Long-Ass E-Mail About An Impending Dumpster Fire

Just got done, after three Hours, of typing up an e-mail to my alumni club saying there is no alumni club anymore.

Yeah.  Got the news earlier this month in a Zoom which was reinforced Tuesday on another Zoom.  Instead of alumni events worldwide being done through board members of an alumni chapter, my alma mater's alumni association is going to "encourage" alumni to just volunteer for any old thing.  And even though they're thousands of miles away, those guys will "train" and "bless" that event any old schlub could do with the imprimatur of my university.  Yay.

This is like hollowing out middle management whenever a company has to lay off people.  There is now upper management and the rank and file.  No middleman (or -woman) with knowledge of the institution and the area that knows how to get things done -- and has proven he or she is committed to getting things done, because he or she loves his or her alumni.  Instead, I'll be continuing to do my own thing, but some jagoff can just come in, say, "Hey, I wanna do something!" and the alumni association will say, "OK, now both of you can do it!"  And it doesn't matter that I've been fucking President for eight goddamn years.

People on these calls have been pissed.  Like I said in the last blog post, some of the comments have sounded like people going to city council meetings vowing they'll never wear masks because of the "deep state" or some Republican stupid shit.  But otherwise, they're right -- this will be a disaster.

OK, Millennial

Going to get this off my chest.

Shortly after I was told by my boss no, I could not use the ubiquitous piles of gloves I see all around me at work, he sent out a department-wide e-mail both assuring all of us that our company and he are taking infection control seriously while at the same time enforcing policies to make sure that we don't step out of line.  Not only are we reminded we cannot use gloves (it's obvious that was just for me); he had warnings about overtime and leaving on time as well.

Two things that are irksome about this e-mail.  First, he insists that if we take all precautions at work -- wash your hands, cover your mouth, disinfect your area before and after your shift -- we should be fine.  He's my boss, and he certainly knows more about the company than I do, but he sure as hell is not an epidemiologist, so forgive me, but I'm not going to take his word that we'll be fine.  He damn well knows that our department isn't spaced six feet apart, and that people walk through our area all the time.  If one of us is sick, that person probably infects the whole department, and then the whole department is wiped out -- and if it gets really bad, the company might be liable.  Then, that'll be on his ass.  We probably won't be fine then.

The other thing that pissed me off was the last line.  He wanted us to keep things "in perspective."  Paraphrasing, he said that he would rather be grateful that we still have jobs, unlike many people who have been fired and are now on unemployment.  Dude, I live with my elderly parents.  If I get the coronavirus from work, and I give it to them, there's an elevated chance they'll get sick, or worse.  Add to it that our job is essential in name only, if that.

I'm kind of taking a risk of bringing this virus home with me.  I guess I'll be the first person I'll have to hold accountable if that happens, but I sure as shit am not thanking him or anybody else for putting myself in this position just so I can get a paycheck.  Sure, people who've been let go of their jobs aren't bringing in any money and they're worried as hell about it.  But first of all, they'll get on unemployment, and that's Minnesota unemployment, which is a fuck-ton better than other states.  And second of all, assuming they love their fellow statespeople, they'll be able to just chill at home, physically distant from everybody.  And you know what?  I kind of envy them being able to be totally safe from this invisible, invincible disease that's going to ravage our state.  So he can fucking pump the brakes when he says we all should feel grateful.

And besides that, we've been cut from work several times over the past couple weeks, an indication of the slowdown in the national (and global) economy.  I'm not sure we should be that grateful for work we don't have and money we can't make.  But hey, at least I get to get home faster, don't I?

It's surprising how willing he is to toe the company line.  I couldn't say I know him, but I kind of wished he would understand the plight we worker bees are going through.  (I also wished he knew I live with my folks, but to be fair, I've never told him.)  This isn't a "let 'em eat cake" situation.  But he sounds flippant, and I am chalking that up to him being young.  And despite all the data saying that this will adversely affect the old (such as my parents), people his age can get sick from this.  In fact, a couple people his age have died, I believe.  I would think that he would cool it with this ... well, cool it with this arrogance about not getting down with the sickness.  But to me, him thinking we'll all just be fine (when the governor says 80% of Minnesotans will get infected, BTW) and we should all just shut up and be grateful about having somewhere to go every day (for only half a day) is a sign that he isn't taking goddamn COVID-19 seriously -- like many people of his generation aren't taking it seriously.  So what I'm saying is, Gen Y dude, stop.

RIP, Ralph Marlin And Godfather's Pizza

Unless I'm wrong, the economy has claimed two more victims.

I was driving the other day and I saw a torn-off and shatter sign where the sign for Godfather's Pizza used to be. They apparently closed. I may have eaten there about 20 years ago, and one time about a decade ago I walked in to try and eat a lunch buffet only to walk back out because I was afraid to be seen eating at a buffet all by myself.

The one that kind of bothers me, but one I anticipated for some time, is the Ralph Marlin store at the Mall Of America. When I was working and wearing ties because I wanted to, I would buy all of my ties at Ralph Marlin, known for putting identifiable pop culture things on them. I particularly was partial to their art collection; I have Marlin ties of Homer's "American Gothic," Van Gogh's "Starry Night," and Munch's "The Scream."

But I haven't had to wear those ties for a long time now. A lot of people don't now that business suits are relegated to some very high-office positions. I sensed the end about a year ago, when I bought three ties for $15. Haven't worn them yet. I last peered in the store just before Christmas. They have a lot of nice, though loud, ties, and they tried to branch out to pajamas, but I guess it wasn't enough.

I went to the Megamall earlier this week. Went by Ralph Marlin and saw black paper over the translucent doors and windows. Sorry, dude.

My Parents Are Too Happy

Maybe it's because of the hellacious snowstorm we went through today. May it was because I saw Sam's Wine Shop close and clean out its store and Cheapo not open till midnight during my Lone Wolf Sojourn last night. But a funny thing occurred to me last night when my parents were in a good mood again: Are my parents about to close our store?

I fight with them a lot, but I'm most proud of them for doing two things I don't think I have the courage to do: Immigrate to the United States and start their own (successful) business. It's stressful work, the latter, but the upside to me is that they are their own bosses (well, they do have to listen to their customers, but that doesn't reallyh count). They have made their own way through this world, and they dragged three children through college with their store. That is an accomplishment.

But being the worrywarts that they are, they have complained for a long time how bad business is. To this day I have no idea if they're telling the truth, or how much of it is the truth. And they keep wanting to retire, they've said for years they've wanted to retire. But I've been seeing signs that trouble me. For the past, oh, half-decade, for example, that they've been getting home at a regular time, like 5 or 6; when I was really young, they would sometimes stay at the store till 7 or even 8, it was so busy. Also, my parents have taken frequent trips to Las Vegas. They love to go to Vegas. And finally, my father has started branching off into real estate since the country's economy has gone to shit the last couple of years.

These circumstances have been around for awhile, so maybe there isn't anything imminent, although the economy appears to be nothing most of us on earth has ever experienced. I don't know, I guess I just thought that with a late-February snowstorm, I'd expect them, in particular my father, to come home pissed off. He wasn't. It's like they say with people who have made the decision to commit suicide: They are very emotional, disruptive, prone to fits of anger and unconsolable, but then they are calm, almost serene -- and then they kill themselves. Does the same fate befit the store, the vehicle that has allowed me and this family to enjoy our American Dream? I hated working there when I was young, but I couldn't bear to see it die, especially in this economic climate, even though I wouldn't know the first thing about how to run a business.

Maybe I'm just depressed over the snowstorm.