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2016: Romney’s America
KONK REACTOR column
[Published in the KONK Life newspaper on October 25, 2012.]
2016: Romney’s America
She closes the National Park Camping Reservations app on her cell after finding her favorite campground has been shut down to make way for exploratory oil drilling. She’d been looking forward to sharing with her kids the experience of the glorious parkland that she and her parents and her grandparents had held so dear. The kids have been heartbroken over their father’s recent tragic passing, and a visit to the pristine woodland would have done them good. Oh well…
She thinks about how their father passed away not long after his union job with health benefits had been off-shored and he’d had to accept one of Romney’s promised new jobs – barely above minimum wage with too few hours to qualify for any kind of benefits. (more…)
I Need A Job
KONK REACTOR column
[Published in the KONK Life newspaper on May 10, 2012.]
I Need A Job
Two years ago I got the wake-up call:
“Dude, it doesn’t matter that your work garners awards from the CEO, that you have an impressive project resume, that you consistently do high quality work 40% more than you’re being paid for, or that you’ve shown 30 years of loyalty in the face of other opportunities. Our bean counters think we’ll show 0.00001% more profit if we send your project overseas and force you to `retire’ now instead of letting you move over to another needy project.”
Well, the call didn’t use exactly those words, but that was effectively the message.
I documented this (more…)
I’ve-Been-Moved-out
front page article by David Lybrand
[Published in Key West Citizen's Solares Hill on April 11, 2010.]
From I’ve-Been-Moved to I’ve-Been-Moved-out
For years I’ve had a rehearsed quip ready for when a chat takes a suitable twist. “I can list all of my life’s full-time jobs with 9 letters: DAD, SAM (as in Uncle Sam) and IBM.” I’d explain how I had worked full time when not in school at my dad’s bike shop until I went into the Army at 18. Afterward, IBM hired me a year before I graduated from college, where I worked ever since.
I fully expected to continue using that quip into retirement and for the rest of my life. But this last week it all became obsolete. The company once nicknamed “I’ve Been Moved” due to frequent job-related transfers for its loyal employees, has branded me with their new slogan: “I’ve Been Moved-out”. So before long I’ll have to add more letters to “DAD SAM IBM” to reflect whatever else I end up doing until I actually can retire. (more…)