Being Jerked Around - Who Hates It???

This has to be one of my biggest pet peeves in life, especially when dealing with business. If I don't know the answer to something or don't do what I'm supposed to, I apologize & tell you the damn truth. In fact, I probably err on the side of being too truthful because I hate the feeling of limbo.

I was the sort of retail associate who'd screw over the company in a second to help a customer. If I felt the company had an asinine policy or was being unfair to the customer, I'd throw them under the bus without a second thought. This was when I was in high school.

Not much has changed. At this point, I've concluded that working at a big company would a mistake. I think people who know me would agree: I lack the questionable morals & desire to show fealty to a heartless company where I'm eating scraps while the CEO is having filet mignon and wouldn't think twice about laying me off even if I saved the company from going under, rescued his/her young child from drowning & uncovered theft by the top brass. I also can't imagine a major company being stupid enough to employ someone as smart, assertive & creative as I am. Big companies don't value those things. Oh, hell no!

Seeing the second Dear Prudence letter here just confirmed it. Some of the comments also illustrate that many other people don't mind being slaves to their companies but oh, I'm not one of them. I did go above & beyond in the past but I never worked for people who exploited me or didn't reward my effort. When you don't reward someone for good behavior, they will not bother. And when others bitch about it? Surefire way to stop that above & beyond stuff!

I'd also have to warn any lecherous client that ever dared propose or take an indecent liberty with me that if you try it, I'll make sure to have a metal handle fan so I can hit you upside your head. That's if I'm feeling nice; you don't want to know what might happen if I'm not feeling nice or who else might hurt you.

My life has become an endless "maybe" job limbo. Just when I think all hope is lost, something happens to make me think "Maybe?" It's a constant roller coaster that I'm sick of being on. Even if you have no prospects, take it from me that you're better of not being on that kind of roller coaster. My fear is that if I stop following up, I'll never hear a damn thing again or will get dismissed because I wasn't aggressive enough. Honestly, I don't think I care anymore. It's just irritating when my husband tells me to keep following up since he fears he'll once again be on the layoff chopping block. Another example of what happens when you're a dick to employees: they don't bother doing volunteer stuff on their off time.

So, do higher ups at some of these companies know nothing of the concepts of punishment & reward?? Motivation? Threatening someone with getting fired for not exploiting themselves, thereby showing they are a "team player" just doesn't amuse or impress me.

Hell, though I was in a sorority I was never hazed. I'm the sort who'd just quit or do something downright sinister to the hazers. We also never hazed anyone else in my chapter & I've never heard about hazing in other chapters. See why I've called mine an "anti-sorority?" That's one of the reasons.

I also contacted a law school that is setting up legal services for an area of law I know quite well & have contacts in. If I wanted to, I could be a great resource to find people for them & I certainly think I have the experience to volunteer.

However, my inner cynic tells me I'm going to be just as disappointed with this group as I am with any other. How come?

For one, many sources dealing with volunteer entertainment services have this elitist attitude that any attorney not from a T1 school is an inferior attorney or automatically unequal to a Harvard or Yale graduate who just got admitted.

This is a colossal mistake in entertainment law. For one thing, I read that Charlie Sheen's attorney who has his place in entertainment as a tough enforcer is not some Ivy League graduate. He went to Brooklyn Law School. Yet, he's representing celebrities & I'm sure no one would denigrate him for not being a Yale graduate.

Guess what, stupids? Entertainment law is a purview of personality. Clients don't pick attorneys based on their law schools. That's also true elsewhere but it's definitely true in entertainment law. Personality is king. If you're a jerk, it doesn't matter if you were #1 at Harvard; creative clients won't want to work with you. I know this from talking to many different creative people who were looking for lawyers.

And funny, most of the entertainment lawyers I've talked to also feel like outsiders from the typical firm atmosphere & can't stand the elitism of typical lawyers.

Second, these elitists also believe that any attorney who hasn't been practicing for decades is completely useless & a moron who knows nothing about nothing. I beg to differ in this area since I'm doing something most attorneys of any level don't get to do. My circumstances are different & dismissing me for being licensed for 3 years instead of 7+ without looking at a my specific situation just shows you're an idiot.

If you wonder why I don't recommend things like Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, that's why. If these organizations don't deem me good enough to assist in an area I have a fair amount of knowledge in, why should I bother recommending them to people who despise elitism probably even more than me? I don't view it as selfish to my colleagues but more like sparing them BS & opting to connect them with quality people that I know will treat them as human beings worthy of respect instead of just a case (time suckage problems notwithstanding). Believe me, that kind of thing determines just what kind of legal services you're going to get. If you are not valued, the lawyer isn't going to be on top of things even if the person's #1 in that area of law.

So I can be an ally or an enemy: your choice. If you refuse to listen to me, I'll never lift a finger for your benefit. Coldhearted or not, that's business folks.

I was also quite gratified to see Cupcake Stop closing. I call BS on the "hiatus" since most business owners would either cede control to partners, hire a new CEO, or sell to someone else & live happily on the proceeds. They'd never just let the business close unless those steps weren't an option.

I had nothing to do with it but I'd be lying to say I don't take some pleasure from seeing a jerk get his comeuppance. Things like that renew my faith in the world & humanity as well as keep me from doing things like becoming a con artist.

You want to get in my face about being happy with the workings of karma? You've obviously never been wronged or treated unfairly in some way. Your life has been cookies & sunshine. Talk to me when you've had some of my life experiences or could beat me in hard luck stories. Avoid religious talk as well since it's irrelevant to me. Respect my beliefs & I'll respect yours; end of story.

And to conclude, it seems I now have to risk becoming an alcoholic or the wife of one to delay getting Alzheimer's. Great!

So I'm just screwed coming & going, aren't I? Not bad enough I had to live with an alcoholic as a child & be subjected to a level of secondhand smoke that will probably lead to lung cancer when I'm older: now I have to start drinking & potentially screw up my entire life. Lovely. Maybe I'll be dead before it's an issue considering my relatives generally died in the 60s-70s range & cancer runs rampant on both sides. On that cheery note...

I'll have to make a list of my pet peeves ranked in order someday. Being jerked around is definitely going to be in the top 5.

The Start of the Zombie Apocalypse in Pictures

At least that's what it looks like in my area of Queens.  Since the blizzard on Sunday, my street has looked like this:

Nope, I'm not kidding.  This was taken earlier this afternoon while I was in my car.  I have a few more choice images here that will disgust you if you live in a major city or expect your city to, oh I don't know, CLEAN UP THE FREAKING SNOW.  Take a gander at these:

Considering that the road looked like this as I was walking back home after this little journey,

I seriously wonder how the neighborhood's going to be after a few more days of this & no garbage collection.  Bloomberg claims there's snow cleanup going on here; I have to say "HA!" to that.  You can't get anyone on the city's complaint line or it's hopelessly busy while jerks like this guy get away with this type of cleanup job:

Here's what happens in real time when the streets are cleaned like this:

See that?  Tip your delivery people very well if you're expecting someone to show up in this mess.  I've not even gotten my mail since before Christmas.  I shared my pics on line in the hope that action is taken.  My husband hopes that maybe some news publication would buy one of my pictures since I got some unbelievable sights as well.

Oh, and it gets better.  In some cases, you have to decide between stepping in fresh dog mess or walking in this deep snow.

So here's a sign we're officially in the zombie apocalypse:

When your mayor is a classist jerk who only cares about Manhattan, you get sights like this:

This is called "citizen action."  People taking matters into their own hands when their city government has completely failed them.  Next thing you know, we'll have rotting garbage piles to add to the snow ocean that is my neighborhood.

One charming thing I saw was these people creating their own little snow hideout.  I had to get pics of it b/c when I was walking by, two people were actually inside these holes.

Those people were awesome but I asked to take the pic since I didn't want to be intrusive & rude.  I don't photograph for those purposes.

Now I had another motive for taking these pictures.  My husband's employer had the gall to open his place of business today.  He doesn't work in the medical field, law enforcement or even for NYC Transit or the Sanitation Department.  In other words, no one has ever died because his place of employment wasn't open at this precise nanosecond.  Then a number of people who came in were completely rude; screw you if you're not in need of medical treatment or a ride to the hospital, police station, what have you.  I wouldn't be nice to you in those circumstances; I'd point out the snow ocean & tell you to go dive in it.

Add to this that most employers don't care if you live or die when asking you to report to a job that doesn't entail showing up in these conditions as a matter of course.  You can save the CEO's life & get rewarded by being fired.  Don't expect loyalty from your employees if that's how you operate & don't expect people to risk life & limb to go to a job for non-essential services.

I swear, if someone could come up with a chemical compound that melted snow instantly without harming anything underneath it or polluting the environment and just reduced the snow to harmless vapor then that person would make a ton of money.  I'd certainly want some myself.  How about you?

See Facebook or ask me privately if you'd like to see more evidence of the utter trashiness & stupidity of higher ups who wouldn't traipse around in this ocean of snow themselves.

Employment/Job Hunting Ridiculousness

Did you think I was kidding when I said I've seen ads demanding experience for menial positions?

I'm not. I saw a Craig's List ad calling for "Mailroom Clerks" paying $12 an hour & demanding 2 years of corporate mail room experience. I made $12 an hour doing entry-level work with nothing but my undergrad degree & it was not in the damn mail room.

Someone is a retard; that's the best way to describe whoever came up w/such an asinine requirement. I don't know if it's the staffing agency or their employers demanding this but either way, this isn't brain surgery. Get a grip!!

Any comments on my use of any terms you might deem "not PC" will be ignored. This blog does not exist to serve the PC police.

Now, the dedication of the guy in this story is a shocker.

Personally, I'd never do it. In fact, I'm the sort who'd look the other way & even encourage people to screw over an employer who paid me nothing and treated me like crap as they do in most jobs like at Waffle House. That's why I avoid applying for or asking about jobs w/anyone who has a history of treating people like crap; I take some careful precautions to avoid working in an abusive atmosphere.

It's also my mission in life to avoid dishing out that kind of treatment & making people unmotivated to do a damn thing for my company. Employee loyalty is a rare commodity; corporate employers, take heed. That sword goes both ways. If Waffle House fires this man & doesn't do something nice like offer a raise or promotion, the owners are a bunch of morons who need to be tossed out on their butts ASAP. If they made the decision, this is obvious. If they didn't, they shouldn't have hired people stupid enough to do that & should be minding the store far more carefully.

If corporations are supposed to be people under the law, then they should be assertive & take a hard line on theft, waste, etc. Encouraging people to steal from you is just stupid & I say this as a lawyer. The liability argument doesn't wash w/me & is akin to posting a sign outside the door saying "Go ahead & steal from us. We won't prosecute & we don't care. It's cool, man."

I dare a major chain w/such policies to post that sign. If you fire employees for chasing shoplifters, you may as well.

Thank God I don't work with or for idiots.