scrubjayspeaks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scrubjayspeaks) wrote2020-03-25 04:49 pm
scrubjayspeaks) wrote2020-03-25 04:49 pm
Entry tags:
plague journaling
I sat on the couch during my break, as I often do, and a coworker eventually came and sat down next to me. We had several feet between us, because it's a large couch, not a goddamn armchair we've decided to cram ourselves into. Within a minute, one of the people from HR, who had been wandering through, told us we needed to move "to practice social distancing."
And I would be fine with that, in and of itself. Sure, six feet is a long way, more than the couch, okay, cool. I think it's officious, pompous, and the sort of tedious rules-lawyering that HR seems to specialize in. But whatever. Also, since I was there first, I'm sort of just meh about the whole thing. I practically teleport to another planet whenever I'm on break, I socialize so little. I ain't taking responsibility for someone else deciding to exist in my orbit.
But the reason I'm still wound up about it is that these rules are only being enforced while we're on break. As soon as we hit the production floor, we may be told to train with someone (me last week, someone else at the machine next to me yesterday), which means sitting shoulder to shoulder to see the parts and the machine. Or we might be assigned to a job that requires a two-person team, either seated side by side or across from each other at a table about two feet wide. There has been ZERO talk of stopping these practices or doing anything to mitigate our exposure to each other when working this way.
Because, of course, that would cut into our productivity. It would limit which jobs could be run and how quickly. And while we are an "infrastructure critical industry," I still call bullshit on that.
If the jobs running matter that much, get us masks. Arrange the work spaces differently. Defer training right now, even if that means you can't throw any new bodies at a job to free up someone else. None of those things are happening.
But by god, I can't sit on opposite ends of a couch with someone and talk gardening for three minutes until my break ends. That will put me at an unacceptable risk of illness. What I do on my personal time will be policed. Production time, though, will continue as usual.
What a steaming pile of crap. And an excellent reminder that, while my employer is a pretty good one in the context of our current economic system, it is still a company that cares exclusively about its own profits. Anything else is negotiable.
Goddamn, plague brings out the radical in me.
And I would be fine with that, in and of itself. Sure, six feet is a long way, more than the couch, okay, cool. I think it's officious, pompous, and the sort of tedious rules-lawyering that HR seems to specialize in. But whatever. Also, since I was there first, I'm sort of just meh about the whole thing. I practically teleport to another planet whenever I'm on break, I socialize so little. I ain't taking responsibility for someone else deciding to exist in my orbit.
But the reason I'm still wound up about it is that these rules are only being enforced while we're on break. As soon as we hit the production floor, we may be told to train with someone (me last week, someone else at the machine next to me yesterday), which means sitting shoulder to shoulder to see the parts and the machine. Or we might be assigned to a job that requires a two-person team, either seated side by side or across from each other at a table about two feet wide. There has been ZERO talk of stopping these practices or doing anything to mitigate our exposure to each other when working this way.
Because, of course, that would cut into our productivity. It would limit which jobs could be run and how quickly. And while we are an "infrastructure critical industry," I still call bullshit on that.
If the jobs running matter that much, get us masks. Arrange the work spaces differently. Defer training right now, even if that means you can't throw any new bodies at a job to free up someone else. None of those things are happening.
But by god, I can't sit on opposite ends of a couch with someone and talk gardening for three minutes until my break ends. That will put me at an unacceptable risk of illness. What I do on my personal time will be policed. Production time, though, will continue as usual.
What a steaming pile of crap. And an excellent reminder that, while my employer is a pretty good one in the context of our current economic system, it is still a company that cares exclusively about its own profits. Anything else is negotiable.
Goddamn, plague brings out the radical in me.