Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Dub Technology

This week at work has been a chore to say the very least. It has been disappointing in ways that I could not have imagined. Of course I've been looking for another gig, but that, my friends, won't do it. That's not enough. That is the least of my issues. I need a career overhaul.

I'm quite positive I hate people. I truly hate small talk, as has been well documented. It's manifested itself into me showing up at least five minutes late to meetings just to avoid the "pre-meeting" meeting. The little bullshit recaps of people's lives. The bigger part of my job, though, is community interaction and outreach. That's where the real idiots come out to play. Everybody in this college town is a pseudo-erudite. Daily, it has become a battle of the wits with the witless. Half researched counterpoints, entirely made up statistics, specious logic, connecting non-existing dots, marijuana enhanced paranoia, along with barely concealed contempt for Africans have made it an exhausting gig. I've found one thing. The old adage is true, "Never argue with an idiot. Someone walking by won't be able to tell the difference."

Yesterday was priceless. My boss put GPS on all the housing inspectors cell phones for tracking purposes. I'm not a fan of this shit, but my boss has a surveillance jones. He put cameras throughout the department already and this is his phase two. I know what you're thinking, and frankly I don't care. If he's watching me, he oughta man up and say something about it. So we're getting a primer on how to track the staff from this dude from Nex.tel. He's breaking down how to track people, their speeds in the cars, how long they stop someplace, et al. And I feel myself getting physically sick. I'm sitting in my seat and I'm sweating. It's getting hard to breathe. One of the reasons I'd never be good at poker is because my face tells my story all the time. I'm pissed that the inspectors, who really do have a lot of shit to put up with and are for the most part extremely conscientious and professional, now have to be concerned about being watched by this gotdamned voyeur, this fuckin' fetishist. I'm sitting here for two hours with this fucked up expression on my face. The Director turns to his Deputy Director and asks, "Zed, what do you think?" And I respond, "It does what it's supposed to do" and I leave.

I could fuckin' explode. But that's what we've come to, it's where we are. Where our jobs become more and more invasive in our personal space, places where it has no real business. It's so much bigger than that. This shit is everywhere, from banks (where it has legitimate security purposes) to the fuckin' corner of State and Main Street, the only purpose is to be nosy and violate you. You? Today, you're somebody's Truman.

Be Careful,
KZ

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope you find a new gig soon ... before you explode to the wrong person.

Anonymous said...

psst Zed..... I got a used glock 9, metal baseball bat and a rusty x-acto knife for sale. Incase you need to get medival on momofukus......lol

on the real though i feel you, the blurred, almost non existant line between work life and home life (your job owns you) has me understanding how people sometimes ....lose it.

the one thing they don't tell you about the rubberband strategy is that eventually the rubberband POPS

Disco said...

Well, you know that's the world I live in and I.FUCKING.HATE.IT.

with a capital "I" & "T" !

I have EVERY phone call recorded and a %age of my calls are "quaulity checked" to ensure that the "script" that we are to be using is being used. We have metrics that go to my boss and HER boss daily.....


did you hear me?

DAI.LY ...don;t mess up and have a slow day or not do ANY activity at all.... it WILL be noticed! And i HATE.IT. I think it's too much...

I no longer focus on the quality of the interviews I am doing,. I focus on quantity and "fulfilling" my little "script" that has to be
fulfilled.

I hate big brother.... LOL

A.u.n.t. Jackie said...

oh lawd that's why i can't work in corporate amerikka because i would be out on mental disability right after that conversation...on some i think i had just a break down and maybe i need to call the police on myself to insure my own safety type shit...

so this probably means that they'd be a little bit opposed if you started drinking your sorrows away by instituting a daily happy hour at the job too huh?

damn shame!!

Miz JJ said...

The level of "security" is getting a bit ridiculous. Why is it necessary to spy on your employees? It just creates an atmosphere of distrust. Also, it creates the ultimate us against them mentality. I gotta co-sign with chele. You need a new job. Maybe in research so you would have minimal contact with people.

1969 said...

That would piss me off too. Why would you need to spy on them? That's ridiculous.

I worked in sales for many years. Many times I would go out on Sales Calls and if I ran an errand or two while I was out...who cares? As long as I was making my goals and my clients were happy....then so be it. Those are the perks of the job.

Your Boss needs to get a life.

Gemini Girl aka GG said...

wow! now who has time to watch, listen and review all these surveillance tapes/gps systems, etc..
you need to hire someone full time just to keep track of the devices keeping track of those employees that are prolly doing nothing worth being tracked! sheesh! and how much did it cost??..damn waste of money!!!
get out while you can before they surgically plant something in the side of your neck!!!

Anonymous said...

Makes you think of that song from Jill Scott's first CD---"Watching Me"

As long as folks are doing their job just leave them the hell alone!

onefromphilly said...

This is part of the reason that I had to get out of City Gov't. I was expected to track my investigators every move. And I refused to do it. So in every staff meeting I would just say that I know my investigators are all adult enough to do their work without being spied on. This would then lead to the attempted attacks disguised as a reprimand. Like i could give a damn. That's when the phase "the wrong one" kicked in. Because I like to fight, start it, and I'm jumpin right in! That place bought out the very worst in me.

Now I'm here on the BIG Plantation. I'm used to the security, the cameras, the metal detectors. At least they're smart enough to spy on you and tell you. And truth be told they really don't care what you do as long as it ain't illegal, and you show up on time everyday to do it! HA!

Mr.Slish said...

So which one of the inspectors fucked your bosses wife...lol

aquababie said...

our old director who just retired was anal about everything we did. we weren't high tech, but he would constantly "walk" to see what we were up to or check the sign in sheet to see when you left for lunch.

grown folk are grown and can work. i hate folk who want to fill your day with mess. i work and a procedure might take me 3 days to finish, so i have tons of down time. did you think i was trying to make up stuff to do??? nop[.

DivineLavender said...

I am glad I am not the only one!

Little Brown Girl said...

I agree with Chele...it's looking more and more like it's time to ride out! I hope you find something soon...reading this was even depressing me!

Sounds like you also need a vacation...Miami sounds nice *smile*