Jerky the Cat; my employers are still jerks

[grrgoyl]

This here is Jerky. Yes, that's actually his name, not my nickname, and it turns out to be pretty apt. Jerky had a big old "Will Bite" sticker on his cage, which as I've said before I usually only half respect. It's not difficult to mistrust my co-workers' judgment when they're sticking that red flag on kittens.

I cleaned Jerky's box and refilled his bowls as he regarded me with supreme boredom. I scritched his head tentatively, which elicited neither pleasure nor aggression. Then as I shut his door, giving it an extra push to make sure it latched, he lazily stuck a paw through and IMPALED my thumb with one enormous talon. Hooked it into my flesh, and pinned it there firmly for 10 seconds or so, like a true sociopath his heart rate never going above 140. I finally wrenched free and sucked the blood off, giving him a comically (from his standpoint) wounded look and said, "OW! That HURT, you...you...JERK." He just looked at me, still with that silent apathy, as if to say, "Well, you WERE warned about me."

But I still prefer cats to dogs.

~*~

I thought I was through bitching about my job, I really did, but then Saturday night I received another offer of an "incentive bonus" for Sunday. They do this whenever accounts start falling seriously behind, since we promise our doctors a 24-hour turnaround time. The letter starts off all "team effort" and "dedication to our clients" and "ra, ra, ra," but then eventually we cut to the chase. Their idea of an "incentive bonus" amounts to literally an extra $2.50 for an 8-hour shift. That's before taxes and that's total. The sad thing is this is also their idea of a holiday bonus. Sure, you're missing out on quality time with your loved ones, but here's an extra two bucks to sweeten the deal! Even more than a year after enjoying a solid two days off a week every week, my days off are still more priceless than gold to me. And if I WERE to put a price on them, it would be a damn sight more than $2.50.

Once upon a time I replied to these emails with outrage, explaining what a slap in the face they were (at that time they had the nerve to call it an "appreciation bonus"). These missives were treated much the same as all my mail, in other words summarily ignored. Well, ignorance can work both ways, my friend, and that's exactly how I treated this one. I'm all for being a team player, but every once in awhile it would be kind of nice if the team would do something in return for me (still waiting for word on my raise). Maybe that's not the strict definition of "team player", but it's still how I feel.

Comments

Way low down on the comment-chain, almost too slow to move

[lizzieloudotcom.livejournal.com]

Oh, was I supposed to sent you -Angel-? I'll get right on that!

Although kavieshana is giving me the metaphorical spear-claw-to-the-thumb here, I couldn't help but LOL at Zombie Cat.

And Gachnar + Potential Slayer No. 6 = HOT! Hee.

The comment chain is a real dog-eat-dog world.

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

Someday. It really is the only way I'll ever watch it.

Can we get that made into a metaphor? That would be AWESOME.

You crazy Bear.

Re: Way low down on the comment-chain, almost too slow to move

[kavieshana.livejournal.com]

If it's any consolation, I've been cuckolded on the latest post by a mere 15 minutes. Damn spell-check.

I request that someone actually make a Gachnar + Potential Slayer No. 6 fic. Extra points if it turns out she's afraid of baskets of fruit.