out of trouble by not stealing when she was the only person in a drawer, but the shortages when she shared with someone else were just too obvious. But we had reached the point where we didn't care. And we wouldn't report her because it had become our little form of revenge against management and their undetectable thievery.

Eventually she got caught. Management detected the pattern and kept her on a register where the surveillance cameras kept a close eye on her, and they videotaped her putting a ten dollar bill in her pocket. Unlike the associate in the shoe department who was publicly humiliated, the cashier was fired privately after her shift.

We knew many of the various ways customers stole, and we didn't care, because management didn't. They wouldn't go after shoplifters because it would make them look bad. But they had no compunction about going after employees.

I don't condone theft, but I despise this attitude of "we have to spy on them or they'll STEAL FROM US." It's a "guilty until caught" mentality. It presumes that everyone, at one time or another, is going to steal and the bosses have to be there to catch the culprit in the inevitable act, and never mind the huge thefts, the Enronian/WorldComian/GlobalCrossingian/Tyconian megathefts, the "I make $500 million a year as a hedge fund manager and I shouldn't have to pay taxes on it just because" thefts from the public purse.

I've worked for more than one boss who was so incompetent he literally couldn't do the job he was hired to do. In two blatant cases, they lied about their qualifications to get the job, then after being hired they manipulated all the "little people" into doing the work for them. In one other case, he was just a lazy sack of shit who bragged EVEN AFTER HE WAS FINALLY FIRED about how he collected a fat paycheck and did nothing. No surveillance camera is going to spot that kind of theft.

I don't doubt, IdaBriggs, that you've seen lots of theft and you're appalled at the pathetic excuses the thieves give when they're caught. But there are one fucking hell of a lot of "thieves" whose faces and sticky fingers never show up on the surveillance tapes, who never get caught, and who never have to make pathetic excuses or any other kind.

Over the past 30 years, I've lost at least four excellent jobs because I made the mistake of complaining about a boss who was robbing the company through incompetence, laziness, dishonesty, you name it. I've been self-employed since my husband's death two years ago, but rising costs of groceries, gas, utilities, taxes, etc., are pushing me back into the job market. I won't look for a "career" because I don't feel like being taken advantage of by the corporations or their minions in "management." And if I'm kept under surveillance like any other wage slave, I damn sure won't "rat" on my fellows. I may not cheer them on, but I won't protect the corporations either.


Tansy Gold

Comments Ida?????

Say, what's that noise?

Yesterday was spent doing the doctor visit/errand thing. But to answer your question--

It wasn't much of a smackdown in my opinion. Just a sad commentary on how people feel helpless in the workplace, and think "other people do it, so I can, too or I should just ignore it."

This person had OPTIONS. They could have Put Things In Writing and sent it up the chain of command. They could have written a letter to the editor. They could have organized the other "low level" employees, and done a protest. They could have "named names".

In short, they could have done any of the things I expect the employees of this government to do when they find out their bosses are committing criminal acts.

There is always a reason to do something bad, or find a reason NOT to do the right thing. But I repeat my earlier point:

A thief is a thief is a thief. There are rarely excuses most of us would find acceptable. And people who look the other way are as much to blame for the problem as the ones who commit the crimes.

Now, I'm going to get back to my 9-1/2 month old twins, who are crawling everywhere. I'm sorry you weren't raised with better values, but honestly, there isn't much I can do about it. Hopefully my children will *never* shame me the way you have shamed your parents with your belief in "justifiable theft" and "no personal responsibility." Its sad that you don't understand the concepts of "honesty" and "integrity" but you have provided a beautiful example of why employers sometimes NEED surveillance cameras. You probably LOOK like a trustworthy person, but in the anonymous world of the internet, you can show your true colors -- UGLY.

(And that, child, is what a "smackdown" looks like.)

:boring:

Certainly, preventing theft and fraud is part of what you see in those workplaces, but it doesn't stop there. The Big Brothering goes much further, and you know it's gone past sanity when you have to ask your boss if you can take a piss, for example.

I've seen it at the lower-paid jobs I've worked. The computerized monitoring, the bosses cracking the whip over the petty bullshit, etc.

It's about control.

The bigwigs in corporate want absolute control over every aspect of the experience in the store (or on the phone as was the case in my call center job.) They want absolute maximum efficiency, and they're willing to pay to get it. So in retail, you get the monitoring. You get all the little rules, and you get the managers with the iron mandate from corporate to enforce every one of those rules with an iron fist. You have the performance metrics. In Wal-Mart, they harp on you if you're not busy working ALL THE TIME. If you're just standing around, they call it "Time Theft". In Target, the last time I bought things there, I noticed the cash register put a rating letter, usually an "S" on the screen after the cashier finished ringing me up - they were getting graded and judged on every single transaction, and if they're too slow, they're shitcanned. In my call center, I was harped on for call times, for time spent finishing up paperwork between calls, for not using the customer's name at least twice per call, for not using their troubleshooting web site and following the steps exactly, even if they made no sense, etc.

Big Brothering is everywhere in retail and McJobs these days. All so that prick of a district manager can get a few more bucks of bonus. We're nothing to those sons of bitches. We're droids.

It's also about money. In fact, it's primarily about money. Not just saving money through efficiency as I pointed out earlier, but also making sure that every worker is one foot out the door at all times. They're all pushed into working part-time hours so they don't qualify for benefits, they're all monitored so they can be disciplined for petty offenses. Part of this is because they don't want experienced employees. They do just fine with cheaper, less-experienced employees. So if you're working there for too long, say you're coming up on that year anniversary at your friendly neighborhood Sprawl-Mart, and at that anniversary, you qualify for an extra week of vacation pay, or become eligible for health insurance. The monitoring ensures that unless you're absolutely perfect at your job, they'll find something to fire you for just before your anniversary, so they can replace you with a new worker. Gotta keep costs down, so back to the unemployment line with you!

At least that's what Ida thinks.

I feel for ya. Good designers are always in demand, though. Keep putting yourself out there.

I am. :bounce: :toast:

If there's any benefit to being 64, it has to be in looking back and knowing where I made mistakes - and where I didn't. As a corporate 'droid' for decades, I place this rule at the #1 position. There is no such thing (anymore) as "cradle-to-grave" employment - no 'loyalty' and no guarantees. Corporations insist on the entitlement to terminate employment without cause at any time. That's because they do. So ...

• Network - don't burn bridges and maintain personal contacts over the entire span of your working years. Keep a Rolodex or address book of all career contacts and make sure those contacts are 'watered' at least once a year. Christmas cards. Birthday cards.
• Interview - Have lunch. Meet. Chat. Every potential employer is more attracted to the "loyal employee" of another company than to the jobless seeker. It's ten times easier to find a job when you have a job than after you don't - even if it's only one day before you're let go.
• Keep a Journal - buy a spiral notebook (like the ones you used in college) and write everything down. Have a conversation in the hall? Write it down. Get the latest office gossip in the rest room? Write it down. Overhear a slander? Write it down. Get a work assignment? Write it down. Get a memo or document that shouldn't be made public? Make a copy and squirrel it away in your home "Pearl harbor File." When you're able to identify who, what, where, and when something was said, you're prepared.

:bounce: and I have it updated every day. Thank you, TahitiNut.

Did you say write it down? Damnit, I can't remember if that was Monday or Tuesday he said that...


:9

And amen to this,

"It's ten times easier to find a job when you have a job than after you don't "

employers boxes of organic free trade chocolates along with their Christmas cards this year. I've kept in touch with some of them for over 20 years, though we haven't worked together in 19.

Network, network, network.

:rofl:

I swear to god, the lower they pay you, the more militant they are. I worked for Goodwill, the lowest of the low in the world of retail. If you made $9 per hour, they wanted your soul. I tried reception work through a temp agency. That equaled suckdom.

Try non-profits using the skills you have. Most of them are a little more laid back and not so paranoid.

Meanwhile, learn how to torment your retail bosses. I know you're good at that.

I roll their phone cords within an inch of their lives. They answer "It's a great day at Stein Mart" but they can't pull the phone back.

I made a union.

I know how the speaker works in case I'm ever fired.


:loveya: and other things

Thank god you don't work in Sarasota. All the empolyees there are over 120.

So if you get knocked back down there, you don't have that sense of culture shock.

Good luck to you, or whoever you know who's going through this. :hug:

We're all agog as to what the crowds are up to this season. We watch them try on new wardrobes, we smile, we egg them on, and we silently shake our heads.

You know who you are - hold to that!

Jeebus!:D You & graywarrior bring out the imp in me. Thanks, sunshine. Where's your banana?

Everyone needs a little imp in their day. :D




(Sugar Smack called me sunshine) <~~~ future sig line.



and the future is here :)

Only it was 25 years ago and $3.39 an hour.

Not only do they treat you as if you're on work release and try to cheat you out of breaks and lunch periods by scheduling you for 15 minutes less than the length of shift that would qualify you for the next level of break,* but you have to "look busy" at all times. When I walk through a department store and see a sales person "sizing" the clothes for what is probably the twentieth time that hour, I think, "You poor dear. That used to be me."

My sincere sympathies, Sugar Smack. You deserve better.

*For example, if you're entitled to a 15-minute break in a 4-hour shift, they schedule you for 3 hours, 45 minutes, which is just plain petty, since they get the same amount of work out of you, but you don't get to have coffee after "sizing" the same racks for 2 hours straight. If you're entitled to a 30-minute lunch during a 6-hour shift, they schedule you for 5 hours, 45 minutes, so that you get only one 15-minute break between 9AM and 2:45. Cheap, cynical bastards.

One girl says, arbitrarily, that we can't LEAVE THE BUILDING after six, because it's too dark outside & it'd be a "safety issue".

I think that's illegal. She hasn't told that to the men.

changed your status to FULL TIME..no ifs ands or buts..so we (I was lower management and had to write schedules) had to keep close watch on all the employees "hours worked" ,and if someone was close, we had orders to schedule that next week at 20 hours (had to leave 'wiggle room" for when we called them in or asked them to stay late)..:grr:

A manager goofed one time, and a guy in the produce department got fulll time status.. the manager was transferred and demoted

They were a "non-pension" company, but did have nice benefits and she was the highest paid "office person".. A company in Texas wanted one of the patents the company held..The company said they did not want to sell the patent, so the company in Texas did a "hostile takeover" and within a week, the whole place was shut down..... they only wanted the patent..not the company amd defintely not the employees.

My friend became depressed (wonder why), and at her age, she was never offered any work she felt she could do. They just took the hit of losing half the family income, sold their nice house and "downsized".

I saw her a few weeks ago, and she's come to terms with it, and says they are actually happier and doing ok.. The ONE thing that saved them was that they had no debt, so they only had to cut out the frills that her income had brought them.

If I have to go to the bathroom, I go. If I have to help out a customer to his/her car, I go. If I leave my department to help a customer I go.

Although for breaks we're required to let managers know when we're going on break. Also I'm happy to say that I've never refused the breaks I'm allotted during a shift; I've only been asked to delay certain breaks if too many associates are on break at a certain time.

Head on over to Edwards HQ and get busy as a volunteer. You'll have a new job before you know it.

As one who has repeatedly posted about outsourcing and loss of jobs to h1-b visa holders, I offer you my sincerest sympathy.

As one who has been in your shoes, the only advice I can offer is not to be afraid to ask for the job when you get an interview. You are selling yourself -- just as a salesman/woman asks for the order, ask for the job. I don't know if it will work for you, but it has worked for several people I know.

Hang in there. Believe in yourself. Put your boots on each morning and make it your job to find another job.

As others have stated, utilize every contact you have. Do you attend a church? Let people know you are looking for a job. I read somewhere that most jobs are found through people you know. Most jobs are not advertised. Carry copies of your resume everywhere -- keep them in your car. (I know you said you are walking to work, but if you drive anywhere, keep copies in your car. You never know whom you may run into at the store.)

Watch comedies. If you are near a library, check out old sitcoms if they have them. Watch "I Love Lucy".

Remember: IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT.

Keep your chin up -- be proud of your past work and accomplishments so you can use them to get your next job.

Best of luck to you. Hope your situation improves soon and your new year is better.

and damage other aspects of your life. The situation you describe is a bit like being in prison.

There are things you can do ( what you do may depend upon whether you are seaching for a new job in your field and/or whether you absolutely need that $8.00 per hour paycheck or whether you live in rural or urban area).

Here are some steps I have taken or have known other people to take, and which have been helpful.



I. Join a group for people in your same situation. It provides a place to blow off steam so you don't do it at work and provides positive emotional and practical support for finding a better job. Try calling counselors to see if some individual counseling sessions might help you find ways to cope. Let them know what you can afford to pay and see if they can discount or direct you to a source you can afford.

2. Check out Barbara Ehrenreich's (the writer) site. She was trying to form networking groups around the country. I don't know if it has been successful yet in any city or state.

http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/forum/toast.asp

3. Join a spiritually oriented organization and let people know your situation-if you don't want the stress of dealing with people eager to convert find one of the orgainizations that doesn't usually lean on people-some Unitarians, some unprogrammed Quaker Meetings.

4. Build some positive re-inforcement for yourself-sometimes this is as seemingly silly as doing those daily affirmations. Once I got a set of affirmation cards and actually used them for awhile (I was in a scapegoating environment). I think that and reading a book by the Dalai Lama did help

5. Get clear about what your goal is -another job in graphic design.....something new.......staying in the company you are in and getting promoted.........just surviving in your current position......whatever. You can always change your goal but I think it helps to start out with one. It is like having an anchor while at sea.

6. One person I know kept a journal of her daily experience while working in a dismal job. Just a few lines a day but it gave her some distance for the situation-part of her became an observer so that she wasn't totally caught up in the work web.

7. Be honest with yourself if you get very depressed-take one of the online quizzes on depression and if you score depressed get to a professional medical or counseling person. Some places have sliding scale fees.

The house cat business is the preferred and brings in big bucks.

I thought it was the "cat house" business that brought in big bucks.

:rofl:

Not that I'm suggesting that to anyone who may or may not be looking for a new job away from retail.

:hi:

Cat Houses have a high overhead and many jealousy people wanting part of the action. No thanks to the hair business.

I know you will. It sucks, but remember who your friends are.

You've transitioned from a job where your co-workers were likely people that you hung around with. Now you're plopped down into a corporate culture that is anything but friendly. At the worst time of year.

You'll find that fight again. :)

a year each on average (which doesn't go that far in LA). They all worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation before the 2D studio was shut down. The younger ones adapted to 3D animation and many found other jobs. The older ones were screwed; ageism is a real issue in the job market. One friend over 50 started to train as a court reporter, I ran into another one at the grocery recently and he now drives a forklift in a warehouse and seems a bit crushed (he used to be a film production manager). A few were smart and had purchased smaller homes when they were making good money and were able to pay them off. The ones who bought larger homes lost everything.

I had left the studio earlier and work as a freelance artist. I always tell people: have a plan B, and a Plan C too. The safest route to go anymore is as a self employed person with as many clients as you can manage. It means that you'll be working 60-80 hours a week without vacations (I haven't had one since 2000), but anymore it's the only way to make any job security for yourself.

Edited to add: If you are a Graphic Designer you can make a hell of a lot more than 30 grand a year as a freelancer, if you have enough in the way of talent and people skills.

That maybe wasn't an option for you. #2 instead of one lousy job I would hate, I took something part time and made up the rest by reducing expenses, sharing house with someone, and taking occasional extra work via Temp agencies. While continuing to look for better work.

Retail sucks. You can make better money delivering pizza (get to eat the mistakes too ;-)

:hug:

I've been laid off twice from IBM as a contract technical writer. It was good work while I had it, and good pay too. I poured myself into my job both times and both times it was meaningless. I've had enough of them.

I got a lead for a job last week but something made me hold back and not apply. Not sure why, It's not like I can do without a job forever. I wish I could say that I'd start my own business. But I don't know about that. It takes a lot of salesmanship that I lack.

I find myself in my mid40s, just the time I thought I'd be "settled down", still wondering what I'm going to do when I grow up. x( :P

When my humanity was stripped from me way back in the 80s, I started working for myself and never regretted it. It's not always been easy, but NO ONE owns me.

I will NEVER be in that position again, no matter what happens.

You can do it! Good luck to you! :hug:

After losing one job, I first looked for another, but I realized that all the jobs that I wasn't either over-qualified or under-qualified for were both low-paying and insecure.

My relatives were horrified when I went free-lance, because they thought that I needed "job security."

Within a few years, however, they began seeing newspaper articles about the scarcity of tenure-track jobs in academia and the proliferation of temporary and part-time positions, so I don't hear much about my "insecurity" anymore.

Admittedly, being free-lance IS insecure at times. My lowest monthly earnings were $50. However, when I have one of those insecure months and look at what regular jobs are available to someone with my background and lack of recent experience, I realize that almost all of them would involve a pay cut.

I also forced myself to watch, listen and read funny stuff (AFV was a regularly scheduled program in my life,...still is, actually).

'Down' days or moments were inevitable (heck, they are inevitable no matter what's happening in your life). So,I made sure I had somewhere to vent aweful feelings,...you know, of frustration and self-esteem attacks and stuff (DU helped a lot in that area).

Lastly, though, I made sure I "looked good" no matter what. I especially took great care with my appearance on those days when I seemed to hit that wall called "OVERWHELMED" or, in your words, "humanity sink(ing) like a stone".

They can help you get your passion back, mebbe.

I swear to God it's true. I've been there and done that. I'm currently, and have previously had the nice cushy software development jobs - great pay, great benefits, relaxed atmosphere. Hell, today, I just got back from a nice two-beer lunch with one of my bosses and a good chunk of my coworkers. I can surf at work, and as long as I'm getting enough work done, and we make and sell products, nobody cares.

I've also been at the low-end McJobs. For me, it's call-center work. Lots more Big Brothering, a fraction of the pay, no health insurance or other benefits. Damned stressful - the supervisors, who were hardly more than slightly promoted CSRs who had to deal with their own whips lashing their backs, would be constantly riding our ass over the most petty bullshit - taking more than seven minutes per call, not doing the call exactly like the script or the knowledge base web site, even when it makes no sense, not using the customer's name at least twice per call, etc. Every damned day, I felt a piece of my soul die when I worked in that hellhole.

You have no idea how good it felt for me to turn in that resignation letter to that call center, once I got the offer in hand from my new employer that quadrupled my pay.

The good jobs are still out there. You may have to make some sacrifices to get them - I ended up taking an unpaid internship for a few months to get some resume fodder, and I ended up moving so I was closer to more jobs. But they are still out there.

As for me, I have the good job right now. I do understand that it doesn't take much - a buyout of the company, or too many bad sales quarters, and all of the sudden the floor is yanked out from under me. I'm putting some money away in savings for just such emergencies - I don't want to take the hellish McJob to survive until I have to...

(and love and respect) were writing about this earlier in the year. Stan's initial post is worth a read (they always are): http://www.feralscholar.org/blog/index.php/2007/04/11/prole-notes/

and Charlie Anderson's comment to it was particularly poignant:



My comment there got garbled by pasting it from word, ugh, but the same work Stan was doing, I was doing at the time. But mine was met with appreciation, though I wasn't earning any money. That right there is the thing. It's not that the work itself sucks the humanity out of you. It's that sometimes the bosses have abandoned their own humanity. It's a hard thing to remember when you are on the receiving end of it, but their lack of humanity says far more about their worth than yours.

As for coping ... I'm lucky right now because I feel some worth in what I do, but that ebbs and flows. In the ebbing, I have to find meaning in my life elsewhere.