And I had a religious experience.  But enough about me and Honey.  Tomorrow is Easter.  The single most important event in Christendom.  The whole basis of Christianity itself.  It's also the event that spurred the beginning of my adventures in blogging.  Vent or go insane.

Several years back, my fellow employee's at Behemoth Building Supply (you know who this really is now), told me that the company was going to try being open on Easter Sunday.  So looking to staff the store, they hung a sheet of paper asking for volunteers to work that day.  Now given the climate that Bob Nardelli created (oops, another big hint), the lowly paid workers were given the opportunity to make a little extra money (or make up the money they would have lost having hours cut that week).  All they had to do was give up their time with their families.

Every Easter Sunday since that first, there was no more asking for volunteers.  It was work when you are scheduled, or find someplace else to work.

This would have been the third Easter Sunday I probably would have worked if not for my getting a position as a buyer.  I no longer have to work weekends, but the trade off is I have to work Monday through Friday from 4am to 1pm.  So my luck is that I don't work any Sundays and holidays that fall on weekends. 

When I first started working there I was told that everyone got one weekend off a month.  I naively assumed that they had some fair way of dividing up the holidays that they were opened, between the 100 employees, so that the same people didn't get stuck working every holiday.  Six months into the job, I got one or two weekends off and I had worked every holiday.

The first Easter I worked I was slightly annoyed that they bothered to open.  They had the placed staffed better than any other day.  There wasn't any upper management.  There were very few customers.  The few customers we had were rude.  The second Easter I worked, I had now worked every holiday and I didn't get any weekend off unless I specifically requested it.  I was taking crap at home and from my out of town family about my being unavailable every holiday.  I had such a bad attitude at work.  I purposely stocked and made myself unavailable to customers because they would have ended up firing me for what I wanted to say to these people.

My co-worker in flooring had a customer who was a neighbor and friend stop in and jokingly say, "you're just mad because you had to work today."  My co-worker went off.  My co-worker pointed out that because this customer had nothing better to do on Easter Sunday, after enjoying Church and Easter dinner with her family, she had deprived everyone working in that store the opportunity of doing the same with their own families.  By walking through the door of that store she told upper management that they made the right decision opening on a holiday.  That her dollar (and she didn't spend a thing, she was just window shopping) was more important than the employees she inconvenienced.  She made everyone elses time her entertainment because she couldn't plan ahead to amuse herself with a book, or a movie, or a board game, or anything else that people do to amuse themselves that don't involve imposing on others.  Now because this customer was a friend, she didn't complain to management about their employee's bad attitude.  My co-worker was lucky, I wouldn't have been.

I was mad enough that when I left I fired off a letter and sent it to upper management, regional management, and Bob Nardelli himself.  I was angry enough that I didn't care if I lost my job over it.  Two months later, I still had my job and the regional HR manager gave me a call.  At first she tried to point out that Easter is a religious holiday.  I pointed back that so is Christmas and we have that off with pay.  She said while she agreed with my points it was the companies policy to be able to compete in a global marketplace.  They felt it would benefit the company to be open most holidays for the convenience of the customer.  She might as well have just said, "YOU DON'T MATTER."

Now a lot of people are probably sitting there saying, "but Catty, you aren't religious.  Why do you care if you have to work on a holiday you don't really celebrate?"  Because this is about HYPOCRICY.  This is about the widening divide between the haves and the have nots.  This is about Corporate America and our Government putting a dollar above the citizen/worker.

Why with the separation of church and state do local, county, state, and federal employees still enjoy holidays, all holidays both religious and federal, off?  While I'm on the telephone with suppliers around the country, I am reminded that their offices will be closed Good Friday and Monday for the observance of the holiday.  Why aren't restaurant workers, grocery store employees or retail workers allowed to enjoy the holidays with their loved ones?  Because the people at the top who make the most money hold the jobs over the lowly worker's heads like a carrot so they will serve those with money and position.  Because the people we have elected to represent us are busy elevating themselves with the money of the people who struggle for a meager existence.  Because the dollar is what is important.  Because, YOU DON'T MATTER.

We complain that people are bold, rude, shameless, ill-mannered.  We treat each other with disrespect.  Then we wonder where this behavior comes from.  It comes from the top and the bottom.  Our leaders, our employers treat us with disrespect.  They minimize our contributions, our compensation, and our time.  Then we aren't available to teach our children about manners and respect.  The feeling of "you don't matter" trickles down not only to us but to our families and our loved ones.

This Easter I've convinced Honey that it would be disrespectful to shop at stores that put a dollar before the people who work for them.  People who are made to choose between their job and their family, like I was made to do not so long ago.  While we may not be religious we do enjoy spending the holiday with our family.  There must be others out there who would like the opportunity to spend time with their loved ones.  I'm withholding my time and money from businesses on Sundays and especially on holidays because WE DO MATTER.

tags: easter  work  home depot  holidays  employees  employers  

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