Small Business Owner Crazy vs Faceless Corporate Decisions
Most of my working life, until recently, was spent as a minor cog in a big engine. For over a decade I worked at a prestigious hospital here in New York. After years of being a per diem employee — lots of working holidays —, I discovered that all my boss had to do was approve a change in my employee designation. He had no issues with that but my immediate supervisor got cranky about the paperwork. Them’s the breaks, Sunshine.
Then the bean counters decided to eliminate my position.
Much as I groused about having to “clock in” using my fingerprint when a new CEO came on board until I spent four years working for small, one-boss businesses, I didn’t know how good I had it. …
And 76 (and counting) truly amazing subscribers!!!
How awesome are the people choosing to read what I publish here? SO awesome that I’ve had to update the title three times since setting up the draft! Now that I’m actually writing this thing, however, the number is just going to have to stand. Anyone who hits that friendly green “follow” button after reading this gets my eternal gratitude and a generous tip of the hat the next time I do this.
I’m not a follow-for-follow type. What I am is a get-to-know-you type. You hit that green button for a reason. I want to know what that was.
I want to see if I can decipher what spoke to you in such a way that you decided to add me to your list and, frankly, I’m interested in seeing what you got. If you got what I like, yes, I sure will hit the green button for you. For example, Estacious(Charles White) can always be relied on to get to the heart of things without sugar-coating or a bunch of dancing around. …
Like we knew they were lighting the tree at Rockefeller Center!
Leave it to this couple of Grinches to head out around 8 pm on a crisp December evening to check out the Bergdorf Goodman windows and then inadvertently get stuck behind a police-bus barricade ensuring no one got any crazy ideas about actually seeing the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas tree (we found out later that it was televised, of course).
First, a quick update on our current pandemic stats: the 7-day average of new infections as of 11/25/20 was 1,731with 109 new hospitalizations and 11 deaths. In other words, the tables have turned. Now all those cranky-ass states that really wanted their haircuts, tattoos, and barroom beers are flooding their hospitals with record-breaking numbers of new infections while we’ve got cranky-ass Staten Islanders protesting the closing of their bars. In the meantime, the 7-day average of new infections in our zip code rose from 2.47% last week to 3.41% this week. …
31 Artworks + 2 Writers = 62 Stories
In August 2020, my life/art partner, AleXander Hirka, set himself the challenge of creating a daily digital collage based on an image and a concept. The image was that of the antique Omega watch that belonged to his Mom and the concept was Time.
In September 2020, the Anomalous Duo — AleXander and I — challenged ourselves to write a short piece of fiction, 500 or less words, for each collage — the Our Hours project.
Each of my published stories contains a link to AleXander Hirka’s story, and vice versa.
Below are links to all 31 of my stories, and thus, within, all of AleXander’s.
Here’s a thought. You could set yourself a goal of reading two very short stories throughout the 31 days of December.
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© Remington Write 2020. All Rights Reserved.
What evil copywriting idiot came up with that one?
The world abounds in things that just annoy the bejesus out of me (nod to Tommy Ueland) and one particularly tiresome example marred my breakfast. Having had my breakfast marred, now I’m going to mar your day — or not. What do I know? Maybe you enjoy a good, meaningless rant. I do but only if it’s entertaining.
Let’s see what I got.
This advertising trope is everywhere and it is total BS. On what planet is it a given that anyone deserves a fresh and nutritious egg? I am insulted when told that I “deserve” whatever thing it is that some company is pushing. What exactly did I do for this honor to have been bestowed upon me? Well, I didn’t steal whatever it is — not a given for a former and largely unrepentant shoplifter — so maybe by virtue of paying for your eggs, I do deserve them. …
And our daddies keep letting us down!
Welp, I guess it’s “good” news that the U.S. electorate barely managed to elect a grown-up to, ahem, Lead the Free World.
That the election was such a squeaker speaks to our fixation on having Daddy fix things for us. Daddy Don talked such a good game that vast swaths of the country plopped ugly red hats on their heads and swooned for the return of decent-paying jobs, white people in charge, and ladies back in the kitchens. …
One dumb move and you’ve lost a future customer for good
Yeah, now that you mention it I guess I have heard something buzzing in the background about The Holidays. The lines stretching down the block from every City MD location tipped me off that most people were revving up to do some serious Celebrating. But, me, I pay very little attention to what “most people” are doing especially this time of year.
All of which explains why last Thursday — aka Thanksgiving — AleXander and I were wandering the Village and indulging in a couple of slices of The Best Pizza in New York City, Joe’s (argue if you want, but it’s the truth). …
Hey, at least I did it with friends…
“If you get hurt or killed, you can’t sue. And if you sue, you can’t win.”
That’s the video that all 18 of us had to watch before going out to suit up for — what was for 17 of us — our first-ever parachute jump. The guy in the video was dressed to look like a lawyer but who knows what he really was. A not particularly gifted actor or possibly the guy who owned this place. Nevertheless, we all dutifully signed the release forms, confirming that if we got hurt or killed we would not sue.
I was inspired to write about my experience jumping out of a perfectly good plane by that of vidzparu which she wrote about…
And that, Cupcake, is the good news.
We are born with an innate sense of justice. Even a two-year-old is quick to wail when getting one less cookie than her sister.
“It’s not FAIR!” has to come out of more mouths on this planet than anything other than the word “NO!” (or “I want more”). We think that equity, fairness, and the even playing field are of paramount importance. All of us. You do, too. And what is the universal response to come out of every responding parent?
Nobody ever said life is fair!
You’ve heard it. You’ve said it. The only reason I haven’t is because I had the incredible good sense, and good luck, not to procreate. As to that other universal utterance, “it’s not fair!”, that one had a shelf life for me. I abruptly eliminated it from my vocabulary when I realized that if life was fair I’d be — at the very least — in the penitentiary. …
It’s just that kind of day
Take a quick look out your window or at whatever screen is handy and you’ll understand my mood. On second thought, don’t bother. I’m going to tell you all about my mood anyway and after eight months of this crap, there’s no need to belabor the obvious. Instead of pulling out handfuls of hair over which neoliberal goon has been added to the President-Elect’s cabinet, I’m aiming for some fish in a barrel.
You.
Here are the top ten reasons I’ve stopped reading what you write and until you mend your ways I’ll instead continue reading the top-notch writing of aleXander hirka, Sherry McGuinn, Jeremy Helligar, Michael Whalen, Sydney Duke Richey, Aimée Gramblin, James Finn, Steve B Howard, Nicole Bedford, Ingrid L. Williams, Tony Young, Jr., and James Knight. There are some amazing talents on this platform. …
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