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Today's Keyboard Smash
Jun. 18th, 2020 07:18 pmIt's been a good month at least since my workplace did something to infuriate me with regards to the pandemic. But they are back on their bullshit. We came in this morning to a long email about how masks are still required, they have always been required, omg why aren't you wearing masks???
Except now they're freaking out because the hallway is narrow and we pass by each other too close. We should have been wearing masks every time we walked in the hallway. (This, I will point out, really wasn't a standing order, but okay.) To facilitate this, they have gotten us masks. No, not the cleanroom masks that have been here for over a month--we are expressly FORBIDDEN from wearing those outside of the cleanroom. (Like, say, in the hallways.) (Unless you're an office worker, I've been informed, in which case, hey, take some home if you need them.) (Because fuck us blue-collar slobs, apparently.)
No, now they have outside masks for us. Branded ones, with the company logo. Because that, T H A T is what will keep us safe from the pandemic.
It's been three months. I can only assume that it took them this long to provide these SUPER CRITICAL MASKS because they absolutely had to be custom printed with the company logo. Nothing less would do. Better to wait and have us going about our essential work without this critical protection than wear something so gauche as a generic face mask.
I am aware that the level of fury I experience over these bureaucratic cock-ups is probably a) unreasonable, b) misdirected, and most importantly c) an artificial outlet for the otherwise directionless fear and rage created by this whole situation. I don't actually mind wearing the mask much. I mean, I'm allergic to the elastic used in some of them, and the constant low-grade airflow restriction doesn't do great things for my energy levels. But I'm staunchly pro-mask.
What I hate is the inconsistency of it. The hypocrisy, frankly. For weeks, they implemented nothing to protect us. Then they're annoyed that we don't cleave to the meager offerings they eventually come out with.
We got used to it, you fools.
We resigned ourselves to risking our safety in order to continue getting a paycheck--since those of us in production never had the luxury of opting to work from home like the office staff handing down these dictates. We got used to that involuntary choice and made whatever peace with it we could.
So no, oddly enough, we are not greeting your offering of company-themed masks with roaring enthusiasm. Too little, too late. For all that the threat is, technically, ongoing, we've all hit the point of exhausted resignation to the danger you put us in for the last three months. Yes, we resent the hell out of being passive-aggressively scolded via email by people who work from home or from within their contactless office spaces.
You have a responsibility to provide safe working conditions. You failed at that for many weeks. You trained us to work without protection without complaint. We adapted to that demand. Don't look so surprised.
Except now they're freaking out because the hallway is narrow and we pass by each other too close. We should have been wearing masks every time we walked in the hallway. (This, I will point out, really wasn't a standing order, but okay.) To facilitate this, they have gotten us masks. No, not the cleanroom masks that have been here for over a month--we are expressly FORBIDDEN from wearing those outside of the cleanroom. (Like, say, in the hallways.) (Unless you're an office worker, I've been informed, in which case, hey, take some home if you need them.) (Because fuck us blue-collar slobs, apparently.)
No, now they have outside masks for us. Branded ones, with the company logo. Because that, T H A T is what will keep us safe from the pandemic.
It's been three months. I can only assume that it took them this long to provide these SUPER CRITICAL MASKS because they absolutely had to be custom printed with the company logo. Nothing less would do. Better to wait and have us going about our essential work without this critical protection than wear something so gauche as a generic face mask.
I am aware that the level of fury I experience over these bureaucratic cock-ups is probably a) unreasonable, b) misdirected, and most importantly c) an artificial outlet for the otherwise directionless fear and rage created by this whole situation. I don't actually mind wearing the mask much. I mean, I'm allergic to the elastic used in some of them, and the constant low-grade airflow restriction doesn't do great things for my energy levels. But I'm staunchly pro-mask.
What I hate is the inconsistency of it. The hypocrisy, frankly. For weeks, they implemented nothing to protect us. Then they're annoyed that we don't cleave to the meager offerings they eventually come out with.
We got used to it, you fools.
We resigned ourselves to risking our safety in order to continue getting a paycheck--since those of us in production never had the luxury of opting to work from home like the office staff handing down these dictates. We got used to that involuntary choice and made whatever peace with it we could.
So no, oddly enough, we are not greeting your offering of company-themed masks with roaring enthusiasm. Too little, too late. For all that the threat is, technically, ongoing, we've all hit the point of exhausted resignation to the danger you put us in for the last three months. Yes, we resent the hell out of being passive-aggressively scolded via email by people who work from home or from within their contactless office spaces.
You have a responsibility to provide safe working conditions. You failed at that for many weeks. You trained us to work without protection without complaint. We adapted to that demand. Don't look so surprised.
