http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x518481TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:29 PM
Original message
After roughly 25 years of deliberating what I want to do with my life, I think I figured it out
I think I finally figured it out....and the signs have been there for me all along, I just didn't pay enough attention to them, I suppose; now, I guess I have to take clues as gospel...for everything that ****ing happens to me...from this point on, I guess
You know those people who fight for employee rights? the ones who go in to a business, investigate violations ( like a manager who physically manhandles a female employee in order to berate her for not being able to work a shift that isn't possible for her to work ) or ethical violations ( which are grossly underreported )I want to be that guy who comes in and brings the ****ing hammer down on the head of the violator in question....and I want to see them clean out their ****ing desk and ****ing leave the premises....with their victims watching them do so..preferably, with a smile on their face.
I say this now, because I have had extensive retail and hospital-nursing home experience, and I myself have been witness to some rather nasty shit over the period of my working years...things that happened to other co-workers ( and myself, I'll get to that in a moment ) that I wish I had reported or taken some kind of action against on their behalf...I tried to do this years ago when I worked at Dillards Department Store in Ft.Myers Florida when some big-shit manager came in and grabbed a female employee by the arm ( squeezing hard enough to leave a bruise on her ) because she couldn't cover a shift he wanted her to. I knew this person, and she pretty much told me that she didn't think she had a ****ing voice in the matter.....I don't think whoever is reading this right now realizes what feelings this brings up inside of me right now, but let's just say I want to kill...
Moving on...she DID bring this issue up to the store manager, but the store manager didn't think this was such a big deal ( after all, he was such a nice guy! and everyone else didn't seem to have a problem with him ). Now I'm going to move onto something else ( which should probably be another paragraph but **** it )...for as long as I can remember, for some weird reason that I haven't been able to figure out yet, I have always had people come to ME with their problems...seriously, I could be sitting on a bus and the man or woman sitting next to me just feels the need to open up and tell me their life story and all their problems and ask for advice..I don't know why this is, my Mother used to get this all the time as well...my sister jokes that both me and my Mom are magnets for "mental patients" ( not my words ) and folks, let me tell you this is so...very....true!!!
I got off track, sorry....
Anyways, what do you call someone who investigates a corporation for employee abuse and punishes them for it? Can't be their human resources department...I've already figured out most of them don't care about issues like these
I want to stand up for anyone who feels like they are being treated unfairly or treated in an abusive manner and punish them for it....that pretty much sums it all up
What a clown.
CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:34 PM
Response to Original message
1. My dear TK421...
I'm not sure what you call someone with that sort of job, though I'm sure those jobs exist.
Mediator? Arbitrator?
I don't know.
Go. For. It.
I'm proud of you, I truly am.
Damn. CPeg just lost one of her few remaining IQ points.
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:46 PM
Response to Reply #1
9. where do I even begin? my own life is in a ****ing shambles right now
too much to talk about right now, but life has me thinking right now....and it feels like the clock is ticking
Help will be along soon.
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #2
10. perhaps, but I could never afford the cost of schooling ( not with the debt I have now )
I'm a mess right now....a bloody ****ing mess right now
bluerum Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:35 PM
Response to Original message
3. An advocate. You are an advocate for employee rights. A working mans advocate.
Good on you.
Get you some legal eagles behind you and tear it up.
I am sure that there are already many such organizations should you not want to roll your own.
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:50 PM
Response to Reply #3
13. I would have no problem working with others...after all, I'm no leader
but I'm not a follower, either. I think that is part of my problem because in this life it seems like you have to be one or the other....I am neither...I can't really put it into words, at least now
Bullshit. You're a DUmmy. That means you're part of the collective.
femrap Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:45 PM
Response to Original message
7. You are an
anti-corporatist. So am I. I have yet to figure out how to make a living at it unless you can hack or work w/ Assange.
I want someone to teach me how to hack corporate records and give light to all of their lies.
Maybe you could unionize corporate employees? Tough job, given the economy. Our citizenry is lazy and prone to consumerism and admiration of silly celebrities.
The cellmate of Joanne98's ex-convict son is looking for a new bunk buddy to butt plug.
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:52 PM
Response to Reply #8
14. I don't know where to start
Shagbark Hickory (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:49 PM
Response to Original message
11. Sounds like you either want to go to law school or be a security guard.
Edited on Sat Feb-26-11 09:49 PM by Shagbark Hickory
Both very fine professions. One pays a little better than the other.
Ya think!
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 09:57 PM
Response to Reply #11
15. Funny you mention that...I'm a security guard right now
and I hate it......with every fiber of my being, I hate the stares of disdain from the mall-walkers that see me riding the segway every day, thinking I'm lazy because I ride it...not knowing that I am REQUIRED to ride it ( true, we HAVE to ride it..company policy or some such nonsense )
School is so far away from me right now....I'm 35 and have credit card debt to the tune of $9000.00 that I can't even settle on ( that may not seem like much, but it is to me with what I make at this job I have now ).
lunatica Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 10:09 PM
Response to Reply #15
20. Have you looked into bankruptcy?
I was forced to declare bankruptcy and it turned out to be the best thing I could have done.
With the credit card company off your back forever you have a chance of making a life for yourself. Otherwise you will always owe that money and they'll always hound you.
Added to the long list of DUmmies that wouldn't pay their debts.
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 10:29 PM
Response to Reply #20
24. From what I've been told, my credit rating is good ( around 700 ) and I don't
want to screw it up, since I've been working on it since I had my first card with Capital One back in 1999 ( now, Capital One wants to sue me, so to speak, for past due amounts ) long story, that one
Who told you?
lunatica Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 10:57 PM
Response to Reply #24
29. If they sue you your credit rating is going to hell rapidly
But it's a very personal decision which every person has to make for themselves.
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 11:13 PM
Response to Reply #29
31. so they claim...but from what I've heard from several others it is just a threat n/t
It's only a threat. If you ignore them long enough, they'll go away. Trust me. .........Sure they will.
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 10:09 PM
Response to Reply #16
19. Thank you..but I'm not sure what I'm cut out to be right now...when most people are
sure where they are sure they want to be in their lives, it kind of feels to me like this is something that should have been decided long ago...and that is wasted time, which is killing me right now,at this moment
25 years of smoking dope will do it to you every time. One day you wake up and say, "Wow man. Wasup?"
lunatica Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 10:04 PM
Response to Original message
17. Why don't you look for work in a union
Believe me there's plenty to do. Thousands of details are involved, and staff are right in the middle of things and learn about everything that's going on. It would be a great place to start. Tell them what you wrote here and how you want to be involved in justice and fairness. Unions need people like you.
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 10:11 PM
Response to Reply #17
21. I don't mean to sound crass, but with my living expenses the way they are
how do they pay? right now, I am living on ramen noodles and my roommate just had to cover my rent this month ( my portion was late...won't have it until March 4th..getting paid bi-weekly sucks )
Are those things still 10 packs for a buck?
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 11:16 PM
Response to Reply #28
32. alright...I've just never had any working experience with unions
I just didn't know how they operated is all...
Typical DUmmy. Rah-Rah sis boom bah. I'm all for the unions. Er........ What are unions and what do they do?
I apologize for the next screed. I know it's a hard read.
WhaTHellsgoingonhere (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 10:55 PM
Response to Original message
27. Feelin' ya TK Updated at 9:29 PM
I'm a smart guy with lots of education but a sporadic work history due to health issues and economic circumstances. I grew up in an alcoholic household and by the time I was finishing my degree in economics, got sidetracked by our family intervention. The treatment center my dad was in offered education classes for family members. I learned so much about myself. It was a total epiphany and Eureka moment! I entered the workforce with two minds. I got hired right away as an economic analyst, then went to grad school after a year. But withing 6 months, I had a manic break followed by severe depression. I had to dropout of school. Then got manic again and re-enrolled, but this time in family studies, because, you see, I had left for grad school with two minds. Again, I was paralyzed by depression following this second manic episode, and again, I dropped out of grad school. I moved to Chicago (grew up in the SF Bay Area) and ultimately wound up alone then in a psychiatric hospital where I was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. So I took what I could handle, I tried waiting tables, but that is really hard! I wound up taking temp jobs in accounting and finance. But I was never satisfied. I went back to school to get a 2 yr degree in mental health and substance abuse because that's how I was introduced to my true self. I left finance and worked as a case worker for a year, but that didn't go well. I worked at the "Cadillac" of treatment centers of it's sort (this is not a 28 day, Hazeldon); I'm talking about an 8 day "treatment" program for really low-functioning addicts. It sounds ridiculous because it is ridiculous, but that's the industry standard. I wound up conflicted and returning to finance. Then when the economy collapsed, I got laid off. Naturally, I couldn't find work in that field, so I got a degree at a trade school. I had several interviews after I finished, but for whatever reason, I was never offered a job. Actually, I think the reasons are pretty obvious, but they are out of my control. So now I'm applying for a job. Caseworker. Financial temp. Technician. Delivery driver. Like I said, I'm a smart, capable guy, but I'm not a career driven person and that shows on my resume. I'd love to get a real degree in psychology, but I don't think education is my ally at this point (3 degrees, 3.5 to 4.0 GPAs all). And I dread debt. Without gainful employment, I racked up bills on top of my student loans (which I could deffer) that I could not pay, including a 21 day hospitalization. I filed for bankruptcy ten years ago this month. I finally paid off my student loans when I turned 41. I'm 44 now. I've been unemployed (on and off) for 3 years and 2 months. I'll be what I have to be. It really doesn't matter much to me. I'm a man of simple means. I know how to live. I just need a living wage.
TK421 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Feb-26-11 11:00 PM
Response to Reply #27
30. sounds like you and I should probably get together for a few beers
and just...talk...about things.
I had an offer, but it was working at a hospital where you had to handle dead bodies...I don't know about that shit...kind of creepy!
Somehow I think you missed the part when he mentions his problems with relationships with alcoholics.