May 29, 2008

IMPEACH BUSH

IMPEACH CHENEY

BAD COMPANIES

I've been thinking about the bad experiences I've had working for some companies down through the years. In some cases, the companies are "clients" of the company where I'm working. But this is a brief list:

Inland Starr Trucking--I worked there as a temp for one day. It was the single worst day of my working life. "Training" essentially consisted of demeaning me throughout the day.

Zenith Insurance--I guess they're proud of their new office in north Fresno. It was more like a mausoleum than an office. You're so far from windows you have to depend on artificial lighting. When I went there as a temp I had to read something like 30 pages of rules about their policies and procedures. You have to use an electronic key to go almost anywhere in their office. It's more like a prison than a workplace.

Producers Dairy--Years ago, when I was even more down and out than I am today I applied for a clerical job that paid $7.50 an hour. You had to get a background check for a miserable job that paid $7.50 an hour. Somehow that exemplifies control.

Gottschalk's Department Store--I had a temp job one Christmas season in their corporate credit department out near Riverpark. You took phone calls all day from their stores. You had to shout out "over limit!" any time a customer exceeded their credit limit. You had to get permission even to take your scheduled break. We constantly got complaints about how many calls were in the queue.

Travelers Insurance--I haven't directly worked for this company, but more in the capacity of a vendor. Their system is extremely cumbersome, which makes it difficult to do your job well, but then you get constantly barraged by complaints that you didn't do the job to their satisfaction. They have something called "Millennium," which sounds strangely cultish to me.