Saturday, December 21, 2019
Last night was the holiday party for the company my significant other, Donald, and my son, Marcus, work for. They may have worked for the same company at holiday time before, but I do not remember that being the case. Donald is not very social and dislikes most of the people he works with, so he is happy to have an excuse to skip this little bit of company team building.
Donald and Marcus are commercial sheet metal workers and they install the HVAC systems in new and remodeled commercial buildings. It is hard work and you use a lot of geometry. You need strength and a brain to be a good tinner. Marcus is still more tolerant of the not-so-good workers while Donald will tell them to their face, he thinks they are useless. Donald generally rubs his co-workers the wrong way and vice-versa. There are maybe ten people out of 150 working for the company Donald would consider talking to outside of work.
I get his frustration. The apprentice program is more concerned about turning out quantity rather than quality workers. Some of the apprentices are not regularly employed once they turn out into journeymen because they are not good enough at their trade. Donald is a union worker, so the barely competent journeyman makes just as much as he does. I can see how that can destroy morale.
The holiday party is supposed to help build employee morale, but I would bet 90 percent of those 150 employees would rather have a $100 check than a party with people they do not know. Construction companies are often segregated by the type of job an employee does. Plumbers work with plumbers, tinners work with tinners, office workers are in the office, and the jobs do not often overlap. Who wants to hang with 140 people they do not know or like? How does that build morale?
Donald did try to talk me into giving him an excuse to not go since I had a chemotherapy treatment that day. I told him I should feel great because the steroid would be given earlier that day. I wore a sloppy shirt to chemotherapy and Donald was disappointed when I told him I needed to put on a nice shirt for the party (he was really hoping I would wimp out).
I met Marcus’ girlfriend at the party. We did not talk long, and she seemed nice enough. I am not one of those mothers who is wrapped up in her adult children’s lives. I think Marcus has been seeing her for about a year and I learned her name on Thanksgiving Day. His personal life is his business and, if he is happy with her, it is not my place to try to extract all the details. Marcus being happy is the only detail I need to know.
The party was nice enough, although I do not think it was well planned considering the people attending. The party was held at the company’s new fabrication shop, which has a lot of space but not a lot of heat. Steroids will not keep me warm in a building where are all the other women think it is cold. 90 percent of the company’s employees are construction workers who are at work at 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. every day and most likely eat supper by 6:00 p.m. (We eat around 5:00.) The party was scheduled from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The buffet (which was very good) was not started until after 7:00. I was steroid starving by that time.
My piece of advice to you is to do the silly company morale events. Donald and I sat at a table with a few tinners he likes (I think), and had some good conversation. We have even visited one of the couples we sat with at their home in the past. Sometimes I need to drag Donald out to the party so we can be social together.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
Last night was the holiday party for the company my significant other, Donald, and my son, Marcus, work for. They may have worked for the same company at holiday time before, but I do not remember that being the case. Donald is not very social and dislikes most of the people he works with, so he is happy to have an excuse to skip this little bit of company team building.
Donald and Marcus are commercial sheet metal workers and they install the HVAC systems in new and remodeled commercial buildings. It is hard work and you use a lot of geometry. You need strength and a brain to be a good tinner. Marcus is still more tolerant of the not-so-good workers while Donald will tell them to their face, he thinks they are useless. Donald generally rubs his co-workers the wrong way and vice-versa. There are maybe ten people out of 150 working for the company Donald would consider talking to outside of work.
I get his frustration. The apprentice program is more concerned about turning out quantity rather than quality workers. Some of the apprentices are not regularly employed once they turn out into journeymen because they are not good enough at their trade. Donald is a union worker, so the barely competent journeyman makes just as much as he does. I can see how that can destroy morale.
The holiday party is supposed to help build employee morale, but I would bet 90 percent of those 150 employees would rather have a $100 check than a party with people they do not know. Construction companies are often segregated by the type of job an employee does. Plumbers work with plumbers, tinners work with tinners, office workers are in the office, and the jobs do not often overlap. Who wants to hang with 140 people they do not know or like? How does that build morale?
Donald did try to talk me into giving him an excuse to not go since I had a chemotherapy treatment that day. I told him I should feel great because the steroid would be given earlier that day. I wore a sloppy shirt to chemotherapy and Donald was disappointed when I told him I needed to put on a nice shirt for the party (he was really hoping I would wimp out).
I met Marcus’ girlfriend at the party. We did not talk long, and she seemed nice enough. I am not one of those mothers who is wrapped up in her adult children’s lives. I think Marcus has been seeing her for about a year and I learned her name on Thanksgiving Day. His personal life is his business and, if he is happy with her, it is not my place to try to extract all the details. Marcus being happy is the only detail I need to know.
The party was nice enough, although I do not think it was well planned considering the people attending. The party was held at the company’s new fabrication shop, which has a lot of space but not a lot of heat. Steroids will not keep me warm in a building where are all the other women think it is cold. 90 percent of the company’s employees are construction workers who are at work at 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. every day and most likely eat supper by 6:00 p.m. (We eat around 5:00.) The party was scheduled from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The buffet (which was very good) was not started until after 7:00. I was steroid starving by that time.
My piece of advice to you is to do the silly company morale events. Donald and I sat at a table with a few tinners he likes (I think), and had some good conversation. We have even visited one of the couples we sat with at their home in the past. Sometimes I need to drag Donald out to the party so we can be social together.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.