Somebody put me out of my misery- I am at a 3-day staff meeting

[alarimer]

Okay the hotel is very nice (the Galvez in Galveston). I have no idea what they normally charge for these rooms (I am paying $85 a night- well, my work is) but they do not have free wi-fi (I shelled out the 9.95 because I am bored) or a continental breakfast. I mean the Holiday Inn has those things. There are two bottles of water in my room that I am afraid to open because I have no idea if they will charge me for it or not.

Plus I am really sick of spending time around co-workers. Tonight was the "social". Guess what? I skipped it. I skipping tomorrow night's unofficial social (some folks are organizing a crawfish boil) because I want to eat dinner alone and retire to my (very nice!) room.

Today opened with the sort of rah-rah crap I have hated all my life. "We're the best organization ever and you are the best people ever!" Yawn. Whatever. If we are such great employees, why have you decided to run criminal background checks on us all? This so far is just for new employees or for people switching jobs but will soon be done on everyone. Great. Has there been a huge rise in employee crime that I somehow missed? Or are you doing this you assholes because you can and because we are sheep too afraid of losing our jobs if we protest?

Shoot me now. Don't get me started on having to spend an excessive amount of time with co-workers I cannot stand.

[MadHound]

1. My advice, drink heavily

That is after all why they put bars in those places.

[alarimer]

2. Oh believe me, I've had a couple already

but not at the hotel bar.

[Droopy]

3. Crminal background checks, piss tests, DMV checks, credit checks

personal references, and DAC reporting are the reality for truckers looking for a new job. DAC reporting is a service that trucking companies can subscribe to where they can check a driver's performance for previous companies that he/she has worked for. One of the questions on the report for the reporting company is, "Is this driver eligible for re-hire?" A bad DAC report can ruin your chnaces of getting on with a good company, and there's nothing to prevent a past employer with an agenda from fucking you over. You can contest your DAC report, but I hear it's a pain in the ass.

All that stuff may be the coming reality in other sectors of the work force.

[alarimer]

4. Well they are actually looking into the feasibility of drug testing

If they do, I will start stealing office supplies. It would be exactly what they deserve for treating sometimes very long-serving employees like criminals.

My platform, should I run for President, is to make drug testing without cause illegal. And that includes pre-employment screening.

There is no problem. People have worked here for 30+ years. Are they implying that if they find that someone has lied about a past conviction about something many years ago, they will fire them, despite having a clean record since that? It's utter bullshit.

I need to find a job in another country because this one is starting to blow.