Bran’s Guide to Getting Laid

Well, getting laid off.

I haven’t mentioned this before because of the controversial nature of what happened with my job but it’s a pretty big shift going from full-time work to unemployed again so I guess I’d better mention it.  I’ve avoided the topic because things were kind of up in the air for a while as far as whether things would pick back up again or not and plus it is kind of hard to talk about because a lot of what happened went over my head.  It’s all about politics and politics make me vomit so I don’t pay attention to that garbage.  I’ll just try to simplify it to the best of my abilities.

The company I worked for offered electronic bingo machines to our customers.  This raised some eyebrows because gambling in Alabama is illegal and many people thought these machines were slot machines.  Slot machines=gambling=illegal.  But, they weren’t.  The machines were evaluated and deemed to be legal according to the standards set forth for what was and wasn’t acceptable.  No big deal, eh?  Well, the governor of Alabama didn’t see it that way.  He thinks the machines are illegal and assembled a task force to come in and raid the building.  He did this twice.  The first time, the building was shut down for a few hours before opening back up.  The building didn’t open up after the second time.

The governor says he’s just upholding the law but he didn’t start "upholding the law" until my company opened up in December.  There were at least two other facilities that offered electronic bingo machines in this state and he never took any action against them.  There are accusations that the governor accepted money from another casino in another state.  In exchange for the money, he’d keep electronic bingo machines out of Alabama so that people would have to flock to that other state and bring them business and money.  I don’t know for sure that this is true but honestly it doesn’t surprise me.  It’s all about money and power when it comes to politics and that’s what makes me furious about it.  No one really cares for the people they are supposedly representing or in charge of.  They care about what’s best for them, what’s going to give them the most money and the most power and they do not care if the lesser people go jobless and homeless in the process.  Obviously, that’s a blanket statement and doesn’t apply to every politician but I’d venture to guess this applies to about 99% of them.  So, in reality, this dude doesn’t care about the law.  He’s only trying to uphold a deal he made with some casino owners in another state. 

It’s a shame because this company employed well over a thousand people, a thousand people now without work, unable to support their families.  It’s also a shame because jobs here are virtually nonexistent.  That is no exaggeration.  You know of my struggles to find a job after graduating from college.  And my supervisor said he was unemployed for a year before this job came along.  One of my coworkers said she was one step away from welfare before she got this job.  And as for me, well, I was trying to save up for animation software and equipment so I could continue working on my art and eventually get a good job.  Can’t do that now.  And after my company closed, the other companies that housed electronic bingo machines also closed down in fear of being raided.  So, that’s another couple of thousand people without jobs.

Another sucky part about the whole situation was how much money the company was bringing to the town.  It was supposed to benefit everyone but now no one is going to benefit except for the governor.  Like I said, those were just allegations but I’m sure they aren’t incorrect.  When you think of all these politicians involved in gay sex scandals and illegitimate children and George Dubya, is it such a stretch to think that this man isn’t looking out for his own best interests?

And the crap cake wouldn’t be complete without the Christians sticking their holier than thou noses where they don’t belong.  They decided to join the party and protest against the electronic bingo machines because, according to them, the machines would "bring corruption and drug use to the area."  News flash, it’s already here!  I mean, honestly, what a stupid argument.  They want to carry on about corruption and yet I pass by not one, but two titty bars on the way to that job and no one wants to speak out against that?  And they want to say that these machines encourage gambling addictions and to keep the machines away will keep people from gambling.  I mean, if they want to use that kind of logic, why haven’t we banned the sale of alcohol because having alcohol available obviously encourages people to drink, right?  If just having these machines around are going to cause everyone to turn into compulsive gamblers, this alcohol surely must cause everyone to turn into alcoholics.  No, it won’t.  Keeping these machines out of the state will not keep people from gambling.  I can’t tell you how many times customers came to me and said this was more convenient than going to Mississippi but that they would still go to Mississippi if this place ever closed down.  I think everyone is underestimating the destructive nature of human beings.  If people want to gamble, they will find a way.  If they want to drink, they will find a way.  If they want to have sex, they will find a way.  If they want to kill themselves, they will find a way.  You cannot stop someone from getting their jollies. 

I have to be honest.  I wasn’t too broken up about the whole situation because I hated that job.  Still, I feel bad for everyone who is without work and are really struggling to support their families.  I don’t know.  I’m conflicted.  In a perfect world, everyone would get their jobs back and I’d find something better.  I came to find out, however, that some people have found other jobs.  Remember that get together I had at the restaurant with a group of people from my job, the one where I was served a lukewarm pasta with an entire chopped up pig on it?  Yeah.  The girl who almost went on welfare found another job so that was good to hear.  A few other people said they’ve also taken on other jobs but would drop them to go back to the company if they ever opened back up again.  First of all, if I found another job I wouldn’t even consider going back there.  Secondly, how are these people finding jobs so easily?  I suppose they do live in a bigger area than I do and there’s slightly more work to find.  Plus, they can take jobs that pay crap.  I can’t.  Remember, I had to drive nearly two hours into that town where the job was located.  The only reason I did that was because it paid well enough to cover my gas.  I can’t do that on minimum wage because my entire paycheck would go into gas.  So, I’m stuck again.

The funny thing is I left that stupidtechnical support job to come to this job.  A week after I quit, everyone on my team was laid off.  It made me feel not so bad for quitting and I really thought I had dodged a bullet there.  Turns out I had dodged one bullet only to step into another.  And during the group get together at the restaurant, the lady sitting next to me said she was probably going to go back to her old job at Movie Gallery.  I had just applied to work there so I was interested in asking her if she enjoyed working there.  She said she did but she wasn’t sure if it would work out.  I asked why and she said Movie Gallery was filing for bankruptcy.  Well, crap.  It seems everywhere I turned, jobs were folding all around me.  From the technical support job to the electronic bingo job and it’s even spread to jobs that I was interested in pursuing!  I even got an e-mail from the head of the website I was writing for saying they were going on a hiatus and he didn’t know if they’d be returning.  Heck, I’m even getting laid off from my volunteer work!  Wtf.

This whole situation just really motivates me to get out of here.  It’s very obvious to me that this place is definitely caving in and things won’t get any better.  Any time there’s progress, people like religious zealots and greedy politicians stick their fingers in and screw it up.  Either that, or I mess it up myself.  I just hope that I don’t bring my trend of taking down companies with me wherever I go.

I’m gonna move away for sure.  All I need is two supportive parents, a couple of thousand dollars and the bravery needed to step out past this backwoods bubble.

Someone come save me?