Feel free to blame the Mannyac.
There I was, happily doing some data collection, humming along, grooving on writing about Druidism in the 10 to 19 bracket, and then it came in.
An email into my inbox. From Manny.
It’s a simple little link… but the note from Manny that accompanied it was uncharacteristically angry. If there is one thing that Manny is not, it is an angry person.
He might crush you like a bug if you get all up in his face, and don’t get me wrong, the man can easily crush most people like a bug… but he wouldn’t be angry about it. He might even be a bit apologetic about the pain and doctors’ bills you would be about to receive. But, if the situation called for crushing, too bad, time to squeeze.
If you can picture an overly muscular Billy Joel wearing a kilt, crushing some poor punk with a faintly amused look on his face, that would be Manny when roused to violence.
So, an email with a link from Manny, and Manny seems angry? What gives? All is clearly not right with the world.
I wish, oh how I wish I did not open that link.
Here you go. By all means, if I’m going to be in a violent rage, let’s share the pain.
You all have your chance to go visit that? You get your look at that headline? Read a bit of the copy there?
Directly from the article, and I quote, Darnell said he wasn’t concerned about the emotional fallout in a workplace after “Someone’s Gotta Go,” where an employee might be left to work with a colleague they’d just said on national television should be fired. “Sounds like good reality television.“
Also sounds like a prescription for violence in the workplace. Of course, that’s something the little people can deal with after Mr. Darnell has left the building. And if it doesn’t happen in front of him, hey, it doesn’t exist, right?
And anyway, it’s not like violence in the workplace actually exists, does it? Nobody ever really shot anyone over anything that happened at work. That’s all just a rumor put out by The Man to keep you down. Damn The Man.
Have these elitist bastards totally lost their bloody minds?
Thus beginneth the ranting and raving. Thank you Manny, much obliged. My doctor says my blood pressure is very nice, it’s like a pretty waterfall. Oh, wait, she didn’t say waterfall. What did she call it? Oh right, a geyser. Like Old Faithful. Shooting into the sky like clockwork!
Hey, an old geezer… no I won’t go there.
Look, I was laid off recently. I talked about it at the time, and I am now once again gainfully employed, so I’m very, very fortunate. Very, VERY fortunate.
I have always remained tied into following the news (from multiple sources), so I am well aware of the continuing skyrocketing unemployment rate in the US. It’s not getting better. Companies are tightening their belts and getting lean to try and survive, and other companies are simply going out of business entirely.
With the ever increasing tax burden that all businesses, small businesses as well as the ones you are told you should want to get even with, are being ordered to shoulder, and with the new legislation that will be placing an incredible amount of oversight on how businesses must operate (and the increased costs associated with just tracking that, let alone complying) it is only going to get worse.
Increased tax costs and increased complexity of compliance standards, increased regulation of manufacturing processes to become more ‘green’, all of these things cost money that previously was profit.
If companies are already struggling to survive… and you take more money directly out of the bottom line… will more businesses succeed or fail? Bueller?
I’m sorry, but it’s as simple as that. You can call it a stimulus bill, you can lecture me on Keynesian economics principles, but the fact remains. If you as the US government spend tons of new money on things that do not actually act to improve the economy, and you then have businesses pay the bulk of that bill through increased taxes, you have stimulated nothing but some short term spending followed by an increased failure of struggling businesses and increased unemployment.
We can debate whether an increased number of people dependant on the US government to provide for them is what is desired by the current administration, or if this is simply incompetence and the law of unintended consequences in action, but in the end it doesn’t matter. We get to deal with the reality.
And the reality is, there are more people in the US who are going from gainfully employed to suddenly unemployed, in all areas, everyday. New jobs are not being created. So, there are fewer jobs remaining for a larger group of people to compete over.
At the same time, there are fewer opportunities for people to strike out and go into business for themselves, in this climate of reduced lending. And even if you do manage to get financing or use your savings and investments to form the capital for your new business venture… the vastly increased taxes on small businesses, new compliance standards and new regulations will make it harder than ever to actually succeed.
So, what about being unemployed? Is it all that bad?
The reality of being unemployed, is that you are without a source of income. And as anyone who is supporting themselves or a family knows, no matter how good your job or career is, expenses always seem to find a way to grow to match your income… usually plus 5%.
Some people may have been able to save some ‘just in case of emergency’ funds so once they are unemployed, they can continue on while they look for something new.
It is only because of our savings that we were able to continue with our mortgage payments, school costs, groceries and other expenses.
People who live from paycheck to paycheck, doing their best to make ends meet, fighting to provide for their family… I’ve been there, done that, been laid off in that situation too, and the desperation to scramble to get back on track is brutal.
Everyone has to start somewhere, sometimes the family comes before the career (shocker!), you don’t get to call time out before accepting responsibility for providing for your family just because you wanted to get a degree first… and getting laid off right when you are fighting your way up can destroy all your plans for providing a better life.
Being suddenly unemployed and having no resources to draw on is not always a ‘well, you should have prepared better’ situation. It’s just not.
But wait, the government will help, right?
Let me tell you something, you can hear what they tell you about unemployment benefits all you want. Here’s the truth.
I was unemployed from early January to the first week of March. I received a total of one week of unemployment insurance, at the very end. For over a month, nothing. Not a dime.
The reason for that delay was that before I could get unemployment benefits, I had to wait until all money the company owed me was received, AND the company either signed off on my deserving UI benefits… OR a long enough time had passed for the Unemployment office to decide not to wait on them anymore.
I was owed a final paycheck, I was owed a payout of my vacation time, and there was supposed to be a severance check coming. Until I received those, I was not eligible to even sign up.
I received my paycheck and vacation time payout in a timely manner.
However, the company held onto the severance. Why? Because at the time they laid me off, they presented all of us with forms to sign, declaring that in exchange for the severance and benefits they were providing (Cobra medical, etc), we agreed not to sue.
And they had in the documents a requirement that we had to sign and mail a certified copy of the forms to them, and that we had until a certain amount of time from the moment THEY received our signed forms to change our minds about signing them.
What that amounted to, was they refused to accept our forms signed right there in front of them and handed in. We HAD to take them with us, sign them and mail them certified. And then they sat on them and did nothing until the time when we could choose to change our minds had passed, before they wrote that severance check or started any benefits.
And of course, until that severance check was received, unemployment insurance benefits could not begin.
I am not kidding. By acting in the way they did, my old employer was able to prevent me from being eligible to receive any unemployment benefits for over a month after being laid off.
A month is a long, long time for some folks, would you not agree?
But wait, it was a true ‘no fault on my part’ layoff. So there are wonderful State and Federal benefits to help me find a new job opportunity, right?
Before I got a new job, I had one…exactly one interview with a State representative concerning helping me find a new position, work on my resume, or provide a discussion about retraining. This meeting took place the last week of February.
Prior to that, we had a meeting, as a group, everyone that was laid off from my company, with a State representative. The meeting took place a month after being laid off.
The purpose of the meeting? To sign up for a one on one interview with someone to help me get started on getting benefits aimed at helping me find a job.
And of course the earliest meeting I could get was two weeks after. Some of the appointments some in my group had to settle on were over a MONTH after that meeting.
That’s right… it took the State, after being contacted immediately on January 9th, a month to get us a meeting to find out about our opportunities for help in writing resumes, possible education retraining, etc… and in my case, another two weeks to actually SEE someone about getting it started.
When I attended my one on one meeting, her questions revolved around one subject; how I felt about being laid off. Did I need counseling? Was I angry? How did I feel?
I, understandably, said that my main feeling at the moment was confusion, since I had been unemployed for a month and two weeks at this point and I was hoping to discuss what resources were available to help me find job opportunities, and possible funding for training to make me more marketable.
She really didn’t want to tak about any of that. She told me that meeting was more so she could evaluate my mental and emotional state so she could recommend counseling if she felt is was required.
She told me we could start talking about those other things at our next meeting.
Are you people hearing me?
These are the facts about the government assistance you can expect when laid off. A minimum of a month just to talk to someone, and even then no actual assistance in terms of networking or communications or training for a month or more after.
I was told there were many classes offered by the local job workforce center. Unfortunately… they were ALL filled for the next month and a half. But come in often because new classes for following months were scheduled all the time!
Do you get it yet? You cannot sit back and wait for the government to assist you. You cannot!
The government representative asked to see my resume. It pissed her off, because she had copies of examples and mine was better than hers. No, I’m not kidding, seeing my resume irritated her.
Apparently, because I’d done it myself.
When she asked if I’d started looking for a new job yet, I didn’t know what to say. Six weeks after being laid off, and she’s asking have I started looking for a new job yet?
When I told her that I’d already gone through all the job boards on the internet and through written publications available to me, and listed some she hadn’t heard of, and had been doing so since the day I was laid off… she really seemed even more upset. There was a way this was supposed to go. I was supposed to be the poor waif, unemployed, approaching her hat in hadn and begging for help.
I was screwing up the system.
When I said that I had gone further, and had written various resumes tailored to careers based on different categories… ones I felt I could walk into and do in my sleep, those I felt I could qualify for based on knowledge and experience but that would take some time on the job ”getting up to speed”, and another that I felt I could do if given the chance to show my stuff… she really got angry with me.
Apparently, and I am still dead serious, individual achievement and determination to provide for my family is against the rules. It’s cheating. I was supposed to wait until the government was ready to get me started the right way.
I walked away from that meeting genuinely sorry for anyone that actually expected or counted on government assistance.
I was employed a week later, and I’m loving life.
She called me back a week AFTER I was employed, to tell me she had found an opportunity I could apply for. It was for a technician job making $15 less an hour than I was making at the job I was laid off from.
I asked her why it took that long to hear from her, and she told me there were simply no jobs out there that I told her I was looking for. I needed to set my sights on a realistic goal. So she had found one that was the best I could expect.
She seemed even more pissed when I informed her that, thank you for your efforts, but I was now employed doing exactly what I wanted, and that I had had other comparable offers. None of which was what she apparently decided was my alloted place in life.
She demanded to know how I did it. She was, and I wish I was joking, pissed that I had successfully taken the personal initiative and done what I needed to support my family without her worthless ignorant ass.
I hung up on her.
This is the reality of being laid off.
So please, with nothing less than the very lives of ourselves and our families hanging in the balance, are you seriously telling me that this, THIS is a subject trivialized by some damned producer to be used as fodder for a reality TV series?
We’re not talking about contestents volunteering to compete for cash and prizes, damn it. Someone wants to eat scorpions on Fear Factor for a chance to win a few thousand bucks and fame as ‘the scorpion guy’, go for it.
It’s turning a layoff into a gameshow, normal people in their normal jobs, providing for their families… and being told “who stays and who goes is up to you… I hope you didn’t make any enemies among your peers”.
I swear the concept could only come from somone so removed from reality that the struggles of ‘the little people’ just don’t register.
That’s it. I’ve sputtered out. I have deleted and rewritten this so many times that I have no idea what the hell I’ve said anymore.
The point that I have tried to make, is simply that being laid off can happen to anyone, is happening to more and more people all the time, being laid off can be the difference between survival and destruction for an entire family (and if you think I’m joking, ask yourself how many family arguments are based on money concerns… not knowing where the money to keep a roof over your head is going to come from is stress of an order I hope you never experience), finding new employment of any kind is getting harder all the time, there are families, children, all over the country and the world suffering, millions suffering…
And some worthless bastard wants to turn it all into a GAMESHOW?!?!
Manny, believe me. I totally understand your anger. I’m right there, buddy.
You cannot sit back and wait for the government to assist you. You cannot!
And you should not. We should take initiative to provide for ourselves, our families and help our neighbors.
You obviously had a really bad experience with “the government”. And I’m sure you could come up with many, many more. But anecdotes do not present a complete picture.
Too often we think of government as “them” in an adversarial relation with “us” and don’t consider that we live in a representative democracy where “we” are the government. “We, the people”.
Taking initiative to help ourselves and our families is pretty straightforward. You do what you did. Helping our neighbors becomes more ambiguous. Which neighbors? How much? When there’s so much need? Government is a vehicle through which to help them. I know, there’s lots of disagreement about the role of government in providing that help. But the bottom line is still . . . we live in a representative democracy. What government does (or does not do) to help reflects directly on us as the people who elect that government.
I’ve been a government worker, sort of, at a state university. I worked for a program that helped prepare disadvantaged high school kids for college. Obviously, I worked with a lot of other government workers in that role in the university’s admissions and fincancial aid offices. People who worked really hard to try and help other people get the schooling they wanted and needed. And I’ve known a bunch of government workers from other areas, too.
You find all types of people working for the government. Sometimes they get jaded working with an unappreciative segment of society that they work with . . . most often they are a sincere group of people who got into the field believing it was the most impactful way they could work good in their community.
Here’s what I tweeted in response to this article, John:
Alright, this is just WRONG in so many ways. BAD wrong; EVIL wrong: http://is.gd/rD5z For FOX to make money out of this is pure horseshit.
Not too get into politics, or economic strategies, but who seriously thinks that this show wouldn’t be a ratings success?
AND that folks, is what is truly sad.
I agree. I can’t even express myself at this, but you’ve done it so well.
I hope that show never happens. Any ways we can fight it?
Bravo! You are exactly right, BBB.
I am entirely appalled. I have questions about the morality of some of the “reality shows”, but in the end I’ve been able to say “well if someone is dumb enough to volunteer or get paid for it, that’s their business”. It kind of started with the Jerry Springer talk shows where real situations were thrown up on the screen and like a glaidator match at The Colliseum, people with a mob mentality go to satiate some primal instinct to see someone else less fortunate than them go through some terribly dramatic situation. The audience feeds off this emotion. Well TV producers have learned that this is a formula for ratings, and it’s not just their fault that they produce crap like this. It’s our fault for watching it. If you really don’t like this kind of programming then perhaps you shouldn’t watch it. Also, maybe you should speak out against it. Thanks for doing that Manny and BBB. I’m seriously considering just taking FOX out of my DVR cable box favorites list so that I won’t even watch the network at all.
Ronald Reagan once stated the nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.
I agree with Jack that there are many people working for the government with the best of intentions. But…….
The bottom line is as the government intrudes more and more into our personal lives and overburdens (small) businesses with endless bureaucratic garbage we will slowly but surely lose our individual initiative to take care of ourselves and either allow or be forced to have the government do it for us.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Ben Franklin
Also, the TV show is a complete heap of dung.
Jack, you wrote an extremely thoughtful very considerate comment and I wanted to address your point a bit, because I really respect your taking the time to make that point.
I do understand that there are many people who seek out and accept employment with organizations, whether with the government or with private corporations, with the goal of trying to help other people. To provide support, encouragement, and assistance.
My wife, in fact, worked for non-profit organizations almost exclusively prior to choosing to work from home to spend more time with our son, and even then for a number of years after devoted a significant portion of her time as an unpaid volunteer for a not for profit organization called “To Love Children”.
Cassie has told me many times that one of the facts of life when choosing to work for non-profit organizations is, they do not pay the same as a true for-profit corporation. A Not For Profit has as it’s goal the use of it’s assets to further their charter, to help people, to do good works. It is supposed to be implicitly understood that if you seek employment with one, then it is with the understanding that your salary will be significantly lower because the money needs to, as much as possible, go to further the good work.
So I am absolutely on board with the understanding of and appreciation for people who choose to accept these conditions in order to help people. It’s awesome.
However. And you knew a ‘however’ was coming.
When we talk about government employees, we are not talking about volunteers donating of their time to help the needy.
We are talking about paid employees who have chosen to work for the government in some way, an organization that is known for paying lower base salaries, but providing compensation in the form of outstansding health, dental, pension and retirement benefits.
I have certain expectations of a paid employee. That expectation is that they perform the duties and fulfill the responsibilities for the position which they hold to the best of their ability in a professional, mature, and above all non-judgmental and condescending manner.
An employee of the US government is not doing someone a favor when they are performing the duties of their position. They are simply doing the job for which they were hired, and for which they are being paid the agreed upon compensation, the same as any member of the private sector.
Public servant may have come to mean ‘public master’, but it is not meant to be that way, and I will fight that attitude with every breath in my body.
Unlike some people, I do not expect someone to obey me because I am a taxpayer. I do not expect special treatment in any way.
I do expect people to perform their jobs with a professional attitude, without discrimination, and without favoritism.
And to be frank, whether some of your customers appreciate the work you do should not, in any way, affect how you perform your duties and discharge your responsibilities when meeting your next customer.
Being an employee of the government, any government, does not change this. You are not a charity, providing services out of the goodness of your heart without expectation of gratitude. You are a fully paid employee working for a membership- based organization that provides products and services, JUST like Costco or Sam’s Club.
And every single US citizen is a card carrying, paid member of the Federal club, and every citizen, based on their home of residence, is also a member of a local State, County and City club.
Taxes are paid as our membership dues. It’s not charity.
I am totally not coming down on you for your comment. I agree with your insights as to how people who work as part of government organizations as volunteers may come to feel when faced with some situations and people. When you volunteer of your time, your effort, because you care and you want to help… your heart is out there on your sleeve, and damn it can hurt.
It is the characterization of paid government employees as being somehow held to a different standard than workers in the private sector, that somehow government work IS charity work, and that we should be grateful to those poor hard working souls that talk to us out of the goodness of their hearts that I most strenuously object to.
Its crap like that which makes me happy to not have a TV.
The company I work for provides free training to people who’ve been laid off. It can give you a chance to learn a new set of tools that can look good on a CV.
So if you’re in the detroit area and your an engineer looking for work you can sign up to the trainings listed on our website.
And here, I thought that some of the game shows and reality TV shows had already gotten to the point of blindly stupid…Once again the power of some people to take stupid to the nth power astounds me.
It’s exactly like you said in your closing paragraphs. If someone wants to do something stupid to gain a reward, that’s fine, but turning your regular job into “survivor” is just plain heartless.
Oh, that’s gross.
On a related note, me and Berise got the axe last week. Making a reality show out of the experience just disgusts me.
On the other hand, now we have a lot of free time and we’ve got a guildie coming in to hang out for a few days around the 14th.. we were wondering what the progress was on your get together? Or if you wanted to grab some wings while she’s here anyways. We’ll make you an honorary Twilight Vanquisher! Or I guess.. we can all be BWW Vanquishers.
After spending five years unemployed (medical reasons) and fighting with every government agency that was supposed to help starting with SSI and continuing on down, if you are waiting for the government to “help” you…..I wish you luck. And for those who don’t know, when you have no money coming in, a month is an eternity!
Gunsnbutter/Cerdwyn on Uther
If I came across sounding like government workers should be held to a different standard of conduct than private employees, then I should clarify. That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. The woman you dealt with? Slam her all you want. She deserves it.
And you’re right, they’re not quite in the same boat as volunteers for NPOs.
But NPO volunteers and government employees often do come from the same general pool of candidates. Not all, of course. There are gov’t employees who go into it solely for the security and benefits while no one goes into NPO work for the compensation. I’m just saying that the vast majority of government workers I’ve met are the type who would work for NPOs (and often have), but got the opportunity (generally by looking for it) to get an income they could support a family on while doing similar work for the government or a government program.
I guess my main point is that I disagree with the adversarial approach taken so often by so many against “the government”. We are the government. We are accountable for the policies it espouses, not some nebulous “them” we can hate on.
I’m sorry. I probably should have kept it to some other forum. You were writing about a TV show.
The TV show is total b.s. I hope it goes down in flames and anyone associated with putting it on the air gets the axe. Maybe they could broadcast that.
@ littlejohn
Small business? Try ALL business. It’s just more obvious from a small business standpoint.
@BBB
I totally agree. Not necessarily about the TV show, I am hardly suprised at the crap on network TV any more. But the harsh reality of being unemployed, the terrible behemoth that is the State and Federal Bureaucracy, and the plain and simple burden the government puts on working folks — you’ve really hit home here.
I would love to start my own business. I’ve worked at Wal-Mart and know how to deal with the public. I’ve worked in sales, I’ve worked in engineering. All I need is a finance type guy/gal as a partner and I’d be off and running.
However, the tax code and other certifications and licensing, health insurance, etc. all preclude this from happening. A small business just can’t make money with that much overhead. It’s like we ae punished for striking out on our own, before we even start. It’s like we are being told, from the moment schooling starts until we retire (and then re-enter the job market because our SS is in jeopardy and the market crashed), that being a small insignifcant cog in the mechanism is preferable to steering your own ship. (But it doesn’t matter, because all cogs are special and unique flowers and we all get medals just for showing up).
When did making money become a bad thing?
Why is the government impermeable to the fact that our economy has shrunk by 30-40% over the last 9 months? Why can’t Federal and State employees be put on furlough and take pay cuts to keep the company solvent? Why don’t they feel the pain that a great majority of people in the US are feeling? Why aren’t the people who are supposed to run our government held personally responsible for not keeping our country in the black? I would be fired for such mistakes, why are those who get voted in any different?
And he’s right, the fact that this TV show will make boatloads of money is far, far more indicative of the state of our country.
You want awesome ‘reality’ TV, try who wants to be a super-hero.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Wants_to_Be_a_Superhero%3F
Sorry for the rant.
Jack, not a problem, like I said, you made a very good comment and I didn’t want to refute it, so much as make clear where I stand as far as my expectations of government employees, or any paid emlployees in general. I agree that it should not be an us versus them position… sadly, you do sometimes find government employees willing to, as it was put in Blade Runner, put things into a “If you’re not one of us, you’re little people” framework.
Jive… that sucks. Crap.
Grrr.
I am in the position of having too many posts in my head that need to get written, and the days still come one after another that same old way. This one bumped shit off that was going to be FUN to do.
I AM going to do the meet and greet. I am NOT going to do it this week because of Easter and Good Friday, and I’m not going to do it next week because of Easter this weekend and because it would be fairly short notice. It was my intention to post, probably tomorrow, that I intend to do the meet and greet on Thursday April 23rd. Two weeks from now. And again, probably at Buffalo Wild Wings where we did it before. Maybe even at the same table. At what start time, I have no idea.
Sigh. I’ve got all sorts of stuff going on, and it seems like the time just glides by. I even should have some stuff to give away very soon, like next week. Awesome AWESOME stuff related to WoW to kill for. Is that not crazy? Where does the time go?
I’ll post about BWW tomorrow, promise. But then leveling 10 to 19 gets pushed back. Grrr.
Okay, seriously though… you were both laid off? /cry. Are you finding any opportunities open yet? Any prospects?
There is a way to stop this travesty, start an online petition to have production of the show cancelled. enough people signing it and saying Hell no, would send a message to FOX that we don’t want that.
Your readership, and others like BRK (now at his new location of http://www.dphowell.com/), are sizable enough to make our voices heard. After all, we (bloggers) are the new mass media.
Does anyone else remember when they had to come up with plotlines for tv shows? now it’s point a camera at anything at random, call it “reality tv” and introduce some chaos to keep people watching these train wrecks. (sanjia anyone?)
Lets look at the nielsen top 20 of TV.. http://tvbythenumbers.com/category/ratings/nielsen-weekly-top-broadcast-tv-show-ratings
1 AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY FOX
2 AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY FOX
3 AMERICAN IDOL THU SP-3/5(S) S FOX
4 CSI CBS
5 BACHELOR:AFTER FINAL ROSE(S) S ABC
6 BACHELOR, THE ABC
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN CBS
8 NCIS R CBS
9 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES ABC
10 CSI: MIAMI CBS
11 60 MINUTES CBS
12 MENTALIST, THE R CBS
13 COLD CASE CBS
14 ELEVENTH HOUR CBS
15 SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS CBS
16 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT P CBS
17 24 FOX
18 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER CBS
19 GHOST WHISPERER CBS
20 BACHELOR:AFTR FINAL ROSE2(S) S ABC
The top 10, has 5 “reality” shows, 3 CSI/NCIS entries (ncis is not much different from csi, they are with the navy, and their scenes are not usually as gory/intense), desperate housewives, and two and a half men. As far as desperate housewives goes (I haven’t watched it, but used to tape for an old girlfriend) some of those women spend more time on their backs than vertical, hardly seems wholesome entertainment to me. I usually end up catching the tail couple minutes of 2 and 1/2 men as smallville follows it, and my DVR can’t seem to tell time. the last ending I recall had charlie sheen’s character depressed about a date that fell through and then the doorbell rings and he says something about ordering take out. his odd room-mate asks if it is pizza or Chinese, charlie says greek as he opens the door to display a call girl. I’m sorry, but to me that’s disgusting.
The only TV I routinely watch, is news in the morning to see the weather/traffic, and on thursdays I watch Smallville. Yeah, smallville gets wierd, but, to accept an alien (from another planet) living among us, you have to kinda accept some wierdness in the show.
If any of you guys are tv execs, come on, give us some good shows, the “reality tv” thing has gone too far, and the sitcoms are just terrible.
I guess TV as we know it is on its way out. Good riddance.
Yeah, it does suck. We’ve got a few things in the cards, so hopefully it won’t be a long break. The no screeching alarm in the morning is a plus. :)
23rd sounds neat. Unfortunately, our friend leaves the 17thish. You’re still invited to come hang and nerd at BWW w/ us, though. I think this is the third time we’ve tried to lure you out, but I guess the whole ‘bears don’t like to leave their caves’ thing is true, eh? We don’t bite, I promise. You can ask Kestrel, I gave him Abyss Crystals without a scratch!
…i work with the government… in the department of labor of my own state (not the same as BBB’s) at that, so i sometimes sit across the table from folks who do jobs kind of like your resume woman. of course, most of them seem nicer than that.
these people are out flat. folks scream at them on the phone all day wanting to know where the money is, when as you point out, there is a lot of red tape which has to be gone through before anything can be paid. otherwise, there’d be more fraud. not to mention the fact that they are understaffed and have long backlogs of people they need to try to do something for. no, it isn’t the best for people who need to pay bills right away, but it can do some good, particularly for folks who aren’t nearly as on the ball as BBB. there are a lot of unemployed people who don’t know the first thing about putting together a resume or finding work, and while it doesn’t excuse her behavior, she probably doesn’t see a lot of folks who know how to deal with the job search as well as you.
i feel however that i need to apologize to BBB however, on behalf of all non-cranky government employees who are ashamed of the poor behavior of one of our own.
I don’t watch the main tv channels, they’re in a race for the bottom and they’re all winning.
On the government subject, i’d just like to point out that you, bbb, aren’t exactly in the bottom 95% of the population intellectually or in attitude. No, i’m not being silly, we can tell that much from your writing and critical thinking abilities. I’m afraid that the social safety net that we as a society pay a lot of money toward isn’t aimed for you (people who might arguably contribute more than their proportional share) because you can plan further and better than most. Leaving aside any moral/religious reasons, I happen to think having squalor and huge wealth disparities structures is bad from a health, safety and security standpoints too–and that means having a safety net to keep us out of the 19th century. I don’t want to live in a society with expendable peons, where access to medical care is dependent on your monetary worth, etc, and where it’s all about “me” and not about us and our story as a single nation.
This is also the reason why incompetence in the public sector is so sad. From my experience, the ratio of people who don’t care enough or aren’t good enough is about the same in corporate america, but the visibility of public sector employees also means damage to the public trust.
Ok, I am not big on reality shows.
I do however watch…gasp…Idol.
I also still enjoy watching the male soap opera that is otherwise known as professional wrestling.
I watch a lot of stuff on TV that I wouldn’t call “quality” but I still find entertaining.
I know BBB likes the Longest Race, and Hells’ Kitchen.
Here’s the deal, whether you like these shows or not is really unimportant.
I’m not talking bad writing, poor acting, crappy special fx. I am talking about the totally twisted mind which thinks that people’s misery makes good entertainment. This particular concept is just freakin wrong on so many levels
I know! I got an idea for a new show. We can take the men who compete on Top Sniper and let them hunt TV Execs… Good Practice AND they get to perform a public service. Hmmmm
The AMAZING race, I like the AMAZING Race.
Unbelievable. Tacky, classless and probably will be a hit.
Next reality show can be a hospital ward of people dying and we can vote who gets the plug pulled or suicidal people on a bridge . . . it’s embarrassing at the very least to think anyone would think this is a good idea.
I am going to spread the word about this one…..I have not been a fan of FOX for a while (including while I still regarded myself as a republican instead of conservative liberal), but never to the point of this sort of disgust.
I am officially never turning on another fox program again (which will hurt like hell when football is back). I will be trying to get friends and family to follow suit…maybe if enough ratings drop, we can let some of those execs experience getting laid off first hand. I think this may be the first time in a long while that I actually was angry to the point of shaking while reading that link.
As for the government bit, both BB and Jack make good points. I think the main thing is, the gov is there to assist you, help you, aid you… whichever synonym you want to use, always remember that the definition of assist/help etc is not doing it for you. If you are taking initiative, then you are doing the right thing and Congrats BB on the new job (did not post that congrats before) and good luck to you Jive.
It is increasingly clear that neither the government (leaders who may have been elected, but do whatever they darn well please, “we the people” be damned) nor the entertainment gurus are in touch with reality or even interested in being so.
…but is that really a surprise to anyone who is paying attention?
No….I do not think anyone is really surprised by it…I think its more being surprised by just how brazen this is about it
I truly hope that show will never air. Absolutely sickening that some TV executives are trying to profit from someone elses misery.
I don’t care about the other ”reality” trash they show on TV like Fear Factor etc.., because the participants signed up for that themselves
and their livelyhood isn’t at risk. This goes way beyond that and victimizes employees of the companies that participate.
Strange how some people always focus on the negative.
They should take an example of a local TV show over here, that actually features companies and employees who try to
survive this economic crises with the wellfare of their employees and colleges in mind. One of the examples is a company where
all employees volunteered to give up their hollidays so that everyone could stay employed at the company for this year.
Another example showed a company that subsidized a 4 to 6 month course for employees who could find a job at another
company provided they had those necesarry skills tought by that course.
I am ashamed that the dutch producer Endemol is asocciated with this show.
It would be new low in TV content if this reality-show ever airs.
I think I agree with several others that common sense and public outrage at this reality concept will preclude it from ever being produced. If it is, I fully intend to write an appropriately outrage letter to the network and local affiliates, as well as my government representatives expressing my disgust with the show and the networks lack of moral fiber.
True enough, plainsrunner, and it’s still something that’s highly unacceptable. I just find it kind of hard to get worked up when I’ve long ago dismissed TV as anything worthwhile, and government as a burden. ;)
*sigh* That should read “TV as largely worthless”. I’m typing too fast before waking up again.
Hey BBB,
I was in your position over a year ago, and found myself at the Job Center on Lake Street, Mpls. Just a couple of thoughts…
1. Just like other government programs, you gotta play to get paid. I had my one on one, and attended a class…did I really learn anything from either? No, but I got some unemployment money from it. I just looked at these classes/workshops as my “job” and the unemployment benefits my “pay”.
– Your former employer was lame to have you guys jump through so many hoops, just to avoid getting sued.
2. I don’t know what job center you went to, but I walked into the Lake Street JC wearing a shirt and tie…um, yeah…let’s just say I didn’t fit in. Needless to say, the JC didn’t “directly” help me find a job. But the JC did tell me about a jobfair up at the U of M, which I attended and met my current employer.
3. The woman you dealt with probably has to do everything for most people who come in to see her. However, (threw that in there for ya) she should have been happy that you took the initiative to update your resume and job hunt on your own. I mean, you basically did her job for her right? The face to face would just be to check the boxes.
4. Regarding the show…wow, just wow.
5. When’s the BWW raid? Got a hankerin for some wings!
So I can’t lie… I have a thing for watching people on tv make idiots out of themselves.
I watch the American Idol audition shows–up to when there’s actual voting. I don’t care about the voting and all that junk. I like watching people who think they’re amazing be smacked across the face and told they aren’t.
I like watching America’s Next Top Model (I know, bad bad bad)… because the girls get into these horrible cat fights over NOTHING. It’s cheap entertainment at it’s best.
There’s a whole heap of “love” reality shows with skimpily clad women throwing themselves at some supposedly desirable guy. Those are pretty entertaining too. They’re pathetic.
Now, these aren’t shows I seek out, more like shows that if I’m bored and I’m set on vegging out in front of the tv, I might choose one out of the “nothing” that’s on tv. But… watching people lose their job? That has VERY real consequences. Making an ass out of yourself while supposedly doing your job? Again, very real consequences.
What can come from making a fool out of yourself on American Idol? Okay, so you’ll have a tape showing just how terrible you actually are for all eternity. Your friends might tease you. Really, I don’t see anything serious here.
Cat fights on girl shows? Meh, they’ll grow up and it’ll all go away. Love shows? So part of the country will think you’re a slut. But, you already dressed that way and acted that way… so it’s not really a change. No real consequences imo.
Being left jobless with your face across tv as being voted off as a worthless piece of crap? Well, it can either get you a job (think that one really bitchy lady form Apprentice?) that pays really fucking well for your little niche, or can run your face through mud. And what about the people who vote them off? Their bosses will see. Their clients will see.
There will be some cheap laughs at people making fools of themselves, but I really don’t think it’s worth the consequences. But hey, talked to some guildies on vent about it and they seem to think it sounds like a swell idea. They were also 16.
BBB,
1) I agree about the Fox show. I’ve written to request it be canceled. I’ve suggested to friends and acquaintances that they not watch. I won’t be watching, myself. Since I think they’ll at least show an episode or two, I intend to find out who gets advertising in those slots – who sponsors the show – and write THEM as well. Remember the bottom line for most shows (certainly ‘entertainment’ )0.is profit. If a company loses income by supporting a show, they usually quit supporting.
2) Taxes. I am astounded at the number of people who think taxes are high. Our federal tax load (including business taxes) is the lowest it’s been in 150 years.
3) Government workers. Sorry, Bear, but I’ve worked with government most of my life. Yes, for several it’s a nine-to-five. Hate to tell you this but the same goes for non-government. On the whole, I’ve met as many honorable and efficient professionals in as out of government business. Let’s run an example to show the whole. What’s your experience with marines? They are, after all, government workers. (Yeah, low blow. and sure, there’s a difference between shooters and clerks. At bottom, though, the message remains.)
4) Stimulus. OK, I’ll refrain from arguing this as you say you’ve been hit with the argument before. Recall, please, that I’m a number cruncher – it’s one reason my blog was popular. Not only a theorycrafter but one who puts theory against practice and if they don’t match, practice wins. So hard as it may seem, stimulus (usually) works.
5) My credentials. I lost my job in July of last year. I’m one of the oddballs – lots of savings. Between cutting expenses, savings, and the unemployment check that didn’t start till October (remove the idiot government story and my tale is highly congruent to yours) I have about three more months before I figure how to deal with a foreclosed house and moving my family into my brother’s basement. Just remember that unemployment is supposed to be a minimal safety net so people can catch their breath and get back up on their feet. That you didn’t need it is great. Heck, they aren’t really able to do diddly for me beyond helping keep groceries on the table — I’m a “professional” and so fall into cracks caused by ‘specialized employer requirements’.
Again, though – the more I know of Fox’s business practices, the less I like the people in charge of it.
Wow. Just wow. My best friend and her husband have twin two year olds, and a less then a year old baby. The hubby had been working for WaMu for near on 10 years, and was laid off without warning. That was 5 months ago, he still can’t find a job. Similar to my Dad who retired right before the economy went downhill, and he’s been doing temp work this entire time. It’s sad.
My husband entered active duty 6 years ago for the sole purpose of doing what he had to do to provide for our new family, and unexpected (but much welcomed) baby. We put up with stuff that was difficult, we were scared out of our wits of what we were gonna do, most of all we were young and unaware. (I was 17, in case you were wondering).
I hope that a boycott or something of that show is done. I hope that the younger adults just getting a start in the world don’t watch it, and get the wrong impression. There is no vote when it comes to your job, its sadly just numbers, and oftentimes, the hardest working are the first to go.
If you’ve lost your job do not give up. It sucks, there is not a lot out there right now, but keep on plugging away, keep applying, and well, if you are really desperate, there is always the military. You are only what you let yourself be, if you are at least trying then you are already a cut above the rest.
Cheers to BBB, thanks for the insight on this, and awareness.
Just to wonder, how would you feel about the show if they added the twist that whoever got fired got employment help from Fox UNTIL they found a job. And I know the issue with government help kind of puts a bad light on that, but if it was genuine ‘proven’ help in finding a job, would that change things? Essentially, it changes it into a public display of tragedy, into an actual game of whether you want to get fired knowing that someone will have to be fired but the upside being you may likely find a better job?
On a separate note, I despise all reality shows and make a point to boycott every single one of them. But I agree with manny, the real horror is that they are making this show because it will likely be a hit, thanks to the majority of the good ol’ american people.
On topic, the very suggestion that this show is an idea that deserves air-time disgusts me. Of course, this is FOX we’re talking about here.
@ altoholicsRUs:
You just managed to scare me.
“…and well, if you are really desperate, there is always the military.”
Lemme just lift a quote from BBB’s main post for a sec:
“We can debate whether an increased number of people dependant on the US government to provide for them is what is desired by the current administration…”
Now, I don’t generally subscribe to crackpot conspiracy theories and such like, and I also get irritated when people deliberately take things out of their intended context in order to make their own point, so I’m feeling a little hypocritical right about now. On the other hand, there has been quite a bit of “the government is the bad guy” thing coming out of Hollywood for at least a few years now, so my brain can’t help but make the unfortunate connection here…
Good article… but I do have a question, BBB.
Care to list a few of the resources that you used to get your new job? (Congratulations by the way.)
Or would you rather that be kept secret so as to not attract attention from The Man?
I’m in a similar situation that you once were.
There ALWAYS is anti government out of Hollywood when a President is conservative. The trivialization of the current job market is disgusting but all too rational when you consider the wealth differences between the people making the decisions to make a game show about being unemployed and the people participating.
Wow, BBB you’ve surprised and impressed me with your politics. Also, kudos on the new job.
– Aymuhdroowud Stormscale US “The Herd”
This idea for a show is a load of elitism bullshit, and I don’t think I could have put it better myself if I was paid to.
FOX has a habit of doing crap like this though, so I’m not entirely surprised. But the fact that anyone actually came up with the idea is monstrous.
Humans have a tendency to watch stuff that involves human suffering and then enjoying it. It’s screwed up, it’s wrong, but humans love to see other people fail. Taking a line from the Green Goblin in Spiderman…
“I chose my path, you chose the way of the hero. And they found you amusing for a while, the people of this city. But the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying.”
The person who came up with this, and the person who approved it, are both miserable excuses for human beings. It’s sick and selfish to want to watch others fail to this extent.
There’s a difference between this and failblogs: Failblogs are actually funny, and don’t rely on people’s misfortune. They rely on oddities and inconsistencies and the actual stupidity of people.
Getting the Axe in this climate is something that happens to everyone. And it’s a terrible thing: if someone was stupid and deserved the axe(like that government lady should, for example) then it makes sense, but being laid off doesn’t make sense anymore. It still doesn’t deserve to be a game show! No game show should be made based on the lively-hood of a person and their family.
Great post, and Fox’s idea is incredibly insipid and morally bankrupt… but wate, it’s Fox… *facepalm*. I’d also say that while anecdotal evidence isn’t everything, we need stories like this to show people who believe that government will work every time that it doesn’t, and that not everyone who has trouble with the system is at fault.
Well for what it is worth I have ranted to Fox and have promised to keep doing so. I have also promised to boycott any sponsors.
I went through all the government assistance/unemployment crap in the 80′s and it wasn’t any better then.
All of this reality crap is just an excuse for people to get some kind of satisfaction out of others peoples misfortunes. Reality TV just makes me sad and I do not watch any of it. I would rather watch 10 of the same episodes of Family Guy, whch I think is stupid, than to watch one episode of ANY reality show.
This show should not exist. “Morally bankrupt,” as Michael put it (above), is a good way to describe it. Then again, for News Corp (née Fox), that’s nothing new.
As for the layoff issue, I’m glad to see you’re back in the work-force, BBB. However, now that you’re employed again, always appreciate what you get paid. That’s good advice for anyone who still has a job right now, whether it’s a new one or a long-standing position.
Explanation: I’m single-handedly responsible for logistics at the oldest newspaper in the southeast, and my compensation for that is being walked all over like an effing carpet, threatened (quite literally) with layoffs and furloughs, and getting paid a fraction of what you described in the post above. (The line regarding “$15 less an hour” was the giveaway; since mathematically, this means that you’re being paid more than $15/hr in the first place, you’re already being paid at least $2/hr more than I am – not to mention way, way more than 99% of the staffers at my company who actually do their jobs.)
Well I must admit that I am not surprised at the sort of things that make it onto TV these days – the most bizarre of which don’t seem to make it to our shores (praise be). I had the same reaction as you, but from the other perspective. I am a small business (co)owner currently going through all the stress of making ends meet with the financial crisis. We have managed to avoid it so far, but there is always the possibility that we will have to let someone go because we need to reduce staffing costs in order to keep the door open and everyone else employed.
Maybe in some places they are more used to it than us, but the prospect is absolutely terrifying and potentially heart breaking to me. The idea that going through such a process I would be detached enough from my own employees and their situations to think, even for a moment, that it was anything approaching a good idea to bring cameras in to film the process astounds me. Intellectually I know that some employers must be that mercenary, but to be honest, the people that I know in similar positions to me find this part of the job – even when unavoidable – an awful awful experience, not something to be documented David Brett-style.
Er, David Brent.
Gad, more reasons to ignore television.
I hadn’t heard about the increased small business taxes and regulations you mentioned. Could you point me to some sources? I Googled “Obama small business tax”, but all I got were six month old pages and one recent blog about Obama reducing small business taxes and fees and other legislation favorable to small businesses.
Apart from the TV show… welcome to the great land of socialism.
Let me warn you – what you see is only the beginning. We’ve been there already.
Best wishes from Eastern Europe.