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

Re: Yah. Don't tell Bushie -- it's such fun watching him dig his own holes.

[kavieshana.livejournal.com]

I guess people try to search out their own positive attributes in other people?

Sorry, Aunt Who Is Not A Lesbian.

Okay, here's the plan:

1. Join ysi_leftovers


2. Download iTunes if you haven't got it


3. Go here and get schooled.

Or, try tvlinks.uk. Seriously, if I had any of the DVDS I'd send them to you right now.

Re: Yah. Don't tell Bushie -- it's such fun watching him dig his own holes.

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

Awww, you're a regular charmer, Idgy Threadgood. *blush*

Oh yes, your aunt. I'd've been more on the ball if you updated more than twice a year.

Download every season of Angel? Hell no. I'll rent it someday, I swear to you (perhaps once this glut of new fall seasons dies down).

Re: Yah. Don't tell Bushie -- it's such fun watching him dig his own holes.

[kavieshana.livejournal.com]

I guess downloading is more appealing to me because I have the videoPod. (I've actually been catching up on a lot of t.v. shows that way, now that I can literally take the shows with me wherever I go. I can't believe I went without this the first time I had a videoPod.) Oh well, keep harping on OFB!

Re: Yah. Don't tell Bushie -- it's such fun watching him dig his own holes.

[kavieshana.livejournal.com]

And ooh, I almost missed that subtle dig. I'll have you know I've updated three times this year!