It’s looking less and less like I’m going to get the opportunity to use my resignation letter. That makes me kind of sad.
It’s a really good resignation letter. It’s sharp, succinct, and pointed. ‘Here’s a list of some of the worst ways in which you’re failing your employees. Here’s a list of the stuff we’ve put up with until now. Here’s why I’m leaving.’ The ‘fuck you and enjoy the bed you’ve made for yourself’ is silent but strongly implied.
Upper management at the Other Job has finally taken steps to remove the former supervisor from our workgroup. He’s been banished to another location where, in management’s words, the hope is that he will be killed off. (Metaphorically, of course. Absolutely no one here wishes him any harm, despite the discussions of the merits of fragging that pop up any time his return to our location is mentioned.)
Meanwhile, with the corona virus in the news and on the upswing, the world has begun to implode in a big way. It’s business as usual at the Other Job, of course; we can’t afford to shut down, and many rural communities rely on our freight service for food and medicine. No one is being laid off or told to work from home. In fact, in the last month I’ve worked more hours than ever.
That’s not to say we’re not responding, though. Efforts have been made to stockpile hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies. The building has been plastered with signs about hand washing, and on Thursday a flier was circulated among management detailing what to do if anyone coughs, calls in sick, or shows any other signs of having the virus.
Ironically, almost everyone around me has a cough. Some kind of assumably non-corona crud has been going around, and about half of us have it. The other half are smokers, or are exhausted, or have a cough from breathing forklift exhaust in an unventilated warehouse 60-plus hours a week.
Someone in the organization is rumored to have contracted the dreaded virus, but no one’s quite sure who. Some say it’s a pilot; several of my coworkers flew with him last week. Some think it’s someone in admin; there’s an office in that building that has a bio-hazard symbol on the door.
There’s a general feeling that the corona virus is coming for us all; and if not that, then the recession certainly is. With tens of thousands of leisure and ‘non-essential’ workers suddenly out of jobs and many industries closing down or cutting back, it’s suddenly become a very bad time to be job hunting.
In short, I guess I’m stuck here for the time being. I intend to keep writing, although lately my work schedule has been trying to make that nearly impossible. I’m also working on some stuff that’s a little less dark than my usual fare. I imagine we could all use a little hope and humor right now.
Until next time, please be kind to yourselves, be kind to each other –and for the love of all that is all that is holy, please stop hoarding toilet paper!
