It's Monday before lunchtime, and Mac McClelland's account of being a warehouse wage slave is already the most depressing thing I'll read all week:
The gal conducting our training reminds us again that we cannot miss any days our first week. There are NO exceptions to this policy. She says to take Brian, for example, who's here with us in training today. Brian already went through this training, but then during his first week his lady had a baby, so he missed a day and he had to be fired. Having to start the application process over could cost a brand-new dad like Brian a couple of weeks' worth of work and pay. Okay? Everybody turn around and look at Brian. Welcome back, Brian. Don't end up like Brian.I was a warehouse wage slave [motherjones.com via daringfireball]
This story just gave me PTSD-like flashbacks because I had several jobs like this in my teens and early 20s, until I worked my way through college. Thankfully I never had the audacity to have a child while working at those jobs, although Big Corporate workplaces are really not that different. They put on a Let's-All-Be-Friends face, but behind closed doors they're the same way, particularly about maternity/paternity leave. They create a hostile environment hoping you'll quit while pregnant, and threaten to sue you if you dare take medical disability leave without returning to work for at least a year. Blech.
Still sounds more pleasant than a phone-bank. At least the products don't yell at you.
Yeah, forget about Foxconn, who's watching out for the people who work in Amazon, Land's End, Buy.Com, Newegg, (etc., etc., ad nauseum) warehouses?
Liz: Is right.