Backwoods employersI don't know if any of you has had this experience, I live in the south, and well, esp. in the small towns, it can be a little different. I have noticed with some places, I used to work for a municipality, they are BIG on nepotism. I had looked at the staff directory as of late at that place, and noticed same last names of people who work there. May it be two married people, brother or sister or what-not. Where I used to work, it happens alot. The HR Director's daughter probably has no worries of getting canned, because if it doesn't work out, she's transferred to another dept. I had a co-worker leave because of that being one of the reasons. Plus it can be "clickish" and if you don't "fit in", or share the same religion, they could make your life miserable. Also, in the south, these blue collar workers don't seem to care to work around people who are educated or if they find out you have some kind of college degree, they make snide remarks in your general direction. But I was wondering, can this type of work environment put your position in jeapordy? Unfortunately, this can be a feature of country living...whether in the South or North. One family may dominate town projects, or an local industry (ski area, cheese plant, helicopter factory...the list can go on and on.) Or, a certain group of another kind...such as a certain church, or what have you. If it's any help, it doesn't only happen in rural areas. It can also happen in urban and suburban areas as well...especially if one family has a monopoly on something like trash pick-up. Or a certain country club's members seem to run the town. It's not an easy position to be in, as if you're an "outsider", you may never make your way to the "inner circle" unless you marry into the family/ accepted into the church/ get into the country club, etc. You really have to suck up, keep your nose clean, and so on. Final....I laughed hard at that tobacco juice quip. So often when I would approach some of these guys while their in their work truck, I'd see some Coppenhagen protruding their bottom lip. LOL. I actually worked with a guy, that needless to say, was rather intelligent for a redneck, he knew his crap (no pun intended, LOL). In fact, we went back and forth with the puns at work. We'd always make fun of his small town living. I went to a comic convention in the big city an hour away, and his favorite character is Capt America, but he's a homebody and stays home alot in his small town and his wife. I brought back a costumed man in a Capt America costume, and showed it to him , and said, "I figured I better get some pictures of me while in the big city, and bring it back to you <name of obscure small township here> folks. Where I worked there was a piece of property that would get some "Hawg" damage, and sometimes there'd be Turkey in those fields. Well, I was with him in the truck, I was doing my readings, and there was this pack of wild turkeys in the road...they are the kind of bird that runs a certain distance before taking off....so as we were approaching them, they started to run...and what did I do? I started "mouthing" banjo music as they were running. And he bust out laughing. (Guess you had to be there) Anyhow, back to my original story, my dad was a State Trooper, and he was working in the "Big City" but decided to transfer to a small town post, we found a nice house out here, and moved in . Well, the FIRST day into the station, you know what his boss tells him? His boss tells him, "We don't want no Yankees workin' here" And my dad says, "Well, you have one now!" And about a decade of stress and friction between him and his superiors started from day one.
Funny thing about "Yankees," the use of the word. I was born in Mississippi, grew up in New Orleans, but eventually moved to Canada, where they called me "another dang Yank." Idiots ... | |
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