Working For the Man.....

".... Working for the man every night and day...." Proud Mary. Preferably by Tina Turner. I am such a child of the eighties.

Yes, i am so very tired of working for the man. And if I thought I could do it, I would work only for myself. But you see I am not a business minded person. Unless you can afford someone to take on the business side of things, that is left up to you. I am not afraid of hard work...... I just need to make a living with the opportunities given me. The fact that I am in Michigan during a suck ass economy does not help. (Yes, I have thought of moving. And I might do just that). But for now, I am still in Michigan doing something that is related to the auto industry, so you know how dire that is now.

Well, I am getting a head of myself..... This is my rant about "the man." It's a necessary evil for most of us to work for someone else who does not have our best interests at heart. Gone are the days of being welcomed in to a corporate family (if there ever were days like that), but gone are the days where one had stability in their job. They would expect to work there for years and become eligible for a pension. Pensions are things of the past. Now, I can live without them. Hell, I have never been in a position that offered them; what I never had, I can not miss. But what really irks me is the assumption by the powers that be in most corporations that we are just a lot of expendable crew members; cattle that can be easily exterminated (terminated) without a second thought about it. People who do the grunt work to make the millions of dollars for the man are seen as irrelevant.

My former boss, who left the company due to the relentless office politics and infighting, told me that the powers that be or "the man" as I like to call them; didn't believe in giving raises to underlings because 'the market is so bad in Michigan that they won't be able to find another job. They aren't going to leave because they have no where else to go.' Lovely, I say. I work my ass off so the man can buy a freaking jet (True story!), that's why I am unimportant to him and can't be paid what I am worth.

Red hot pokers were coming out of my eyes when I heard that. It's what I suspected, but never had any proof, I understand that i don't have solid proof now...... but I am willing to entertain the possibility that it's true.

Please before you want to flame me or something let me clarify my situation. I don't make a lot of money. I am NOT greedy. But I know that people doing the same job as me make more. But also, it's not just about money. It's the way in which employees are treated nowadays that gets me down. How one is teated is not with respect. People are let go with weak excuses and treated like criminals while they pack up their stuff. If you are not there when the person is escorted out you might not ever be told of their departure. Meanwhile, the employees who produce nothing are kept on and given bonuses. "The man" is so far removed from the essential workings of his own company that he has no idea about who is actually contributing.

I could go on and on, but I won't. Those who have actually read this far will sigh in relief. Be assured that I am not someone who just bitches and does nothing about it. I am actively looking for another place of employment. I am actively looking for another place to live. But I worry that I will only trade one "man" for another. I am not sexist..... "the man" could be a woman too. :-)

I promise lighter posts in the future.