Today was “Mandatory Fun Day” with my work cohorts. It was at a small event center near my home (The Copper Nickle), so it was very handy. I work night shift 1400-2330 (2pm-1130pm normally) so I really don’t know “that” many people in my squadron on a face to face basis. Swings is not the biggest shift in my building, but I feel it is closer to a cohesive unit than those on the day shift. I’ve worked swing shift the majority of my working life. I am the type that enjoys being let off the leash to get shit done. When your shift is 9 to 5 like most people, you have to deal with the things that comes with the dysfunction of day shift. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians is what one of my old school supervisors called it. Bosses trying to impress bosses, bosses trying to whip their guys (and gals) into more production to show their boss that they are worthy of a higher boss grade, and workers climbing shoulders deep into their bosses asses to make sure they know who they are when awards, promotions, or recognition comes around.
Basically from what I personally experience when I work on day shift feels like this. I ask something like, “Can this be done via e-mail?”. Big boss says “Yes”. Then his underling boss says, “Okay, sounds good, I’ll set up some meetings in the conference room”. I shake my head and walk back to my desk to get ready for the meeting instead of work on what was covered in the e-mail. There are also the micromanagers. The middle bosses (usually 2nd level) constantly want to know what is going on, why it is going on, can it go on faster, why is the Earth rotating like it is, and what does the color purple taste like (To me there are some levels of supervisor that are there strictly to create a job space, and they are also generally the level of supervisor I compare to SMSgt (E8/Senior Master Sergeant) when I was active duty. They are the bosses that pound their subordinates into the ground so they look good. They look so good, that of course they’ve got to be the perfect candidate for the big boss slot.
What does all this have to do with a unit Christmas Party? These events are when you get to see the herd as a unit, see the faces that are normally not seen, and put faces to voices you hear on your phone’s massages. You get to overhear conversations, notice who is kissing who’s ass, and who really would rather be out taking photographs of the town than wondering when this will be over so he can go take off his pants and edit pictures.
Here are the pictures. Absolutely none of them make me proud, but they are the 1st batch from my Pentax K-3 III. I was doing some fiddling with settings, trying some techniques available in the new camera (new to me), and hoping I didn’t bring any attention to myself.
Overall it was pretty good. The noise of all the people eventually had me on edge, so I left, but it was nice to people watch, talk to a few friends that have moved to day shift, and of course, the food was good and the alcohol looked tasty (mixed drinks and canned beer).
I was given a meal ticket from the draw of a hat at work from our boss because he was headed to St. George today and couldn’t make it. My bosses name was second called for the raffle. I went up to get it, explained the situation, and the guy pulling the ticket said “He’s got to be here to receive the prize” .. I said “He’s on leave, and gave me his ticket” .. and he said “He has to be here to receive his prize!” .. I walked back to my spot, took a few more photos, hit the john, and departed the facility just a little bitter.
Hopefully this weekend I can learn some more about my “new to me” camera and post them here for posterity.