Breeding Ground for Insanity and Cruelty: On the Job

More job people: One lady just seemed, well, crazy---examples: during a Diversity class as we went around the table introducing and identifying our diversity (I, for example, said "Newly disabled" and talked about MS) there were about 30% African Americans at the table and when it came time for crazy to speak she said something like, "Well, that is just like you people..." throughout the class she sighed every time a black co-worker said something until one of my friends stood and with all her dignity in tact, she simply walked out. (I don't know HOW the other African Americans endured it, just because we all knew she was crazy; I kept waiting for the INSTRUCTOR to do or say something, but no.)



When we got a new African American Department Director who had a limp from polio, we attended an opening introduction speech by her and crazy sat in 2nd row, raises her hand and says, "What experience can a colored women bring to this job?" (This was when "black" was still cool, but "colored" was out about 40 years before! My jaw dropped.) Our new leader was strict and very professional, she just ignored the question and continued on. As I am remembering this story, I now recall crazy used much worse slurs of bigotry than I am writing off...remembering it all makes me sick. Luckily, she is not a character in my book's story; I just want you to get a feel for the throat burning atmosphere that was Seattle City Light in the years I worked there.



Once when crazy didn't show up for work, a meter reader was sent to her house and she had fallen; the meter reader had to walk on a bumpy carpet to get to her, yeah, her dead dog was under there. Ewwwwwww



This is one example of seriously disturbed employees who worked at City Light, and supervisors did NOTHING. Did this mentally disturbed (I think she was, how could she not be?) person get satisfactory performance evaluations? Why didn't a supervisor in those rooms tell her to leave?

One co-worker took 100 calls a day in my unit, bright guy, and when his probation period ended he sat popping his pimples all day in a mirror strategically hung to see if the boss came down his aisle, his call count stayed steady at 60, but only because he left the line open---calls would ring through and he just sat there. You could hear the customer shouting, "Hello? Hello?" I took at least a call every day which began, "I just called and I could hear people laughing in the background but nobody would answer..." It got to be disturbing to workers around him, they complained to boss, pimple-popper was told to not do that and on he continued. (When a merge with the Water Dept. happened and City Light employees were told how strict the bosses in Water were...he killed himself with a shotgun. He had spent months before wondering around, staring out windows, chatting, when he should have been doing something he stopped doing years before---TAKING CALLS, did any supervisor DO anything? NO)

One woman who looked 65 in her long dresses, tight bun hair-do, black granny shoes, but was in her early 30s I guess, would answer the phone so softly that customers couldn't hear her and she pretended not to hear them, so the callers would finally hang up. She got the call counted toward her days total, never made a billing mistake on computer (since she never used it) and how jolly she was. CRAZY. I was told that she did this, but refused to believe until I sat next to her one day and sure enough---all true. She was VERY religious and sang for the Pope! For this she was rewarded with fans and write-ups in the City Light newsletters!

Most of these people were in some way rewarded. Trouble makers were promoted to get them away from people who actually did their jobs well, so that they would not bring down the morale. Obviously, not many grads from Wharton were in City Light management.

Brad started an awards program! Great idea! Committee formed, exciting first award goes ...to...(are you one step ahead of me yet?) BRAD! Awarded for spending time away from his job making an award program that rewarded being away from the job---it was a joke to those of us who really cared about the callers, who took the calls, made the billing corrections, did the work---still, management was clueless and morale sank lower and lower.

One employee slept under her desk. One spread poop across the restroom walls. One took triple her break times, every day. One jerked off at his desk. One took turns with another (both from The Men's Club) on Saturdays watching the others phone sit with an open line, while he would be gone for FOUR HOURS, then they would switch. I witnessed this one Saturday, reported it and never heard another word about it; but the game continued and both eventually promoted.
I reported smelling marijuana in the restrooms---nothing. I was struck by a co-worker while passing her in my scooter---nothing.

Yes, this will be the backdrop of my story. Looking back, it seems impossible many worse things didn't happen than the true tale I will share.