More CNHI

Pride is nice and all, Colton, but seriously, fuck 'em. Put your 40 in, and that's it. And I hope you're not working when you're supposed to be furloughed.

 

I'm sure this is going to come out wrong, so I'll apologize in advance ...

But if you're being literal, Colton, and haven't had a true day off where you're not doing any work of any kind for the last 13 years, then you're kind of getting what you ask for, IMO. No days off, no vacations, working through furlough days, etc., means you're playing right into these companies' hands when it comes to driving people into the dirt, violating wage/hour laws and then casting them aside without a second thought.

It seems playing the pride card and saying you're fortunate to have a job in cases like this seems to be akin to an abuse victim sticking around because their spouse is a good person and doesn't mean it, and how they don't deserve better because they are fortunate to have anyone who cares about them.

 

No apologies necessary. My eyes are very wide open, here, and I neither whine nor complain about my workload.

I do, however, resent very much no raises in more than six years, 90 eff days and staff being slashed and gashed, with no regard to those of us still here.

I still love what I do. I just wish I had more help.

 

They're not going to help you, so why are you helping them by working without getting paid for it?

 

Yeah well it would be real easy for Colton to quit. Lots of good jobs around the industry eh? Give the guy a break. That company sucks but it's his name, not CNHI's, that goes on his work. It's him, not Alabama, which gets the complaints. Some people still want to be appreciated in their community by the people who still pay for the right to read it.

 

As someone who has spent his entire career at newspapers in smaller communities, I can tell you just how true this is. There will always be complainers, but you get far more people who praise you for the work you do.

In these smaller communities, there are lots of people who happily clip out stories and photos of their kids for a scrapbook. And these are the people who consider their kids going on to play college sports as a bonus, not a necessity (in other words, they don't call to complain that their kid will miss out on a college scholarship because you didn't praise them enough in your writing).

It's those people who truly appreciate your work that are the ones you don't want to let down, regardless of the higher-ups who have no communication with these people.

 

Colton,

I hear where you are coming from in regard to going the extra mile because you take pride in a job well done. I've done the same and I know there are plenty of others on the board who have. There is something about this business that feeds on addictive personalities (like mine).

OTOH, there are boundaries to everything and I think you should ask yourself "am I appreciated or being abused?" Now, I don't blame YOU or your dedication or performance for the fact you haven't had a raise in a long time. I never got one, either, which is why I kept jumping from one place to another to better myself. People just don't get raises in this industry at this time. I understand that, too. How the hell do you give one person a raise at the same time you are furloughing or laying off someone else?

But, ultimately, each of us have to take charge of our lives. So you'll have to decide whether you think it's worth it or you'd rather do something else/somewhere else. That's a decision only you can make. I wish you well.

 

Gang,

I very much appreciate all of the recent responses. While we may not agree on everything, in truth, we are pretty much in the same boat in this day and age.

It's ironic that as I type these words, "Rocky IV" is on one of my HBO channels. I say ironic because unlike the vast majority of fans of the series, Rocky is not my favorite character. That would be Apollo.

And I guess my situation is similar to what he faced when he chose to go after the Russian. He wanted to write his own ticket, as opposed to waiting around for life to lead him in a direction after his life's work -- his fight career -- was all but finished. No amount of money, comfort, etc. was paramount to his existence. For him, it was about self-pride, being comfortable in his own skin and blazing his own trail, much like he did in the second film, when all he had to do was stay away in Round 15 and coast to the victory. Instead, he risked everything because as he said of the first fight going into the rematch, "Man, I won, but I didn't beat him!"

For me, they've taken my money. They've taken my staff. They've not replaced computers since just before Y2K (when they had to). I've been lied to.

But, what they have not taken is my work ethic, my dignity, my pride, my "want-to," if you will. To me, those aspects of myself are still above everything else.

The website work referenced here isn't because I have to... it's because I want to. And the fact I still want to -- and the fact the work I do there is never credited -- helps me keep my work ethic, my dignity, my pride, my "want-to" intact.

They can take everything from me, if they choose, in as little time as it takes to rubber-stamp something. I realize and understand that. It's out of my control.

What is not out of my control, though, is what fuels the fire of the beast that still resides somewhere deep inside. No one, and excuse my French, but no fucking one, will ever take that from me. As the old bumper sticker said, "they'll have to pry that out of my cold, dead hands."

And, please excuse the admittedly cheesy metaphor, but like Apollo Creed, I will choose my own way "out."

I hope this at least partially explains my mindset.

Here's wishing each and every one of your the merriest of Christmases.

-- Colton

 

I'm sorry Colton, but as you know, Apollo ended up dead. A whole lot of good it did him to risk it all. He even admitted at the end of III that losing by one second was very hard for him to handle, and he decided to come back because he was clinging to something that was no longer there. At least he had a nice funeral.

The movie analogy (hey, I'm not the one who brought up movies) that I'm thinking is somewhat relevant for this is a scene from Schindler's List. Now yes, obviously, a job in this industry is not comparable to the Holocaust, but this comparison is more about the mentality behind the scene.

It's the scene where a group of Jewish prisoners are putting up a building, and a Jewish woman keeps telling them they're doing it wrong and that the building is going to collapse. The Ralph Finnes Nazi character goes up to her, asks her why she's fucking around, then she starts telling him how they're doing it wrong and need to tear down the building and start over. He asks her qualifications, finds out she was an engineering student. He then asks her why the fuck does she care how they build the building, and she responds that she just wants to help, because she doesn't want them doing it wrong. He then shoots her, then, when another Nazi asks him what to do, tells him to do exactly as she was saying.

My point is, with an admittedly not great comparison, is this: They Don't Care. They, in this case, being your company. The woman in the scene had everything taken away from her, except her life and her pride in her work. So she clung to her pride in her work, even after it should have been painfully obvious that, no matter how proud she was, they didn't care. And that pride, just like it did Apollo, cost her life.

My other point is this: Nobody has ever said on their deathbed that they wished they spent more time in the office. There are so many other things in life to be proud of besides your work, Colton. Find a hobby, or an activity that you will enjoy, that you'll be able to take just as much pride in doing. And you'll be doing it for yourself, instead of a company that doesn't give two shits about you.

 

Colton,

My wish for you in the new year is that you will find an employer in whatever business that cares as much about you as you do about them and the product. You're a good dude!

 

How exactly do you get away with doing your pages during your furlough?

 

Folks,

I realize pretty much no one will understand, nor agree with how I am dealing with my situation.

Since I know for a fact my posts here are monitored -- and, since I do indeed very much appreciate the fact I still have a job -- it would not serve me to continue in this discussion.

For once, I'm going to try and keep my big mouth shut.

Thanks one more time for all of the kind words and words of both encouragement and, too, disagreement.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Blessings to you and yours...