Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Festivus for the Rest of Us



Okay. I have my Festivus pole. Let the airing of grievances begin:

I did not get a bonus this year because I'm a subcontracted employee. Regular employees of the company I work for got a bonus. Subs did not, even though we worked just as hard as the regular employees to contribute to the company's success this year. What makes it most galling is that through the whole process, the company's announcements about the bonuses kept saying "we get this," because "we" did such a great job. "Everybody" gets a bonus, the pronouncements said. Feh. Each time I saw or heard the words "we" or "everybody," I decided I wanted to put an asterisk in the announcement saying "Does not apply to subcontractors." I'm trying not to be bitter, but obviously it bugs me.

Another grievance: When asked why the company can't give the bonus to subs, the response is "well, we'd run into legal difficulties giving bonuses to people who don't work for us." Then why have subs in the first place? Obviously, you need the people here to do the work we're doing. And with the high-priced lawyers the company has, surely somebody could figure out a legal way to accomplish such a thing. Losers. I'm glad for the job and all, but still it's galling.

Now, a feat of strength. I will watch this painful "virtual movie" of John Steinbeck, complete with weird lips, facial indentations and otherwise crappy CGI.



Ow. Ow. Ow. This hurts my brain. I swear it looks like he's having a stroke through this. And if you watch closely, you'll watch how the books behind his head tilt with his head when he tilts it. It's like M.C. Escher designed and built a video camera or something.

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