Roots

About 20 years ago, the country-western singer, Johnny Paycheck, had a hit song titled, "Take This Job and Shove It." David Allen Coe wrote the lyrics. His genius was to capture and articulate the dominant sentiment of most of the US workforce in a short catchy phrase.

This song became the anthem of disaffected workers everywhere regardless of the color of their collars or skin. Who among us has not been driving home from the local watering hole in our beat up Chevy pick-ups, with a six-pack on the seat and an open can in our lap, with the local Country station turned-up real loud and hearing this song on the radio, who among us has not joined loudly in the refrain?

Ostensibly, the chief reason for the passionate expression of desire to ram the figurative 'job' up management's collective rectum was the fact that the singer's woman had walked out on him, thus taking with her "… all the reasons I was working for." In other words, the main reason a man or woman keeps going in to work at a lousy job is because they need the money to support a sex partner. Now that he is alone (and there is no tax on masturbating in the shower), who needs money - ergo: who needs a job? Deep philosophical existential thinking expressed in simple terms.

Now, the true, core reason for the mantra is found in this verse:

"...Well, that foreman, he's a regular dog,

The line boss is a fool.

Got a brand new flat-top haircut;

Lord, he thinks he's cool.

One of these days, I'm gonna blow my top,

And sucker, he's gonna pay

Lord, I can't wait to see their faces,

When I get the nerve to say:
Take this job and shove it,

I ain't workin' here no more.

My woman done left,

An' took all the reasons I was workin' for.

You better not to try to stand in my way,

As I'm a walkin' out the door.

Take this job and shove it,

I ain't workin' here no more. "

Note that the complaint is not about the work itself, the workplace or the commute. The problem (once again) is clueless management - bad supervisors and directors who infest the factories, fields, retail stores and offices of this great land, making the workers (and by extension - their women) miserable.
So you see that I have not invented the concept of Hellhole; I am merely the lens through which the reader focuses upon the root of all evil.

Thinking Inside the (Empty) Box

Now, I understand that the decision to take a job at a retail store may be met with horror and disbelief by well-meaning friends who suspect that we have 'fallen upon hard times'. Let me assure you that this is not the case. My wife is quite secure in her well-paid position, and I am receiving monthly checks from Unka Sam (to pay me back for 45 years of grinding employment). Occasionally, I work on independent consulting or writing jobs which pay pretty well on the infrequent occasions when they come-up. Ends are being met. Bar bills are getting covered. There is no fiscal crisis.

More than a paycheck, what I was looking for is structure: A regular schedule that does not involve nights or weekends. In addition, as you all know, I have a lifelong dream of working at one of the "100 Best Places to Work in America." When I saw the ad in the paper for a new store for one of the companies on the list, within ten minutes traveling distance from home, I applied.

In her book "Nickel and Dimed" the author, who took a year off to work at various minimum wage jobs (eg, Associate at Wal-mart, Waitress at a Restaurant, Hotel Maid), noted that despite the fact that she had several academic degrees, none of those curricula prepared her in any way for the "unskilled" work she was doing. She discovered that she found the "menial" jobs difficult to master. She asserted that there is no such thing as "unskilled labor." Each task involved learning a specific process and sometimes the demands of a job were complex.

When I think back to my "Professional" career, I recall that many of the people I worked with (especially business users- were talented, but not particularly skilled. In fact, I now realize that managers are truly the unskilled labor force. Managers and used-car salesmen are the same type of people at different points on a continuum of Responsibility. I see management as a habit of mind, rather than a skill to be learned or taught. Leadership is an even more abstract personality trait that cannot be taught to others, any more than you can train someone to have a sense of humor.

I must confess that my work experience in the store, which have been physically gruelling, have given me a renewed sense of appreciation for some of those easy, high paying Hellhole jobs that I have been disparaging since I started this blog. (Remember, the definition of Hellhole is determined less by the nature of the work and the environment as by the Clue Quotient of management. As an overweight 62 year old, working on the receiving dock for a busy retailer is challenging, There is heavy lifting. Each man-jack has to pull his or her weight, which for me is considerable. There is a lot of corrugated cardboard packaging to be man-handled. Boxcutters are a standard tool. In the beginning, after my 5 hour shifts (which begin at 6am), I would come home, shower and then nap for several hours to recover. But now that I am in better condition, I am delighted to be out at 11am, free to go fishing or drink beer or both.

Strangely, I actually haven't minded getting up at the crack of dawn, working my ass off for what my old peers would call "short money", but learning things about merchandising and distribution that are not taught in any university. But, I admit that I am beginning to feel less enthusiastic about the job. The bloom is off the rose, as Pappy used to say.

During the first few weeks - before the store opened - the best and brightest mentors in the company have been on site. These folks were knowledgable, personable and confident. They were continually positive, encouraging and interesting. Now that the store is open, the B&B went back to their normal duties. Suddenly, the local management is pretty much on their own. They are a bit scared; and scared management tends to become micromanaging nitpickers. Needless to say, this is not an attractive leadership characteristic, in my opinion.

I've never been very good at following orders, I am reminded by those who know me. Micromanagers make me want to run for the hills. We are not talking Hellhole, yet. But the seeds are there.

I have lost 5 pounds, and I am quite pleased about that. The enforced exercise is great for my sense of well-being and other vital signs. But lately, I find myself day dreaming of a nice cubicle in a well-lit office, normal hours, no heavy lifting and the company cafeteria, and lunch.

I must go now and check my Careerbuilder job search.

Hey, a 78 year old guy who probably doesn't even speak English just got a job as CEO of the Catholic Church.
I guess it is news for the billion or so practicing Catholics, but why do the news guys think the rest of us give a crap? We don't.

Re-invention

Recently, I have been seriously contemplating the idea of getting a part-time job. Faithful readers will recall that the corporate world has deemed that my experience and knowledge are of zero value. Budget-conscious managers have determined that the ideal employee is thin and has 3-5 years of experience. This pretty much leaves fat old white guys like me out in the cold.

I guess the purveyers of current hiring philosophies have not read the same articles I have been reading lately - which predict a rash of business failures mainly because of a lack of wisdom in the workforce. The traditional mentor level in business organizations is disappearing. Older, experienced workers have been deliberately downsized, outsourced and put out to pasture. The goal of this exodus has been cost containment, but the business press is loaded with stories about companies that unexpectedly found themselves lacking the expertise that had previously been taken for granted. Having promoted the worst and most dishonest people, corporate boards are now wringing their hands because they discover that the current crop of leaders are corrupt, short-sighted and self-serving. The net cost of failure is many times greater than the savings enjoyed by employing younger cheaper workers.

I am not going to hang around waiting for Corporate America to come to its senses. I am moving forward. I have signed up for a job working at a local retail store which is opening soon.

I earned my retail nameplate back in the last big recession when (now defunct) Highland Superstores successfully wooed me away from unemployment, following the layoff from Prime Computer. As the new guy in the Highland white goods (appliances: stoves, washers, refrigerators were mostly painted with white enamel in those days) department, I was soon known around the store as "The new guy over in the white goods department."

My silver locks and inate understanding of the need for white goods in our society plus a willingness (at the manager's insistence) to negotiate price with the sagacious customers quickly resulted in a successful record of sales. The only downside, of course, was the fact that most of the discounts came from my commission. Thus, after several months it seemed that I was virtually working for minimum wage, which was $5.20 in 1990. I lived in constant fear that customers would return their purchase, thus charging back the pittance that I had earned in commission.
Whenever I look back and complain about that experience, my wide remembers the plus side: Standing for those 12 hour shifts, with minimal time allotted for breaks and lunch, caused me to lose weight. 20 pounds in four months.

My autobiographical account of that time in my life might even be available on bookstores, where it not for my unfortunate condition. You see I was born with MPP syndrome ( Marked Propensity for Procrastination). The draft has a working title, "The Retail Employee Diet - How I Lost 20 pounds in just 4 Months!"