Monday, March 16, 2009

‘Time Bandits’

On a lighter note; I found this quote, The 'Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it.- William Gibson

And that reminded me of where I used to work, the last place I worked before retirement enticed me away. We had a lot of branch offices and not all branch managers felt the same way, but the company policy allowed for unlimited usage of the internet while at work. It was determined that it was a benefit to the company for employees to browse and find out 'stuff'. If net use was abused, the employee was reminded of his/her responsibilities. End of story. No one was fired. But then again, it was an odd company, an enlightened company. One the largest construction companies in the US, always in the Top Ten. Yet it was 100% employee owned and all-union. (Union bashers should note that fact) We had a 'no sick days' policy; if you were sick, you stayed home and got better. The pay didn't stop and no days were deducted from some account. If, after a few weeks, abuse was suspected, the branch manager would visit, not telephone, and he would remind the employee that abuse of the system would hurt us all. But, if the employee was in fact, still quite ill, the manager would recommend that the employee get further treatment, maybe hospitalization. Enlightened again. Ah, the good old days!

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