Am I the biggest fool ever ???

[Ldub]

Well folks, I don't know what to think, I may be teetering on the edge of insanity...
Due to a lay-off last year, I haven't held a full time position since before Christmas.
During the last week or two, several different people from the company I worked for a couple years ago have contacted me trying to get me to come back.
I HATE working for large corporate entities, with all the rules & BS that entails, & really didn't want to go back to work for them.
Yesterday I had an interview with the GM from said company...he started things off on the wrong foot by being 1/2 hour late.
Things went OK after we got started, with him offering about 95% of what I was going for...until the conversation came around to random pee testing...
We were on opposing sides of the issue & I said "this meeting is over".

Sooo...it boils down to me kissing off a $40,000.00+ position with vaca & health bennies, IRA, etc., to work in a small family owned shop for a LOT less jing & no bennies to speak of...but I totally enjoy working there & look forward to going to work in the morning.

Sorry for rambling on for so long, just wanted to hear what my VX family has to say on this...

[ZEUS]

I took a job in Denver in 2000 that would pay $50,000 with all the profit sharing and stuff. I lasted 6 weeks before going back to my previous job which I throughouly enjoyed, although I made $15,000 less - it was worth it to leave though because when I left the original company, the boss increased the bennies for everyone else - profit sharing, back massages every Friday... So when I went back I got a $2 raise over what I made there previously and all those extra bennies too!!! Several months later though, my bossed died of pancreatic cancer - his funeral was on Sept. 11th 2001 - what a day...

[Andrey]

way to go !!!!!! big company never apreciates you or values your effort.... they usually have "F.Y." attitude. I liked the part ".... this meeting is over"... you were in total control !!!!!

[WormGod]

Ya know, depending on how bad you NEED the money, it's really your call whether it was a smart move or not. Me personally, my party life is over, so I would take a fat-dump test if they wanted me to, just to prove I am over my college years, haha.

But, drug use or not, stand up for your belief. I sit on both sides of the testing fence, so I tend to just shut up about this topic most of the time. Using it for ALL employees at a large company is one thing, but a small company is just silly. Now when either doesnt universally test everyone but profiles individuals for testing.... thats when you show up with a lawyer, heh.

[WyrreJ]

It is all about needing the money - or rather who has the greater need - you for the money or them for your skills.. I've taken a piss-test exactly once, when I was only a few years out of school with little money in the bank. Since then, any time the issue has come up, I've said flat out that it is not an option under any circumstances. I'm so straight I barely drink any alcohol much less indulge in recreational pharmaceuticals, but I believe the "war on drugs" is responsible for more damage than good (and paved the way for all the bull**** that is now the "war on terror").

When even the US government does not require a piss test for a secret clearance it seems way out of line for regular commercial companies that are nominally white-collar employers to do so.

I've been fortunate enough that in each case their need for my skills was great enough that they ended up figuring out how to hire me without requiring the test and I like to think that in the process I've been able to use my clout to get some people to think about how pointless and invasive their corporate policies are. I'm sure that some of them just figured I was a long-haired druggie or an reasonable idiot for refusing to go with the flow, but as George Bernard Shaw said, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

[nfpgasmask]

FARK the man. I have always worked for huge corporations (still do) and generally I hate it.

However, there is a plus side, if you can work it out. IMO, and from my experience working for big companies, things can go one of two ways.

1) They take advantage of you
2) You take advantage of them

If you can get to the point where you are definitely accomplishing #2, you can be sitting pretty cushy for a long time. But, if this isn't attainable than you are stuck with #1, and life can be hell. I don't know what kind of work you do, but speaking from an IT industry perspective, #2 can easily be attained with the right attitude. I'm 99% there already with my new job here in Reno. Granted, things get a little boring, but at least I have my sanity.

All that said, I would love to work for a small company someday. Somewhere were that genuinely appreciates me and the work I do, and were I can feel proud to work. Are there such places anymore?

Bart

[nfpgasmask]

Another note on the testing side of things. In general, I would say it sucks, I was tested here for this job in Reno, and I have even had hair tests done! Needless to say, I passed, like Wormy said, my college years are over.

But where I work now, testing is mandatory, but mostly for safety. There is a huge warehouse here and people driving fork trucks all over. Just last month we fired a guy who crashed his fork into a pole. He was drunk. And at work. So go figure, drug tests don't keep you from getting juiced up on your lunch break. So, basically the tests are bull $H|t to me, just like airport security and everything else. Just stay clean while you are looking, and once you get hired, smoke a rip in the morning and carry on. Just make sure you show up for work on time.

Bart

[WyrreJ]

Incomplete coverage is exactly what blows the entire safety argument out of the water, not only does it not prevent someone from drinking, or going without sleep for 48 hours, it also doesn't catch drugs like LSD where the concentration required to affect the user is orders of magnitude smaller than any feasible test can measure.

If a company was serious about safety and not just giving lip-service, they would use regular impairment testing -- tests that measure your ability to do certain short but complex tasks - the good ones will catch any sort of impairment -- pharmacological or otherwise.

[nocturnalVX]

...but I totally enjoy working there & look forward to going to work in the morning.

I think that says it all. I know the extra $$$ would be nice, but if you can live without it... why dread going into work every day?

[biju]

I understand (like many others) all too well the corporate circus/monkey show.

(i.e: "Dance, rummy! Dance! Now jump, rummy! Jump! Bwahahahhaha....)

I back you 100% dub! How great that must have felt to say that! Some of us are with you in spirit on this one!!!

Kudos.

-bij.

[Kenny]

Hapiness first.
Money second.

But then again, for us hapiness is pampering our VX - and that is not cheap.

You could take the fancy job and use the extra cash to buy a fake "member" with "clean" sample
http://www.ureasample.com/buy-drug-t...idProduct=1072

Just make sure to get the right skintone!


Again, Happines first.
You'll do the right thing Larry.

Cheers.

[ZEUS]

I guess I missed the whole point of your stance on this... drug testing was the reason you walked? Or corporate pricks were the reason? Probably corporate pricks forcing drug tests. I think there is an appropriate place for drug testing - namely, the medical profession. Otherwise, I think you guys are right - drug testing is incomplete when it comes to offering safety to others. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go toke one up! j/k

[Ldub]

I thank you all...& just wanted to share a few of the "high points" I left out of the original post in the interest of not wasting webspace.

I showed up a little early, but dressed in shorts, old sneakers & a T-shirt that could best be described as "well worn".

As soon as the GM sat down I placed my voice recorder on his desk & said "you don't mind if I record this do ya ?" He said what for ?, to which I replied : I learned a LOT the last time I worked for you guys.

When I was let go last time, it was because I had gotten a DUI & they couldn't have me driving a company vehicle due to insurance reasons.
I brought up the fact that there have been a couple of instances since then where other employees have had the same thing happen & they're still driving company vehicles...& he is one of them...I told him that I didn't appreciate the "double standard' of those who smooch ***** having the rules bent for them....he didn't have much to say, something about not being able to change history.

I know there are more highly amusing bits on the recorder, but I hate the sound of my own voice when I hear it reproduced, so maybe I'll just leave it at that.

[biju]

As soon as the GM sat down I placed my voice recorder on his desk & said "you don't mind if I record this do ya ?" He said what for ?, to which I replied : I learned a LOT the last time I worked for you guys.

CLASSIC!!!

-biju.

[VXIRONwoMAN]

If you enjoy what you do you never have to work a day in your life. So why do something you wouldn't enjoy? Is the money really worth the stress and anxiety and unhappiness! I don't think so! SO I give you a big two thumbs up! Way to stick it to the man! I would have done the same thing. A+
Cece