So, I just went through my archives, and two things happened.
1. I was generally impressed by what I found there
2. I was disturbed by the number of posts that begin with "So,..."
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
So, had another drug test at work the other day. That makes two in seven months. I'm seeing some kind of trend here: Store Director leaves (the first for incompetence, the second for screwing the Bakery Manager (rumor, tho widely repeated)), Area Supervisor holds an Emergency Store Meeting, we meet the new Boss Man, pizza is served, then we are all asked to share a few ounces of our urine with the nice man from Occupational Health Services.
It's the last part that gets me.
Now, I have smoked pot, as have large portions of this country, though never regularly and not in several years, so passing the test was not an issue for me, but it still bothered me that they wanted to screen my urine.
{I would like to take the time to mention that pot is fun and enjoyable [if it wasn't, would people smoke it?] and if given the opportunity, I would probably do it again.}
A couple of reasons:
The first is a trust thing. There has to exist a certain amount of trust between employer and employee. I have to trust that my employer will give me the hours I need with respect to my class schedule, will pay a more or less (emphasis on less) fair wage, not intentionally endanger my life, etc.
The Employer should trust that I will execute my duties (more or less) faithfully, show up for work ready to work, not (wantonly) steal from the store, respect the rules and policies in effect, etc.
I have worked there for, as I said, seven months, and have, so I thought, proven myself to be a willing, capable, and trustworthy employee. I have never given them any reason to doubt my sobriety on the job, unlike one or two employees I can think of. So when it comes time to see which peons are tweaking after work, they should say to themselves, "He is a trustworthy employee. We do not need to test him." But they don't. I'm equally suspect as anyone else, which is annoying. What is the point of trying to be a mostly scrupulous person if no one ever believes you?
My soul mate says it not about trust, that it's about all the other people who came before and have ruined for me. But that's exactly about trust. It's not that they are unable to trust me, they are unwilling to.
I don't like not being trusted, especially when I feel I've gone out of my way to be worthy of trust.
The second reason is for broader, political reasons. Some of you may find it strange that I take the time to connect a simple piss test that I'm in no danger, whatsoever, of failing, with national policy, but this is a way that larger issues manifest themselves directly in our lives (or mine at least).
Certain drugs are illegal, others are not, and I find the distinctions arbitrary.
Pot is illegal. Tobacco is not.
Pot is, insofar as I know, not chemically addictive.
Nicotine in tobacco is. I have never heard of any one getting emphysema from pot, though I suppose it's possible with heavy use. Cigarettes kill something like one in three people who use them. See what I mean by arbitrary?
Another fun fact: of all the varied and sundry substances you can become addicted to, alcohol is the only one that can kill you with withdrawal symptoms. That's right, the delirium tremens (DTs) are the only commonly fatal withdrawal out there. Many withdrawals, heroin and cocaine notably, may make you wish you were dead, but only alcohol can kill you if you're an alcoholic and try to quit. And alcohol is the legal drug.
My point to this is, there seems to be no logical reason why some things are illegal, and other are not.
Let's suppose, for a moment, that I'm a HUGE pot-head. Let's say I have trouble paying the bills and am failing my classes for all the time and money I spend on pot. Or Cocaine, or heroin, or meth or pick your drug. Has that effected the company in any way? No. I'm still a reliable person, who keeps his habits at home, and does his job well. Why should they care if I get high after work? I really don't think it any of their business, so long as my personal activities do not interfere with my ability to do my job.
I am not the world's best employee. I slack off like most people, cut corners when I'm feeling lazy and think I can get away with it, and sometimes simply sit behind the register and stare for a while, so don't think I'm coming from some kind of holier than thou stance, but I see a lot of inherent contradictions in this policy.
For example, almost every time I show up for work and one of the Smokers is working, as soon as my till is ready to go, they go outside have a smoke. Often for ten minutes or more. They're outside puffing away, and stuck inside with the customers. I don't mind when there's nothing going on, but frequently, I have a line of three or four people and my coworker is nowhere to be found. As an estimate, I would say that the smoking population at my store loses one-half hour per person per shift due to smoking. Assuming five shifts a week, that's two and a half hours a week per person! Assuming that they make at least as much as I, the math works to approximately $217.50 a month that the company is paying to have people smoke.
And the company is worried that I may be smoking pot.
It's the last part that gets me.
Now, I have smoked pot, as have large portions of this country, though never regularly and not in several years, so passing the test was not an issue for me, but it still bothered me that they wanted to screen my urine.
{I would like to take the time to mention that pot is fun and enjoyable [if it wasn't, would people smoke it?] and if given the opportunity, I would probably do it again.}
A couple of reasons:
The first is a trust thing. There has to exist a certain amount of trust between employer and employee. I have to trust that my employer will give me the hours I need with respect to my class schedule, will pay a more or less (emphasis on less) fair wage, not intentionally endanger my life, etc.
The Employer should trust that I will execute my duties (more or less) faithfully, show up for work ready to work, not (wantonly) steal from the store, respect the rules and policies in effect, etc.
I have worked there for, as I said, seven months, and have, so I thought, proven myself to be a willing, capable, and trustworthy employee. I have never given them any reason to doubt my sobriety on the job, unlike one or two employees I can think of. So when it comes time to see which peons are tweaking after work, they should say to themselves, "He is a trustworthy employee. We do not need to test him." But they don't. I'm equally suspect as anyone else, which is annoying. What is the point of trying to be a mostly scrupulous person if no one ever believes you?
My soul mate says it not about trust, that it's about all the other people who came before and have ruined for me. But that's exactly about trust. It's not that they are unable to trust me, they are unwilling to.
I don't like not being trusted, especially when I feel I've gone out of my way to be worthy of trust.
The second reason is for broader, political reasons. Some of you may find it strange that I take the time to connect a simple piss test that I'm in no danger, whatsoever, of failing, with national policy, but this is a way that larger issues manifest themselves directly in our lives (or mine at least).
Certain drugs are illegal, others are not, and I find the distinctions arbitrary.
Pot is illegal. Tobacco is not.
Pot is, insofar as I know, not chemically addictive.
Nicotine in tobacco is. I have never heard of any one getting emphysema from pot, though I suppose it's possible with heavy use. Cigarettes kill something like one in three people who use them. See what I mean by arbitrary?
Another fun fact: of all the varied and sundry substances you can become addicted to, alcohol is the only one that can kill you with withdrawal symptoms. That's right, the delirium tremens (DTs) are the only commonly fatal withdrawal out there. Many withdrawals, heroin and cocaine notably, may make you wish you were dead, but only alcohol can kill you if you're an alcoholic and try to quit. And alcohol is the legal drug.
My point to this is, there seems to be no logical reason why some things are illegal, and other are not.
Let's suppose, for a moment, that I'm a HUGE pot-head. Let's say I have trouble paying the bills and am failing my classes for all the time and money I spend on pot. Or Cocaine, or heroin, or meth or pick your drug. Has that effected the company in any way? No. I'm still a reliable person, who keeps his habits at home, and does his job well. Why should they care if I get high after work? I really don't think it any of their business, so long as my personal activities do not interfere with my ability to do my job.
I am not the world's best employee. I slack off like most people, cut corners when I'm feeling lazy and think I can get away with it, and sometimes simply sit behind the register and stare for a while, so don't think I'm coming from some kind of holier than thou stance, but I see a lot of inherent contradictions in this policy.
For example, almost every time I show up for work and one of the Smokers is working, as soon as my till is ready to go, they go outside have a smoke. Often for ten minutes or more. They're outside puffing away, and stuck inside with the customers. I don't mind when there's nothing going on, but frequently, I have a line of three or four people and my coworker is nowhere to be found. As an estimate, I would say that the smoking population at my store loses one-half hour per person per shift due to smoking. Assuming five shifts a week, that's two and a half hours a week per person! Assuming that they make at least as much as I, the math works to approximately $217.50 a month that the company is paying to have people smoke.
And the company is worried that I may be smoking pot.
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