Out Of My Tree

Today I have two** very different things to blather about. Both are contributing to the headache that I’m trying to cure with Anadin.

My little brother works in garden centre hell (a hell that has recently been bought by a big ‘blue’ supermarket chain - say no more). I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before. Quick search… Yep, thought so.

He has tried over and over again to do the job he was hired to do which is maintain and sell plants.. and do whatever is required to get that job done. He will move stoneware all day, power wash the damn centre from bottom to top, move trolleys, direct traffic in the carpark - whatever it takes. I mean, everyone has to do the crap jobs, right? But recently all of the jobs that mean my brother to come home so tired he can barely stand up or have him so angry he can barely think straight.

After one task that was assigned to him and another sales assistant, that as far as I know should never have been assigned to them (clearing a blocked drain) my brother put in a complaint about his manager - turns out this was the third complaint that had been put in about him.

My brother has Dyslexia and Dyspraxia - which means that he learns things slower than most people, but because of the person he is, he will keep at it until he gets it right. Dyspraxia is not counted as a disability under the letter of the law. He completed two years of college winning Student of the Year. You don’t do that if you don’t know your stuff. He is very successful at his Scout Leader duties an his organisational skills are first rate. It just takes him a bit to get going, and his confidence in his abilities is quite low.

Not surprising considering who he has to work with.

His idiot manager (His soon to be, if I had my way, dead ex-manager*… ) keeps treating my brother like crap. He has talked about him to other staff members in a derogatory fashion and during a meeting which my brother called to try and sort things out said “it seems like your Dyspraxia has come back”. This at the very least shows that he need re-educating (preferably with a crowbar) and also shows a total disregard for my brother’s feelings. Oh yes, very managerial. I can only assume manager boy either has no balls and is taking it out on any male in the area in a jealous rage; or he is simply a vindictive little fuckwit. If it’s the second option I will gladly help him achieve the first option too.

Adam asked to speak to the manager about moving departments with the centre, something other people have done in the recent past (also to get away from the ’soon to be knobless twathead’) or starting a couple of hours earlier so he has to spend less time with him. Both options were denied to him. The only option that as given to him was halving his hours. HALVING HIS HOURS.

Wankers.

A customer recently called the same manager a ‘weasel’ to his face. Customers will come in and ask for Adam to help them with their queries, and if he is not there, will leave and return on a day that he is.

Who would you get rid of first?

Adam has had to talk me down from the ledge tonight. I am all for taking the day off work tomorrow and beating the ever living shite out of the management down there. Instead I have spent the last two days putting a new CV together for my brother and hunting out as many jobs as I could for him.

I’ve been in the position where the thought of going to work makes your world a dark place… I don’t want my brother to have to live there any more.

I am normally a fairly pleasant, fairly easy going, friendly individual but you hurt my brother and I will make sure you regret it.

I’ll be better soon.

*For legal reasons I would like to stipulate that I have no actual intention of causing the manager’s death, or any physical harm, but only wish it in a ‘when the revolution comes’ way. If I can cause him to be fired and be miserable every day of his life though that’ll be fine.

** Update: the other thing was about a news story I’d seen about a village in South Africa where the children have to swim cross a crocodile infected river to get to school, as someone stole the community boat. SOuth Africa are hosting the Football World Cup in 2 years. I’m saying nothing else.

written by bec \\ tags: brother, garden centres are hell, idiot managers, work hell

Instead of knees Last nights drinking and singing has given me pains in my fingers. It’s like all the booze I drank last night has ended up in my fingers. My brother was the main instigator in last night’s drinking - mostly by handing me lots of bottles to store outside the back door (it was quite chilly last night and there is no space in the fridge).

but it was good to see him relax for once. I worry about him a lot. He goes to work every day to job he would enjoy if it wasn’t for his idiot of a manager. He came home on Christmas Eve angry which is really unusual. He is one of those who never gets angry. This was real rage. He had overheard his manager talking about him to another member of staff. He wouldn’t say what he heard but it made me want to cry looking at the look on his face.

Unlike my brother, who is very calm and logical, I am very hotheaded and want to do something violent and painful to that fraction of a man. I used to work for that company and left after being made to feel terrible by a different manager there. They have an extremely high turnover of staff there - most think it’s because of the low pay but no… it is the fact that the management there treat their staff like idiots.

Anyway (rant over) as I was watching him relax I realised how lucky I am to have him as a brother.

I watched twitter and my email, and at one point all three of us were trying to send texts which no joy. I love it when the networks die close to midnight.

I have made resolutions (lose weight, see more of my country and others, post every day, learn something, get into a choir or something) and intend to try a lot harder to keep them. 2007 was a year best left to rot in the dust of my memory. Right, am going to bed now. I’ve got work in the morning.

This post went to a very weird place. Sorry.

written by bec \\ tags: , brother, new year's