Pick Your Battles
“I don’t burn CDs at home because I don’t think my battery will last that long.” The grumpy old Assembly Line Portrait Photographer says.
“Yeah, these batteries suck.” I say, not raising to the bait that it makes no sense to run the laptop on battery power.
“Most people ask-Why don’t you just plug the computer in?” The old curmudgeon says. “I’m not going to use my electricity for The Company.”
This is clearly a topic near and dear to this photographer’s heart, but I’m not as interested as I used to be.
“I’m not going to get high speed internet just to check my schedule.” The Disgruntled Assembly Line Portrait Photographer says. “And I’m not going to use my electricity to do any work for The Company.”
“So you’d rather stay at The Shoot for another hour burning CDs than just do it when you get home?” I say, a bit amazed at his attitude.
“They aren’t paying me when I’m at home.” He says with an air of defiance as if he were a motor cyclist in Easy Rider. “When I’m off, I’m off.”
The most interesting thing about this old curmudgeon is that he really can’t understand why no one else wants to hire him.
I’ve met a number of people over the years that live in their own little world, a world where what they want matters more than what the rest of the world wants. These are people that won’t answer their phone on their day off or who sit down and figure out how much they will make in overtime and how much will be taken out in taxes before they accept another shift.
These people are childish, selfish, petty, and often just plain silly. It’s the kind of attitude I’ve come to expect from children, but I find it downright offensive when seen in adults. These are people that want to claim some moral high ground, where they point out that whatever you are doing is the act of a weak character and that they are the last of a dying breed of Real Men who Take No Shit From Anyone. Uh, yeah, right.
Being your own Man, Woman, or Other is fine-it’s the American Way. And if you make a living robbing liquor stores or being an enforcer for the Mob, it’s a great attitude to have. If, however, you work for someone else or own your own company you have to take into account the feelings and needs of others. For some people this is a radical concept so far from their world view as to be absolutely unimaginable.
If I had a magic wand and could change The Company there are a lot of things I would have them do differently-but not using my own electricity wouldn’t even make the cut. It’s not a battle worth fighting. If I worked for some company that wanted me to create wormholes using my own eletricity, I would need some compensation for that, though that whole traveling to other worlds might be a good enough incentive. Otherwise I have never had too much of a problem with the normal demands of Assembly Line Portraits. This grumpy photographer still drives his own car to and from work, though I feel sure that he thinks he deserves a company car
I’m one of those last holdouts who doesn’t own a cellphone. If The Company really wants me to have one, they can pay for one and I will carry it around. This is not a really petty battle, as I know that I would be one of those web surfing yahoos that would spend hundreds of dollars a month-and I’d rather not do that. Besides, The Company knows where I am when I’m at work and they can find me there if they really need to.
What got me started talking to this Assembly Line Portrait Photographer about his desire to never spend a penny for The Company was the recent introduction of Company Shirts. We are allowed to wear an offical The Company Golf or Bowling Shirt-if we want to buy one. Not surprisingly, the old curmudgeon didn’t want to buy one and neither did I. I’ve never liked having to pay for work clothes, which is one of the nice things about being an Assembly Line Portrait photographer-for the most part, you just wear your normal clothes.
I love bitching and moaning about the long hours, the long drives, the crappy motels, the junk equipment and the annoying co-workers, but I have come to accept the facts of life of this kind of work. There will never be a raise in pay. They will never provide a company car. They will never offer enough expense money for me to stay in great hotels or eat at nice restaurants. There is no advancement to speak of, I know people who have been at the entry level their entire 20+ year Assembly Line Portrait careers. The Company ignores fair labor laws, minimum wage laws, discrimination laws, and OSHA regulations.
So I have given up on fighting any battles with The Company. This grumpy Assembly Line Portrait Photographer wants to sue The Company, but he has not had any luck finding a lawyer that wants to take up the cause. Of course, if one of his complaints is that The Company expects him to use his own electricity, the lawyers may just think he’s nuts. I know I do.