bright eyes

this just in: christmas music performed by non-Christmas music people is incredibly good

never have I been more depressed about Christmas than when I listen to Conor Oberst's Christmas album or never have I been more in love with everything than when I listen to Sufjan Steven's recent one

anyway

a friend of mine just called me "apolitical." sure, I am not very open or vocal about my political beliefs but that's only because people who are generally make me mad

but not always

but I will use this opportunity (and this blog which so many people graciously read) to outline something:

I fucking hate unions

*fights off his leftist friends*

okay now that the initial "what, unions protect worker's rights are you a capitalist Jamie, are you a dirty faggot" is past it is time to explain

to me, unions are an excuse for someone who is a lazy piece of crap to get paid the same amount of money and priveleges as someone who is dedicated and works their asses off. don't get me wrong; in theory, I believe unions are a pretty awesome idea (much like I feel communism is) but of course the humanity in us steps in and ruins shit again (thanks a lot, humanity).

of course I would not make such, dare I say, childish and silly accusations without any reasonable thought behind it -- oh no!

my dad is a manager of a business (uh oh I am suddenly losing my zeal and don't want to write this anymore but I will trudge through it) and I've had many a talk about managing and work ethics and just being a good person in general with him in relation to the few jobs I've held. when I went to quit the Gas Bar, I felt like such a douche for leaving them shorthanded and considered not doing it and asked my dad for help and he told me that I was the kind of person he would want to hire because I actually care, and that there are many people who would just quit and say "fuck it, they aren't paying me anymore, they don't mean anything to me"

he told me about people that he pays to work that roll into work at 8:59am when they're scheduled for 9-5 and leave at 4:59pm and will never do anything extra. if work is slow for them in particular and they only have five runs to do (when in a normal day they can get fifteen done) they'll take eight hours to do five rather than do five at a normal pace and see if there's any extra work around.

however, he can do nothing about these people who just lazily slop into work and don't work with him, but work for him. uh, crap, that made it seem like he's some sort of dictator, which he's not. what I mean to say is the heart isn't there: the person shows up and lazily does whatever he's told to and never does anything more.

if I were a manager I'd want to have the ability to trim these people away and keep only people whose heart is there, people who want to work with me and who want to do more than they're asked. not only does this promote being a good worker in the first place, but it keeps the pressure there that says "if you do shitty work, you're not going to stick around." unfortunately, he doesn't have this option because the people are protected by the unions. "protected" has an odd connotation in this case because union people like to think of it as "protecting a worker's rights" whereas in this case it's "protecting a worker's laziness."

my job works on a fully commission-based system where I get paid based on how well I do, and if I do so shitty that I'm losing the company money, they'll eventually let me go. to me, this is the ideal way to go. I dunno if this is a weird way of thinking, but I'm one to think that if you are a good worker, you should be treated as such. if you're a lazy worker who has no work ethic, loyalty, or care for what they do, you should be let go because there are better things to do than fuck around.

at my old high school, my mom works as a teacher's assistant working with mentally handicapped people. special needs, whatever. the politically correct term slowly becomes less and less politically correct as more people use it haha :\

anyway

one of the things I've noticed about the school system is that if someone has more seniority, they get the job, hands down. regardless of if they're fucking ass-shit at the job, they get it since they've been around longer. take into account the fact that I think if you're a good worker, you should be treated as such, and it becomes clear why this union system is greatly disagreeable to me.

seriously

"yeah you're way way better at this job but she's been around for longer, so you can just go fuck yourself. try back in a decade"

doesn't agree with me.

anyway, it's 4:30am and I've gotta get up to go to my job (that I actually feel compelled to perform well in because my paycheque depends on how well I do) at noonish or so.

leave comments if you disagree or agree

but, before I go, some lighter notes! :)

-Wii is fucking fantastic fun with a few friends
-I really need to play through Final Fantasy 3 again, but on my 52" TV
-learning Japanese is going wellish
-god damn, chamomile tea is relaxing
-I wish I weren't alone this Christmas (Mandy, you lied! >:( )

good night!