My original plan was to put together a new blog, different from my previous Pax Liberalis blog in that it would be more like a personal journal. My new job, which was at a sheet metal factory and paid well, would provide good insights into the workplace, with lots of stories and things like that. It wouldn't have been as hardball as Pax Lib, but overall I think it would have been better.

But all that changed this last week.

You see, the job was a temp job, and I, in my own naive way, simply assumed that going in there and busting my ass would make it a permanent job. After all, they were hiring about fifty of the hundred or so temps that were there, and they fired a few beforehand for not showing up (actually, some had friends punch their timecards for them and just stayed home, my guess is that only a few got caught at it). And tehre were more than a few who spent half their time goofing off and screwing around, and only half-assing it when they were working. Turns out they were among those who got hired.

I have a lot of theories about that, most of them made out of anger over having lost a job. At the very least, I cannot believe that the people who were in charge of the hiring ever went down on the floor to see who was working and who was not. If they did, or if they had relied on the opinions of the veterans there, then they would have hired people who actually worked. But they didn't, and that's what makes the situation even more galling. Bad enough to be out of a job again, but to be jobless while people who are so lacking in work ethic are comfortably ensconsed at work makes it even worse. I had only just gotten a little caught up on my bills, now I have to worry about rent and things, having no idea when I will be working again.

One of the vets at the former workplace suggested that it may be racial: most of the hirees were black (I'm white), and they might be looking to hire as many minorities as possible, but looking around the shop, the place was at least 75% minority to begin with, so I hardly understand the rationale there. That theory might hold water if it wasn't for the fact that one of my pals there, who is black, was just as hard a worker as I was, yet he also was not picked up. But it doesn't make any sense to me: why would a company intentionally do that sort of thing? I try not to be cynical about things like this, but could it be that the company is intentionally hiring the worst people in order to make the union look bad (it's a union shop), and therefore have an excuse to get rid of it? If that's so, then the union leadership there needs to take a little more control over the hiring process: working people have to stick together but they also need to set an example and not give any ammunition to the anti-black and anti-worker forces that are already out there.

These are tough times for me, and I'm hardy alone. I'm still optimistic that things will eventually get better, but I have a feeling that it's going to take a long time before they do. I was hoping to have made some long-term plans, but now everything is out the window...again. I was out of work for a whole year last time, will it take another year for me to find work again? I wanted a chance to put some money away in the bank so that I would have a backup in case of an emergency, but here I am right back where I was a few weeks ago, with no hope in sight... It's annoying and depressing, and I wish I had a nicer way to end this, but for now I remain angry and depressed. With luck my next post will be a happier one.