It suddenly felt as though the yoke of oppression had been placed once more upon my broad shoulders, though I had seen it coming from a mile away. It came down from on high today that technical support personnel (that’s me) are not to engage in any personal projects in the workplace. Not even on breaks or lunch. No looking at web pages except for those owned and operated by our parent company and the manufacturers of 3rd party software that we distribute and support, and only then in a business-related way. No reading materials of a non-technical nature, and then only technical manuals related to the business of the company or professional certification. No playing games. Still, even when there are no calls to take and no special projects to work on, LOOK BUSY, or more privileges will be taken away.
There are not many privileges left for them to take. It has gotten to the point where the CEO’s micromanagement is making it difficult for not only the employees to enjoy coming to work (as they did only a month or two ago), but also for middle management to manage at all. They say that a watched pot never boils, but I can feel the eyes on this pot and I know they’re the reason we’re about to boil over.
I do not choose a job because it is what I want to do with my life or because it makes me happy. I choose a job because I can tolerate it and it pays my bills. I choose a job in an environment that is easygoing and allows me the freedom to as I see fit, as long as I get the job done within the specified parameters. I choose a job that I can put out of my mind the moment I get up from my chair to walk out the door at the end of the day. I do not want to carry my slavery home with me; I want to come home a free man. I recognize that I am a wage slave & that the very necessities of life are what I truly work for in the end. I recognize that if working conditions are not to my liking, I can get a job someplace else. I recognize that with sound financial planning I could even work part time or seasonally. I do not have to work where I work; I continue to work there because it is still a little easier than the next thing, and I have not yet reached the point of financial independence that will allow me to take a lot of time to find a new job doing something I can tolerate.
I do not know where I will work after I finish working where I am. I know that I will have only a few weeks to decide before I run out of money again, so it is important to me that I consider this before it becomes an issue in need of resolution. In the past, a job has always offered itself to me when it was needed. I have no reason to believe that that will not be the case when I choose to leave my current job. The question is really about what I would like to be doing. I have been working in call centers for the last 3 years, doing customer service, technical support, and lower management in several different environments. I have a natural ability to work with computers, and could easily get a job for one of dozens of computer-related firms in the area. I also have some general skills and a flexibility to scheduling that would allow me to get most any entry-level job I want. Heck, with the skills I have been acquiring working on Modern Evil, I could probably get an entry level job doing web design or for another .com. Is this what I want to do with my slave-hours? Do I want to get involved with another situation where I am forced to do things that I do not find particularly interesting or enjoyable, or worse, get stuck working with something that I do enjoy a little until I lose all interest in it?
I do not know what I should be doing, and I do not know how to decide. It is easier for me to just go with the flow. Find out where my friends would recommend, and apply with them. That is part of the benefit of having friends, I guess; they get to know you and know what kind of jobs you would be good for. They can also help support you in many ways during the sometimes difficult transition between one workplace and another. Anyway, I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Who knows; there may not actually be a river to get over by the time that I get to where I think it will be.
