Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Beepers

My hot tub time machine took me back to 1998 today.

The Man (Jerry Brown) took away my cell phone today. All these years I was told my job was so important that I needed to carry my phone 24/7. This was a condition of employment. Well, apparently it wasn't all that important.

Uncle Jerry told us this was coming, and management's expectation was that everyone would simply use their personal cell phones instead. Everyone has one, right? I don't. Even if I did have one, or if I get one, I am in no hurry to let the State use it.

Most of my coworkers shrugged it off because they have unlimited minutes and unlimited text. They say it's no big deal. Really?

It's no big deal that the employer we work for—the one who has constantly threatened layoffs and pay cuts; the one who has furloughed us and cut our holidays; the one who has increased our contributions to health care and retirement; the one who is threatening to raise our retirement age from 55 to 62—wants to use our personal phones? No big deal. Oh, and we have to post our personal cell number on the web site and in e-mail signatures? Um, no.

Because I refused to do this, my phone was replaced by a pager. A PAGER.

Now, this will save the State approximately $31 per month. I completely agree with the cost savings. The State absolutely needs to cut costs, but these cuts should come with reduced expectations. If you want 24/7 coverage, that costs money. Don't expect it on my dime.

In the end, having a pager really shouldn't hinder me much because, as you know, vast banks of pay phones are everywhere. Server down? No problem! Just page me and I'll get right back to you.

1 comment:

  1. Haha! Awesome! I remember getting a junk cell phone when I started working there and thinking "WTF is this shiat?". But pagers? They still make those, eh? You should get an old dial telephone and put it on your desk to complete the picture.

    Sadly, they are not taking away my phone, and if they did, my personal phone would NOT be made available for State use, unless the State would like to pay my fucking bill too.

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