Glorious Day Off

After polishing off a Sam's Club Take n' Bake pizza with my dad and doing some small things around the house I realized that I have already gone back on my word of blogging everyday. I apologize and I hate to continue to blame work but it's all I have to blame for the rest of this week and the next.

Works sucks. Anybody who works at Meijer Distribution Center knows that. It sucks so much that a vast majority of my co-workers have been taking advantage of the system and calling off like it's their job. Personally, I both understand and don't understand their methods behind doing such an act, for different reasons. I do understand it because of the simple fact of how much the job sucks complete ass. Your body gets tired of moving that much weight around for 8+ hours a day and being on your feet the whole time. I cannot even begin to describe to you how badly my hands are beat up along with my shins and toes. Things happen while working in a warehouse-you slip and fall on some water, drop a skid on your shin and/or toe or accidentally run into something because you're trying to move as quickly as possible. In addition to the physical stress of the job, the weather has been damn near perfect the past few weeks and after the dog days of this summer any common human being wouldn't have a problem with doing something outside to just enjoy what God has provided us.

Now what I don't understand about the large number of call offs that we have experienced recently is that those who continue to do so are missing out on some serious dough. After doing some simple calculations with my latest paycheck, I realized that if you don't work for one day you miss out on upwards of $75-80. One could even go a step further and say that you are missing out on $100+ because of how (hopefully) we are going to get the absurd amount tax money taken out of our paychecks back come tax time.

After having worked at the place for two months time now, I have gotten to know the employees pretty well and see what kind of people they are and what their motives are. Throughout the two month span I have become aware that I work with four different types of people. 1) People who have to be there-this category is reserved for the supervisors and those men and women who are higher up on the totem pole than they are such as the regional branch and plant managers. They have to be there everyday that their schedule tells them to be so things can run smoothly and they can make sure everything goes "according to plan" and all that hoopla. Now, naturally they do not do near as much physical labor as the rest of us do, but I'm sure that they either did at one time or could if need be. 2) People who are always there when they need to be-I would classify myself into this category along with a select few employees that I work with. As pathetic as this is, I could probably count them all on one hand. I'm not sure if the lack of work ethic or responsibility that those who never show up or call off exhibit comes from the way they were brought up or just sheer laziness but that's just how things go I guess. 3) People who should be there every day but are not because they suck-this category is reserved for those team members who I have already talked about a bit and is the largest group. It's quite amazing the number who if feels like you never see at work or only see once or twice a week. Now, maybe they have Paid Days Off and are using them or have asked off certain days because something big is happening in their lives, I don't know. It is not my place to know because I respect their personal private lives and what comes along with it. My own particular assumption for why they aren't showing up is that they are just lazy pieces of you know what and are just trying to see how much they can get away with without being fired. After having seen all of the guys that I work with, it seems like to me that none of them can afford to not work for multiple reasons. I think quite a few of them live on their own or with someone else and therefore have to make money to pay rent along with the various other bills that come along with owning your own place. In addition to that, they've gotta pay for their addictions to either cigarettes, chewing tobacco, alcohol or a combination of all three. It still amazes me everyday how many people smoke. It is disgusting and quite an expensive habit. 4) People who are simply dumps-this category is reserved for those who show up most of the time but move so slow that its almost like they aren't there because no matter how many of them show up, they don't really help the rest of us with getting through the days quota. I know that this is not all entirely true because even though they suck at their job, they are at least there and doing something. But you would think that after being there for 3 or more weeks they'd be able to pick up on some things and move their asses a bit. Maybe I'm asking too much. Who knows.

Anyways, aside from all of that the bottom line is this: Meijer has some serious issues with their working class right now. The amount of people calling off is unheard of and a lot of the people who do show up are hardly ever motivated to work so things go slow anyways. This results in a large amount of overtime which they have to pay us no matter what because its the law. So the company is getting screwed because their employees are cheating the system and figuring out what they can get away with and still have a job.

Ok enough of me blabbering on about my job-only 8 days left! I'm enjoying the wonderful weather God has provided us on this Tuesday, and shot the basketball for over an hour this morning. It was great, and I wish I had enough time/energy to do it everyday because I both miss it and need to get back into shape. I have been taking my personal time today to catch up on my Sports Illustrated readings as I am over a week behind. There are other things I'd like to get done as well but just don't have enough time and won't until I'm finished with work before I go back to the greatest place on Earth, The Ohio State University. It is getting pretty old having my friends in Columbus text me almost every weekend telling me that I need to come visit and have a good time. I hate having to tell them that I can't because I always have to work on the weekends, no matter what. I'll take my paychecks though, which I'm sure a lot of them are not earning while being in Cbus having a good time. Momma even came home from work a little early today after a doctor's appointment because she has an event this evening. It's great to see her and spend some time with her as times such as these have been few and far between lately.

In the sports world the Reds are well the Reds. Win one, lose two. Win two, lose three. They sit at 62-65, a solid 13.5 games behind first place and red hot Milwaukee. The Brewcrew is going for it all this year, and are playing like it. The only thing that the Reds have to play for this season is a third place finish in the division and a record that is above .500.

NFL Preseason is in full swing, with only two more weeks (gasp!) until the start of the regular season. I can't wait, after having seen the highlights of Aaron Rodgers throwing a beautiful back shoulder touchdown pass to Greg Jennings that made Sportscenter's Top Ten Plays. College football also starts in a few weeks and I couldn't be more happier.

I've just got to keep my eye on the prize that is work being over with and going back to school. Much like everyone else who goes through trials and tribulations in their life, seeking God has helped with certain things as he is always there just for someone to listen to.

GO BUCKS

Proud Buckeye and Sports Enthusiast,

Eric Seger

Daily Segs