And after that....The Snowball Effect

[InvisibleWolfMan]

Boy, it's been one hellish two month stretch for me fellow dwellers. Where to begin? Well...

During the first week of December I was asked by the new head manager of the boat factory where I work if I wouldn't mind dumping the large trash bins in the mornings when I come to work. Our newer warehouse guy, just settling into the job, was feeling overworked because of the amount he had to do. Kind, loyal and hardworking soul that I am, I said YES.

And I've been regretting it since.

It takes me up to an hour on days I only have 2 containers and 2 hours on days I have 4 containers. Now...I already work a FULL eight hour day. By full, I mean I don't take my required breaks. I do this BY MY OWN CHOICE so I can go home straight. Staying and taking a break means much undone work which leads to overtime (don't care to stay a moment longer than I truly have to) and a grumpier me. I've tried readjusting my workload schedule, but some things I just can't speed up and...not to make myself sound like some kind of God in the job I do....I know NO ONE could replace me. Nope, it'd take TWO.

A few years back, I discovered a way for me to get some work done faster. Some of my materials that I cut can be stacked nicely in piles of 4-8 pieces (these are with grooves and curves) while a select few can be stacked all the way up to 12 pieces at a time (straight cuts only). While it took me the same amount of time to cut all the size pieces, it saved me upwards of HALF THE TIME to cut the proper shape pieces when stacked. I've been doing it since, and it's ok to me. I feel I'm so lucky to have a job every day when more and more companies are closing shop and going overseas so some chimp in a suit gets richer while the workers that suffered along get the welfare line that I've never made an issue of it before. Why should I if I feel I can handle it?

Then I ate a whole bunch of saltine crackers one day and by bizarre circumstances, while we visited the local health center we measured my blood pressure. THROUGH. THE. ROOF. As my wife chided me for many, many failures in eating habits and other random stuff, one remark dug it's claws across my brain as it went through:

"Don't you wanna be around to see your son grow up?"

Holy Shit. Of course I do, but until that moment I don't think it meant as much to me as it suddenly did. And I thought of all things that had been causing me stress over the past year. I also though guiltily of all the secret eating I'd done as well. Plenty. Loads. Mind boggling, copious amounts of the junkiest foods and the barely legal chocolates and sugary sweets. And I realized just before I was going to bed as I was sitting down in a position to face the sliding mirror closet doors that I. Was. F.A.T.

My bone structure is of "farmer stock" and by that I mean broad and naturally big. Heck, I looked thin everywhere but my stomach. Given my posture and natural strength, it was easy to ignore the fact it looked like I swallowed a large exercise ball. However, in November I turned 30. And my back started complaining in new ways. Then this whole high blood pressure thing just put me in a life or death decision fork in the road. Do I eat myself to the grave such as my mother undeniably did by ignoring she had diabetes while eating similar clogging foods.....OR do I admit I'm one fat fucker despite the "easy to forgive" bone structure and do something about it?

So...I started to eat only porridge (Quaker Oats flake style for those of you who know what I mean) as breakfast and I ate smaller portions of other meals. And I got a gym card and I've been quite liberal visiting every single day possible. I've started to tone down and have lost some weight which seems to stay off. Great.

Except now I need sleep. I've been a horrible insomniac for most of my life. I had started to keep it under great control during the start of this working year (August '07). Of course, the new addition of this trash work has me screwed over again. During work days I end up 2-4 hours of sleep. Weekends I suddenly sleep 8 hours and feel like I slept 1 single hour.

I come to work 3 hours before the required time. I work 8 hours straight, so I go home 3 hours before others. Perhaps some of my fellow employees feel I "sleepwalk" through my job, because they don't talk to me much. A few that eventually have to talk to me can sound like they are snide in their remarks. Others clearly talk and joke behind my back. Funniest thing to me is that the hardest workers in that factory are foreigners; a Sri Lankan, a Yankee and a Soviet. So much for national pride, huh? It also doesn't help that the founder and true boss of the company is my father-in-law. He only took me to the factory because he was in a pinch when the new side opened up and needed someone he didn't have to train. I had done this job for his older company side during two various summers, so it was already second nature. But he warned me:

"At work, you're not family. If you fuck up, I'll fire you like I don't even know you."

I agreed to those terms. I get my work done and I've had barely 7 sick days in 5 years. Is it any wonder I get thought of first and trusted to do jobs over others? I guess not. Still, other workers decided to retaliate against me.

First, they tore my uniform off from where it was hanging before Christmas vacation. Then, they hid my special cutting knife meant for cutting 10mm thick rubber matt (imagine cutting paper with a feather...doesn't look tough until you try it). Then they took a girlie calender off the wall (I have always had a harbored dislike for them in the workplace...which is KNOWN quite well by everyone) and blamed it on me. Then I got artwork drawn of me as "Hitler-esqe" as can be with a group of terrorists. I also got a piece of metal that looks like a nail with no head stuck in my normal clothes locker's lock which was near impossible to get out.

Oh...this gets better.

Then...Wednesday this past week I discovered during the day a good ol swastika on a "cutaway" part of the deck model.

Folks, there are very few things I'm willing to SEVERELY hurt people over; the first is if you do malicious harm to a child...closely followed by committing acts of racism.

I reported this to one of the managers, who said ok he'll check it out later. Then I decided I just had to know NOW. I confronted one likely suspect who laughed way too much and indicated it wasn't him but it was most likely the one guy on night shift that I used to call "friend." I said in the best Finnish I could muster that "tell the guy IF he DID do it, not to do it again because IF I was to catch him doing it while I was around.....I'd rip his fingers right off." The guy I was speaking to couldn't stop laughing and said "Rip them right off, huh? It's a harmless joke....."

Anyone here been near a plane breaking the sound barrier? I imagine that was what it was like to view me as one of the other workers while I just laid into this guy over what the other guy had done. I use that analogy only because during this "broken sound barrier" I slowly realized THE WHOLE FACTORY was staring at me. I made it upmost clear to the guy that this was a workplace where we did work. That kind of shit is NOT ALLOWED and makes us look very unprofessional. Beyond that, it would also get the company into LEGAL trouble which could lead to fines. And.......that I would NEVER accept that kind of behavior.

Then I went to the office and told one of the other managers what happened and why...basically the same way I told now. He said he'll ask the guy on night shift about it.

Next day I apologized to the guy I broke the sound barrier with, who seemed to be ok with my reasons. And the new head manager came to talk to me about the previous day. I calmly explained the whole thing yet again. I also explained I'd apologize to the guy who got yelled at by me. And I recanted the rest of what I've told you guys here to him and told him it's the culmination of all these factors that lead to that moment. He agreed they hadn't investigated things like they should do but assured me he talked it out with the idiot from night shift for nearly half an hour the night before. Come to find out, he's known and participated in the other bullshit that's been pulled on me. Big surprise there....

I could go on, but in the end the new head manager said things will be sorted out so at least I have a glimmer of hope in this current sea of shit. Still, why do I need to seem like the Incredible Hulk in order to get people to do their work without fucking around? Why do I need to break the sound barrier when a simple "please do the right thing" should suffice?

And after that....The Snowball Effect.

That's how I feel right now. It's also the name of the picture posted above, done by a famous Finnish artist name Kaj Stenvall (first name pronounced Kai). You can view all his artwork at the address

www.kajstenvall.com/

I know, I know. But why end this post on a downer?

[Benjamin Haines]

Most people are idiots. You're right that they shouldn't need to be constantly chided and berated to do their jobs and do it right, but it is what it is. They're idiots, plain and simple.

Just remember that you've always got your wife to come home to. Not that I think you would, but it's worth saying that you shouldn't take her for granted even for a second. She loves you and she's there for you, so cherish every moment you have to spend with her. The same goes for your son. Not only are they what makes your life worth living, but they can help you get through stressful times such as these like nobody else can. And of course, you've always got all of your peeps here at the Fortress to vent to when you need it. Cheer up, bloke.

[trashcanman]

Yeah, that is some serious bullshit, Wolfie; but people are people. I have stories from random everyday life beginning in kindergarden and going all through high school and beyond that still make my wife cry when she hears them. To me they're just anecdotes from a meaningless time long past, but she can't believe that people could be so inhuman. Abuse from your fellow man is just another day, as sad as that is. Everything you said and did was called for and in the right, but the best thing you could ever do is wake up one morning and realize that YOU DO NOT GIVE A FUCK. Your displays of anger just give them what they want. Idiots surround us and there is nothing to be done about it but hold your own and reduce them in your own mind to what they are: useless pieces of nothing whose worse-than-death fate is living out a life being that goddamn ignorant. Oh, and congratulations on your healthy living. I think I'm physically incapable of it, but I balance it out by being nearly stress-free. Remember, the vast majority of physical illness is manifested because of mental stress, which weakens your immune system. A nice, brutal rant (verbal or written) always does me good; anger is best controlled in short, precise bursts. I swear at inanimate objects at my job; works like a charm! Having a solid work ethic like yours isn't easy, and people will hold it against you as they milk they're sick days for all their worth and spend more time and energy trying to avoid work than it would take to just DO the work, but like I said, people are people. Relax, man, you are needed at home, at your job, in The Fortress, and elsewhere. The best we can do is try to outlive these fucktards, eh?

[The Curmudgeon]

First of all, thanks to Wolfman for a) telling us this fairly personal stuff in the first place and b) writing such a huge post in doing so. We don't get enough personal stuff around here, so this is good to see.

It's a pity its not happier stuff. I dunno, Wolfman - shouldn't you speak to your father-in-law about it if this continues? If the new duty manager or whatever can't sort it out, why not go straight to the head guy?

Here's another question; do you LIKE your job? It sounds pretty hellish if you ask me. You don't talk to anyone, the people who you do talk to sound like dicks and you can't wait to get away from there? That doesn't sound like the sort of place I would want to be. I mean, yeah, we all hate our jobs, but not.. you know, really. Wouldn't you happier, and more respected and appreciated, elsewhere?

Something that's been bugging me - why the swastika? What does that have to do with anything?

[InvisibleWolfMan]

See, my father-in-law is due to retire soon. Could be next year, could be 5 years. Whenever his retirement boat is built he'll call it quits by the end of the working year. You see, he's only had these new managers since last year when it became clear that he could keep up the hectic pace he used to. So, it's taking 3 people to replace him!

He knows of most of these troubles and will learn the rest once he's come back from vacation. He steers clear as much as he can for two reasons

1) We're "related", so if he takes punishment out it'll look like favoritism

2) He's gotta keep his stress load down, which is why he took on 3 managers to replace him

His advice was to deal with what I could deal with and then if I couldn't feel good about it any more to let those assholes know I won't put up with the shit....which is what I did. And boy, let me tell you that I got alot of "hellos" the next day after I broke the sound barrier. Finns are non-confrontational by nature, so when you make a stand on something that firm they're not always sure what to expect, ESPECIALLY if you do what I did. It's why I save up those moments so I can use it wisely and let people know I'm more akin to that nice boa constrictor someone keeps as a pet.

I don't like my job, but I HATE being without a job more than I hate putting up with the shit that I've had flung at me. Let me tell you the first few years of living here was HELL because of one simple fact:

NO WORK.

Doing work, no matter what, defines me and keeps me somewhat happy and sane despite these kinds of issues I've raised here. It's easy to sit at home and do nothing, it's more rewarding if I challenge myself by accomplishing the work each day I get up. I hope that makes some sort of sense. And, the bottom line is that this is the ONLY job I can at least have for now. Since I don't have to talk to many people and can do my work straight through AND we get much nicer vacation times than others (I get a month and a half for summer!)...this is THE job for me. My son needs me to put clothes on his back, food in his stomach and to keep the roof over our heads. If by doing this I can allow him the freedom to do all he can to improve his education further than I did mine AND show him what "work ethic" really means...then he'll be unstoppable once he's out on his own.

My slavery is his freedom, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[The Curmudgeon]

So what's it like where you are? Is the available work situation fairly grim?

[trashcanman]

Wow, a place where going off on people makes them be nice to you!? How's the weather in Finland? I think I might like it there.

[InvisibleWolfMan]

Hmmpf. Thought I'd need to update this;

MWHAHAHAHAHHAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!



That's right, you heard me....MWHAHAHAHAHHAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!



Whew! Sorry 'bout that but I'm LONG overdue. Why am I laughing? Because I finally got the last laugh, that's why. You see, all those assholes berating me while allowing the bullshit to continue suddenly realized they were treading eye deep in an ocean of shit. Oh.

YES.

You see, the guy who painted the swastika (I'll nickname him "Smartypants") on the cutaway part of the boat deck was apparently overcome with a divine sense of entitlement to something that was not his. So big was this feeling of "entitlement" that he convinced the whole group of workers from the area of the factory that I work in to join in on this feeling and strengthen the "entitlement" so they could partake in it's wondrous and radiant warmth...not to mention sunshiny glow. Of course, they couldn't let the secret of this "entitlement" to be shared with the ugly troll that dwelled beneath the cutter's bridge (aka ME). However, like an Elton John song rewritten for a person it was never originally intended for, the "entitlement" was a travesty waiting to rape their immoral souls repeatedly.

The "entitlement" : Why, company monies of course.

The partaking in it's wondrous and radiant warmth...not to mention sunshiny glow : Why....embezzlement via work hour wages / completed tasks bonuses "adjustments."

For. A. WHOLE. YEAR.

You see, we're still allowed to write down our hours by hand. Given the close, personal work environment that we have it's usually easy to keep tabs since job tasks can at points be observed by others, nearly all the time with the small exception of night crew where about 35-55% of their work is viewed before they are alone. So there's also an approximate time most tasks can take. The more tasks you complete, you can earn a bonus for your paycheck when those tasks are not part of your job description. Well, "Smartypants" knew the system well enough to gently pad his paycheck (common knowledge as he constantly asked related questions of "who did what" when filling out his hourly timesheet over the years.

Since over a year ago, my Father-in-law was now letting the other "managers" handle things. The main guy (I'll dub him "project manager" or PM for short) was new to the company but had done similar duties in a previous company which had closed down (causing HUGE unemployment for this area). These similar duties included carefully checking the timesheets turned in and addressing large hours or large amounts of completed tasks.

I'm sure your hours ahead of me at this point, so I'll make the long story short:

He didn't check...and this went on for roughly a year's time before the secretary who handles the paychecks and stuff (who lives in another part of Finland) started to become concerned. She finally notified my Father-in-law over the matter and he was OUTRAGED. By this time, the PM had moved on. Perhaps he sensed what was coming OR he was just that blind to matters and was just looking for something less demanding for work. His future won't be one of "wine & roses" that's for sure.

As for "smartypants," he was confronted about this and although never actually confessed, could not deny that it originated from him. The workers that were dumb enough to follow suite with him and adjust the timesheets are now making 200 Euros LESS every paycheck...until it's all paid back. And then....oh, this one's the chartopper...someone broke into my locker and stole my sweaty, stinky work socks. The intruder obviously had access to a spare key for my locker in order to do so since I have the only key left. I told my Father-in-law about this incident because I'd had enough and I knew that if there's on thing he hates most in this world next to Skinheads it's thieves. Boy...the factory shut down for an hour while everyone was grilled over it (no one confessed, though). Ahhh...but "Smartypants" did admit to being the ringleader of several of those personal attacks that occurred previously. BIG surprise there.

In the end "Smartypants" had to resign, which in Finland means that you lose your right for unemploymency monies for a period of time...and rightfully so, since he had basically DOUBLED (and I mean literally DOUBLED as in 100% increase)everyone's pay during this little scam. So he'll make as much money as I do while he sits on his ass and I'm running mine off. BUT...since he's been gone NO MORE ATTACKS on me.



'nuff said.

[Benjamin Haines]

Have you ever considered screenwriting? Your ordeal with that company might make an interesting plot thread for a movie.

[trashcanman]

See? It does pay to be the bigger man. Congratulations on sticking around to piss on the grave of those guys' careers.

[The Curmudgeon]

This is GREAT news. I wish I knew that fucker so it would bring a better sense of triumph that you're obviously feeling. Glad to hear it, Wolfy.

As for Mr Newly Unemployed, I think there's one young man who can echo our sentiments..