Wednesday, 12 February 2020

The Suicide Tour, Day 1


So today I took part in our first ‘sub-site socio-economic staff-shifting shitefest’ or whatever they’re calling it. What a numbing experience. Seven people who already have too much work to do, taken away from their places of work to see how other people in the same position do their jobs, meaning they’ll be even busier when they get back to their own locations. Today we were visiting a store and garage on the North Norfolk coast, where Storm Ciara was continuing to batter the landscape like a Californian copper batters a lonely black driver. (Sorry that reference is nearly 30 years old, but I watched a very good film about the LA riots called ‘Kings’ recently, so it’s stuck in my head. Plus – after what I’ve been through today, I’m amazed I have the mental capacity to type four letters in a row without making a mistake, much less come up with a witty or intelligent simile.)
It was freezing cold, so windy you could hardly hear anything, and the ‘outside catering’ mentioned in the e-mailed itinerary turned out to be leftover sandwiches in the staff canteen. All in all, a sad waste of time. That’s not just my opinion, either, all seven of us (eight if you include Nicole, the poor manager who had to babysit us all day) were struggling to find one positive aspect to the whole affair.
Maybe we’ll have better luck tomorrow, when we’re traipsing almost to the far side of Lincolnshire.  Thanks for the (very) early start, employers.

RC 12-2-20

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