Slogan's Heroes

I don't wanna get up , but I do anyway. I don't wanna go to work either, but I go anyway.
This new job is in a building almost as large as O'Hare airport. And just as relaxed.
I've seen a lot of damncubes in my life, but if I added them all up , they wouldn't even be a dingleberry in this nearly infinite corporate chamberpot of damncubes.

The only way you can avoid seeing all the "Teamwork makes the Team Work" , "Smile, they can hear it", " Our company is a leader. Be one too" signs is by staring directly into your monitor-and I'm pretty sure there's subliminal company propaganda on it as well.

"Teamwork makes the Team Work" - Why not just hang a banner saying "Work will set you free"?

"Smile, they can hear it"- I'm already paranoid enough . I do not need signs like that around me.

"Our company is a leader. Be one too."- This one I like. I don't give a damn about the company, but they should put me in charge. That's how this banner reads to me , but the reality is: follow orders.

Yesterday, my damncube neighbor commented about a nicely framed poster of the Great Wall of China. Caption: Teamwork Makes It Possible.

She thought it was pretty- it is- but...

"Comparing our office drone jobs to the building of the Great Wall is a poor way to boost morale. Chances are, that if you were part of that labor force, you were a slave, peasant, criminal, or prisoner of some sort. Then they worked you to death and buried your ruined corpse in or around the Wall, whichever was easiest for the supervisors. And if this "Teamwork" thing was a shared reality instead of a rallying call for servitude and desperation we wouldn't need slogans. Or Walls. One day, some future temp is going to open a file cabinet and find my withered remains."

Crap! I said that out loud. I can tell that I've freaked out my fellow temp. I often have absolutely no control over what I say . Fuck it. Some people have no sense of humour and even less knowledge of history.

Today, I find that I've been re-cubed into a damncube located in the farthest unoccupied reaches of this vast wasteland . It's in a corner and has a nice view of some trees. My new boss shows me where my new damncube is- he starts with the "You do great work, but you make some of your co-workers uncomfortable..." speech, but stops because he can tell I've heard this spiel dozens of times. I like being as far away from everyone as possible at work, so this isn't exactly punishment.

Later, we have a meeting because us temps are turning in inconsistent work. I hear about every fourth word. I hate meetings. After the meeting, I talk to my boss and point out that there are two seperate instruction sheets being handed out and they contradict each other.

"Well, damn!", he says. "Let's fix this right now!" I suddenly have a new respect for New Boss. We sit down and he identifies the errors and I help him with wording it. I suggest that we print some sample screen shots in order to illustrate examples. He does this in under five minutes, and does it well. This Boss is on his job!

After lunch, the whole network crashed. No computers, phones- nothing. I asked if I could leave and go record an interview at the station- I had to leave a wet-behind-the-ears kid in charge and I really wasn't comfy with the idea of him learning on-air. Boss says OK.

When I get to the station, I find we've acquired a new PC and recording software for Studio B (my realm) and Max (founder/genius) is able to explain how to work it in about five minutes. Which is how much time I have before the guests arrive. One of them was Doug Cox, superintendent of special education for Richmond Public Schools- I'm not sure if that's his verbatim title, but that's what he does- he mentioned that his son plays drums in a band called Alabama ThunderPussy. They toured with Gwar. I lived with Gwar. Small world indeed!

Now we have a dedicated recording/production computer for studio B! Snoopy Dance!