_____________________________________________________________

Tresckow - Adel- Roode
-Ren-


Showing posts with label Guest Writers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest Writers. Show all posts

Thursday, March 11, 2010

4 Ways to Tell If the Company That Canned you Is Full of Shit

The FWTC, again, enlisted the "talents" of a guest writer. Translation: None of the regular columnists felt like writing anything this week. So, instead of re-posting an old article in the spirit of NBC's old "if you haven't seen it, it's new to you" mentality we threw the ball into someone else's court. Cue, PT. If it sucks, blame Ren. That's our policy around here.- Tresckow
***********************************************************
By PT

Tons of people in this country are having a tough time with employment. On one end of the spectrum you have poor bastards stuck in a shitty job that's rotting them from the inside out. Even though their employer is crushing their souls a little more everyday, they don't dare quit. The simple fact is no one knows if they can land another job that doesn't floss its teeth with the spirits of their employees (at least not as much). At the opposite end of the spectrum are another crop of poor bastards fired from their jobs because, The Man is looking for ways to cut expenses. These poor sommabitches join the legions of unemployed in an economy that's way past circling the drain.

If you look closely, you can see Chrysler in there.

It's one thing if you were axed for refusing to wear pants at the office. No one wants to wear pants, but you just have to suck it up. However, it's quite different if you're tossed to the curb like yesterday's diaper for no fault of your own. You're given the corporate "it's not you, it's me" speech. Tears may be shed, chairs thrown, and cars driven through walls, but what can be done? There's no money and the company has to cut their expenses. Right?


But, what if the corporate douche bags are lying through their teeth? There you are, dumpster diving for left overs outside a Carl's Jr and the senior management of your former financially fucked company is still ordering caviar pancakes for breakfast. What the hell? Didn't they just lay off 27 employees, because they were in the hole? Sometimes, the answer is, "you got fucked." How do you know?

1. Promotions all around
Let's say an ass ton of employees were laid off last month. I'm not just talking about the dude that drives the little mail cart around. No, we're talking skilled, white collar, middle management types. Inevitably you end up getting the dirt on the demon whore company that sent dozens of people packing. When you were still on staff, they couldn't afford to supply everyone with a computer made in the last ten years. Half the staff gets shafted with an Amiga or Apple Lisa. But, wait. There were a round of promotions after the layoffs?

Wait, WTF?
You, my friend, have been duped. Sure, the company had to make some cuts due to budget reasons; just not the reasons they eluded to. As soon as the dust settled, 10 friggin ass clowns were given hefty promotions and $25,000 raises. It's true, you and the other expendables were fired for financial reasons. But, the reasons weren't because the company had problems paying the electric bill. It's because the money that used to pay you needed to be redirected to a handful of fucks that already made thousands more than you!

Oh, bother. I'm simply running out of places to put all my money.

2. Adding to the Already Bloated Senior Management
While looking through useless job sites in an effort to find a job that pays in money, not beads, you become disheartened. It's not that there aren't jobs out there. It's that employers know the applicant to available position ratio is 1000 to 1 [citation needed]. After scrolling past the 80th pyramid scheme or shady work from home ad, you come across a familiar company. A company hiring a shit load of vice presidents, czars, grand poobahs, and other master of the universe type positions. Wait a mother loving minute! That's the company you were fired from!

Wait, WTF?
As with the previous scenario, the company needed to get rid of a bunch of staff positions due to their finances. So, in turn, to save the money they just reclaimed from the round of layoffs they go on a Paris Hilton-esq shopping spree for high power employees that cost four times as much as the money they yoinked from your sorry ass. Why, you ask? Well, so they can look like they know what they're doing while they drive themselves into the ground harder than a tent peg at the big top.

Well, maybe not the Big Top, but at least the oddities tent.

3. Big Donations for Big PR
A few months go by and you're forced to pay for your rent with manual labour and wheels of cheese. True, millions of people have it worse than you. At least you don't have to shit in a hole in some God-forsaken third world country like France. There have been so many cataclysmic disasters in the past few months one thinks the End of Days is here. The most terrifying catastrophe: The re-make of "We Are the World."

NO, Lionel Richie! YOU get right back to obscurity this very minute!

Companies love to donate to charities. But, these are tough times. Who can afford to cut a $50,000 check to shady relief fund with its office in a van with the engine running? You just got an earful of "The company has to tighten its belt" and "We have to be smarter with our money" war cries as the door hit your ass on the way out. Hold on a minute. The company that made you pack your professional life in a trash bag just promoted their ginormous donation to the earthquake-tsunami-famine-wrath of God fund.

Wait, WTF?
So, let us get this straight... the money whores gave you and a dozen of your buddies the 'ol heave-ho, because they didn't have the cash to pay you. So, where did the fucking charity money come from?

No, I don't have anything against giving to charity. I'm not Roode. I don't wish for the death of my fellow man. But, there is a certain bullshit contradiction when a company shit cans a shitastic number of employees for "financial reasons" then turns around and gives thousands upon thousands of dollars to the crisis of the month. OK, so I sound like a dick on that one. But think about it. There's no good way to say this. It's sort of a "Robbing Peter to pay Paul" deal. They say charity begins at home, but when was the last time a company sent out a press release for NOT firing employees?

Congratulations!

4. Mr. Bigshot President/CEO Gets a New Ride
You haven't gotten an oil change in five months. The only thing holding your shit box car together is duct tape and wishful thinking. The money is running out and you don't have a dime to spare for luxuries like brake pads, a functioning instrument panel, and working seat belts. You end up rolling past your ex-employer because the building is at the bottom of a hill and gravity is your fuel now. As you roll by in the world's most dangerous soapbox racer you see the carpeted, velvet roped parking spot that belongs to the big cheese. Wait one douchebaggy minute. When you left he had a Plymouth Reliant. Now, a fucking shiny new Lexus is in the space being washed and waxed by bikini models with bottles of Dom.

Wait? That shit is real? Why wasn't I told, damn it!?

Wait, WTF?
We call foul! A small army was tossed out the door due to cutbacks. Where, exactly, does a brand-spanking new pimpmobile for the bossman fit? To add some extra oomf to the crotch shot, the damn thing is leased by the company. So, it's not just the fact that Mr. Cutback somehow has the cash to buy him some new wheels. That shit is on the company dime!

Cash strapped company boss' ride.

Yours










Tuesday, July 21, 2009

4 Pieces of Tech That Mean Nothing to Gen Y

Every now and then (that is to say, never) the FWTC will have a guest writer to contribute "witty" commentary. This isn't one of those times. Basically, Roode and I have had the shit bugged out of us by Adel to give a this little bratty upstart an audition. Roode immediately gave her the finger and said "We don't need any more testicle-less columnists. One is enough." I was of like mind, until Adel bribed me with a commemorative Billy Mays shirt. So, without further ado, we yield the floor to Ren and her article about tampons or some shit.
-Tresckow

*********
By, Ren

I've never been good at figuring out who is what generation and why. Society gives these cute nicknames for each successive social generation that follows the old, out of date one. Specifically, I'm referring to Generation X and Generation Y. I'm a member of the latter and enjoy making fun of our predecessors. You Gen Xers get so irritated with us for "not having it as rough" as you had it as kids. Or, "taking the cushy techno lifestyle that "you" built for granted. What does that even mean? Did you have to walk to school, in the snow, uphill, both ways? Um, no. It means the internet was still a plot point on Next Gen and "LOL" didn't mean shit.

An outright mystery to the 1980's. Is it a code? A message?
The name of a new Buck Rodgers character?

Look, Gen X, we can't help that you only had the primordial ooze of what exists today. We grew up with Windows, cruise control in every car, power windows, digital everything, and air conditioning as far as the eye can see. The very idea that Gen Y has little knowledge of or respect for the technological "innovations" that set the stage for the information age seems to piss many of you off. When it comes down to it, the 80's might as well be the Dark Ages to us. We really don't give a shit about....

1. Audio Cassettes
I found one, once. It was dusty and warped. It was sort of like finding an arrowhead. Sure, it's completely useless compared to today's technology, but it was the best you could do waaaay back then.

I don't get it. What's the brownish stuff in that little window thingy?

I know this was a great the great leap forward in audio technology. God knows you spent enough time and money advertising these things as the second coming of audio Jesus.


All this for a mini reel to reel player?

It was crap. You know it and I know it. Come on, the previous piece of audio genius was the 8 Track. I don't even know what the hell that was. Sure, I've see vinyl albums being tossed around as collectors' items. But, I'm not really noticing a lot of 8 Tracks, let alone twenty year old Maxell cassettes flying off the shelves at antique stores the world over. Why would that be? Oh, that's right; for the same reasons we don't cherish used diapers and heavily stained jock straps.

Not being stocked in an antique store near you.
Festive on the outside, chocolate brown and lemonade yellow in the inside.


My brother had a Walkman. He loved that thing; it went with him everywhere he went. But, it was the devil's box. Tapes jammed, the controls were cumbersome, and the contraption was roughly the size of semi thick Sodoku book. Except much bulkier. We had to have an intervention for him a few years back. Tears were shed. Harsh words spat at each other. My brother was killing himself with a destructive addiction. He was hopelessly hooked on searching for, then purchasing new Walkmen; which were getting harder and harder to find. Whenever a new ablum came out, he would spend hours and sometimes days to find the cassette version of it. This was two years ago.

I'm sorry, Tom. Cassettes are only useful if you're making cheap table lamps.

Why it matters to Gen X:
They were portable, easy to come by, and you could record random songs from your favorite top 40's station. Let's not forget the sentimental value finding your old PM Dawn tape brings.

Why Gen Y couldn't care less:
MP3s, IPods, and other digital technology that don't require an occasional re-spooling with an eraser from a #2 pencil. We even use CDs as coasters now.

2. Nintendo Entertainment System

The original NES was like the discovery of fire to Gen x. Until that point there was Pong. It must have been awesome to have more than two lines and a square "ball" on the screen. Finally, you could play a game in color with "realistic" sounds. Beep, boop, and whup whup whup are realistic sounds, right?


It's catchy. I'll give you that.


This gray box of joy was on the gift list of every child. From what I hear, you might as well have hanged yourself if you didn't find this thing under your Christmas tree or um, Hanukkah bush. I guess the amazing duo of Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt were the equivalent of having a double orgasm.

Got a cigarette?

I've seen this plastic paperweight on ebay. The price varies, depending on how desperate the buyer is to relive his childhood. Some sell for as low as .99. Others, at the more ridiculous cost of $300+. For that amount you could buy a brand new WII and have enough money left over for a DVD of cable rated porn.

Not strong on plot, but excellent visual effects.

Why it matters to Gen X:
This brings back the proverbial "shit load" of childhood memories. This was history in the making. It was about time primitive gamers could vicariously live through a short, fat, mustachioed Italian stereotype. This was "real" gaming. There was no online competition (primarily because the www was considered a stutter, then). Who cares if Linx's key looks like a yellow penis? It was all about the game. It was about SKILL! Well, that's until Game Genie came out and every mouth breather was a gaming superstar.

Pictured: The downfall of skill.

Why Gen Y couldn't care less:
WII, XBox, online FPS, and so on and so on.... Don't wax all philosophical about the carefree days of Super Mario Brothers. We can play it on WII and it still sucks. Even Mario has abandoned Super Mario Brothers. He spends his time racing his fellow multicolored goons for money and blood. Mario Kart is a little like Death Proof, only not.

God, I wish. I really, really wish.

3. Cordless Phones
Now, why would I rail against something we still use today? Hell, I'm within walking distance of one right now. How is it possible that Gen Y couldn't give a coyote shit about something we still hold dear?

We understand that the advent of cordless phones was liberating. No longer were people tethered to their button studded oppressor.

Shackles of
communication
oppression







Society's telephone
Independence Day.


The first cordless phones, not unlike the first cell phones, were pretty big. Carrying one was like walking around with a field radio in Vietnam. In order to get shitty reception, you had to fully extend the antenna. For the best reception, you pretty much had to stand next to the primary antenna. So, really, the maximum distance most of the early cordless phones was roughly three feet from its base.

Illusion of freedom.

The technology got a lot better and, suddenly, everyone had a cordless phone. Those who had a telephone line capable of touch tone dialing, that is. Today, the cordless is as standard as a fridge with ice maker and an indoor toilet (does not apply to Utah).

Why it matters to Gen X:
It was that technological innovation that allowed teenagers all over the world to to have phone sex without the phone cord leading right to your hideout. It would take your parents longer to track you down, at least. Of course, due to the whole shitty reception thing, you still had to stay relatively close to the base. That could make for awkward dinner conversation if it was in the kitchen. Also, from what I hear, the telescoping antenna made for some pretty good fencing.

Why Gen Y couldn't care less:
As far as we're concerned, this shit has always been around. We've even taken it a step further and applied the same technology to cell phones. We can have phone sex ANYWHERE now! That, and with all the features modern cells bring (text, web, cameras you can use to take pics of someone on the toilet) house phones are pretty much for decoration now. Can a cordless house phone play a Miley Cyrus song or a homoerotic sound byte from "Twilight?' Didn't think so.

4: VCR's
Now this was the pinnacle of Gen X's technological achievements. Yes, I'm including the Apple IIe and DOS.

A paperweight? Door stop? Blunt instrument? WTF is this?


No longer was society a slave to the MAN's schedule. Is Night Court airing at 9? Damn it! You're going to be out shopping for the perfect tee shirt to wear underneath that nifty pastel suit and loafers you can wear without socks. Not to fear! VCR is here!

Superhero!

I'm not going to get into the Beta versus VHS debate. Quite frankly, if you backed the wrong horse on that one, it's your own fault. No, despite the type (for a while, at least) you could watch your favorite episodes of Falcon Crest on YOUR TERMS. As long as you knew how to program the damn thing. Why the hell is the clock still blinking 12:00? Shit, why did it record The People's Court? I programmed this thing for channel 8 at 10:00 PM, but it recorded channel 10 at 8:00 AM. Why is my menu in French? FUCK, I had it set to SLP instead of EP! You son of a bitch!

Program this, mother fucker!


Why it matters to Gen X:
Again, it was about freedom. If you were technologically savvy enough, you could record one channel while watching another. Well, it helped if you were some sort of computer programming expert. Don't want to see the commercials? You don't have to! You can fast forward past them at a slightly faster speed. You even had a remote control... that was tethered to the VCR by 10 feet of black cord. Society can finally tape an entire season of Small Wonder and save it for posterity.

Why Gen Y couldn't care less:
DVDs, DVDRs, DVRs, Ipods, the Internet. We can pretty much watch any episode of any show whenever we want to. Want an entire series? Go to Best Buy and buy it. Need to catch up on this season's JAG? Go to the website and watch it on the computer. Then again, if you watch JAG, you have other problems.

VCR's are still hanging around. For the paranoid, there are plenty of VCR DVD combos to buy, just in case you really want to watch those old Rip Tide tapes. Throw a VCR and a Dell in front of a Gen Y'er, I guarantee he will be able to rig the Dell to auto search porn and hack into the NSA database. However, they'll look at the VCR in the same way modern civilization looks at chamber pots; with pure, unadulterated disgust. Sure, it's what they had to do back then. But, there is absolutely no excuse for it now.

Just add urine.

________________________________________________________________
When not "writing" for the Fuse Was Too Cold, Ren... well, we really don't know what the hell Ren does. Don't get used to her. We may shit can her, yet.
_________________________________________________________________