[Byron100]

Warning!! - MAJOR RANT to follow -

Boy, am I ticked off. I just heard from a friend that lives in Memphis, Tennessee who was a victim made twice in one day. In a nutshell, here's the story: She was walking to work one morning to her waitress job at a rather popular national chain eatery, and she was mugged by a vicious thug. She was given a black eye and her uniform was rendered unusable in the scuffle. She still reported to work, however, one hour late and with a police officer in tow, as her "bankroll" was stolen along with her personal belongings, and needed the officer to verify what had happened to company property. (not sure how much money was lost, it wasn't much I know...just loose change, I think).

She worked a very tough shift, due to co-workers not showing up at all, but at the end of the day, she was called in to be written up. Not only was she written up for being an hour late, she was given another reprimand for failing to have an uniform. And then the boss told her that since she had two infractions in the same day, that qualified as a firing offense, and therefore, she was TERMINATED FROM HER JOB AS A RESULT OF HER BEING A VICTIM OF A CRIME!!!!!

God, I am so fucking mad I could make nails out of a slab of steel in my mouth and spit them out machine gun-style. If this is what this country has come to, I want it to roll over and just die already. Peak Oil and the Depression, you've got to get here and get here NOW!!!!! I want all of this to end, and in a very, very bad way. I want every single evil chain restaurant, every single evil corporate retail establishment, every single evil bank, every single evil credit card company, and every other anti-human entity that puts GREED over humanity to close forever. I want them gone, and I want them gone yesterday. They are all EVIL and must be sent to the ash bin of humankind's grand failures...not to mention everything else we've done to fuck up this planet.

This just sucks major ass, and we as a species so deserve to be beaten over our collective heads for being such colossal fuck-ups...and goddammit, this had better happen REAL FAST. I wanna see Boom of Doom come down on us so hard and so fast that we don't even know what hit us...just so I can see an end to this madness being done to our fellow human beings.

No wonder I'm such a misanthrope...we humans really, really suck as a species

< /RANT off >

[Twilight]

Peak oil and the depression isn't going to deliver people from that fate, the beginning is what is presently inflicting it. Once it starts rolling, that story will repeat ten millionfold.

[threadbear]

Byron, Listen. How well do you know this girl? This is a tragic story...if it actually happened. Do you have any mutual acquaintances who can back up what she told you? You don't have to approach it like a detective, if she's a good friend.

My antennae are vibrating here. I feel that this could be a story to separate a sympathetic listener from his money.

My ex was defrauded for $5,000. several years ago, by a schemer. It was really sad as he was unemployed at the time and actually took out a loan for the girl.

Think about it.

[Mechman]

Byron100


If we were still in a people “poor” and resource “rich” time like in the 1960’s this would not have happened to your friend. I know this hurts but we now are in a people “rich” and resource “poor” world right now and it is going to get much, much, hell on earth much worse in the future 5 to 50 years out. Even in the USA now with 7000 people showing up for about 400 jobs at WalMart, it is not hard to figure out this new reality. Peak oil will make this worse and worse until people are dying, not just layed off, constructively discharged, fired, etc. What we all need to do is seriously look in the mirror and ask ourselves, how are you going to handle it, good or bad?

Right now we still have most of civilization working and we still have unemployment insurance in most states. What has probably happened to your friend is the employer was looking for an excuse to get rid of her while not having to pay for unemployment benefits. It is just money at this time, nothing personal even if the effects hurt personally. The employers actions are still consistent with a people “rich” and resource “poor” world right now. Support your friend and insist that she file for unemployment with the state and fully expect the employer insist that she was a “bad” employee and should have been fired without unemployment benefits. Everything up to now is just paper work with no judgments by a person. When the employer recommends the state reject her unemployment claims based on “she had two infractions in the same day, that qualified as a firing offense” you must APPEAL/PROTEST THIS CONCLUSION and RESPECTFULLY REQUEST A HEARING with the State unemployment agency and submit a notarized copy of the assault incident police report, request the officer attend the hearing, and explain your case that the employer was using the “she had two infractions in the same day, that qualified as a firing offense” as an excuse to get out of the unemployment benefits.

At the appeal/protest hearing she will get her chance for justice and if she wins she will get back any unemployment denied her. These hearings are actually set up to catch employers cheating employees out of unemployment. Before this hearing it was just claim and counterclaim letters. At the hearing the unemployment officer will hear from both sides and if her claim of the assault is true and presented as true and the basis for the appearance of the employers “she had two infractions in the same day, that qualified as a firing offense”, she will win.

I have had this happen to me and it has and will happen to others where the employer is just using any appearance of a legitimate excuse to fire people and get out of the unemployment costs. You actually can’t expect an employer to keep a employee that will not show up on time and will not wear reasonable uniforms for the position. The State respects the rights of the employer to have decent employees. However if the State has solid evidence that the employer actually using unusual circumstances such as an assault to get out of the unemployment payments, the employee will get the proper unemployment benefits and the employer gets a higher unemployment insurance payments to the State.

Sad but true is that about half the people I know in this "fired" position don’t try. They are depressed, afraid, and now financially hurting because they have no job and no unemployment benefits. However, do not give up! This is not unique and happens all the time in insurance cases. “Claim denied”. Ever had a car wreck and had the insurance company denied the claim? You probably will if you don’t have the best insurance company and you live long enough. At least most States have a good unemployment appeals process and hearings that don’t require money and a attorney.

Cheer up you friend and make sure she gets her documents in on time and attends the hearing and she will win. She is feeling very depressed and violated now and might give up and allow the employer to escape unemployment payments. Don’t let her give up and don’t let the employer escape. She and you will be much better of about 2 months from now after the hearing and she has won. Getting there hurts but the justice and victory is worth it.

In the future with peak oil destroying civilization, the attacker would have raped and killed her because he would have nothing to loose - steal the money, have “fun” raping her, and get rid of the witness. There probably will not be police resources to catch him and if they caught him he would not want the witness alive.

You and I don’t want to live in a peak oil world but that is not our choice, its here or almost here. Soon everything will get worse, hell on earth much worse. But for now help your friend while we still have most of justice and civilization left. One day we will look back on events like this fondly as the good old days. 20 years from now you would be weeping and attending the funeral of your raped and dead friend.

Take care.

[I_Like_Plants]

Byron's story is rediculous and outrageous. I also believe it 100% because as a subject of the Beast, having worked jobs in the Beast, I know this is exactly how things work.

yeah, can't come soon enough for me.

[Tanada]

At all to many jobs an ass rises to a position of authority. Over time this is self correcting because at the low end of the wage scale it is easy to find another job where a different ass is in charge, usually one with better management and employee relation skills.

She will be fine financially, soon she will be working somewhere else. The only real concern is the physical/psychological injury from the mugging itself.

Thats my 2 cents.

[Specop_007]

I believe Tenn. has concealed carry.

Perhaps its time to stop living in lala land and realize bad shit happens and take the appropriate measures?

[Eli]

Yeah Memphis is not that nice. I would definitely get CC if you can. I think the classes are going to be very full in the future.

Well I believe the story, because very nearly the same thing happened to me.
Years ago I delivered pizza for a local chain. Well one night I went out on a delivery run dropping off pizzas at a few stops. On a delivery to an big apartment complex three guys mugged me at knife point. I wasn't hurt but when I got back to my car I found they had sliced three of my tires.

When I returned to the pizza place they added up how much money that I had on me and told me that I was lucky that I had just made those drops. If I had more than 20 bucks change in my money pouch they told me I would have been fired. And of course the company did not pay a damn thing for my tires.

Corporate America has sucked for a long time, this happened more than 10 years ago.

[hubbertspeak7777777]

It's funny how people talk about peak oil like it's a bad thing, as if the future we would've had if peak oil wasn't coming would've been so much better? I'd rather have peak oil than live in society where the elite own almost all the wealth, meanwhile the poor and former middle class get screwed (even worse than they did before) and are forced to work inane and degrading jobs (even more inane and degrading than they are now.) Peak oil doesn't sound so bad all of sudden. It's like between choosing between two different ways of dying, you can die slowly of cancer or you can get shot in the head and die quickly... I don't know about you, but I'd rather die quickly.

[I_Like_Plants]

Eli you can find sites on the net full of pizza delivery "war stories" turns out pizza delivery is like being a bike messenger without the glory, lol. I was considering getting into it, maybe using my Prius as the ultimate delivery vehicle lol, and was reading up on it. It's probably one of the very few jobs more dangerous than stop-N-rob clerk.

[Byron100]

Thanks for the kind and thoughtful comments folks

I have yet to hear back from her again, but hopefully we'll get back in touch soon and I can suggest doing what's been suggested about unemployment, etc. Of course, if I was in her shoes, I'd be calling every media outlet in town...hehe Let's see how the boss likes his actions being broadcast to tens of thousands of people, many of which who prolly will avoid that particular eatery for a very long time to come.

While I fully understand the ramifications of Peak Oil and the coming Depression bringing about massive unemployment and such, I do feel very strongly about "fighting the good fight" the whole way down the backside of the great Hubbert curve.

Cruel and insensitive employers and other nasties do need to be held accountable for what they do to people, and it's our responsibility as (non)consumers to be as selective as possible in our spending habits. I urge all of you to avoid *all* chain restaurants and patronize mom-and-pop eateries instead. Support your local Ace hardware store as opposed to the blue and orange boxes. Patronize thrift stores whenever possible, as well as yard sales, church sales, etc. Work for barter whenever possible...the more money we keep out of circulation, the better. Teach kids that materialism is a disease, much like drug or alcohol addiction. Stay out of debt whenever possible. And to paraphrase one of my fave sig lines (Pheba), make do, reuse, use it up or do without.

[Byron100]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'I') believe Tenn. has concealed carry.

Perhaps its time to stop living in lala land and realize bad shit happens and take the appropriate measures?

[I_Like_Plants]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Byron100', '
') I do feel very strongly about "fighting the good fight" the whole way down the backside of the great Hubbert curve.

Patronize thrift stores whenever possible, as well as yard sales, church sales, etc. Work for barter whenever possible...the more money we keep out of circulation, the better. Teach kids that materialism is a disease, much like drug or alcohol addiction. Stay out of debt whenever possible. And to paraphrase one of my fave sig lines (Pheba), make do, reuse, use it up or do without.

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Byron100', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'I') believe Tenn. has concealed carry.

Perhaps its time to stop living in lala land and realize bad shit happens and take the appropriate measures?

[Eli]

Plants I would still recommend Pizza delivery as a job.

I would make good cash on the weekends and the work is easy. I also discovered that attractive young women are in general some of the worst tippers. Also at least 50% of people did not tip.

Once had a lady demand her ten cents back. I misunderstood what she was say and thought that she was tipping me ten cents. I thanked her for the tip (honestly I always appreciated every tip no matter how small). She then said no I want my change!

Oh well get a CCW and don't ever let the boss know and you will be fine.

[bobaloo]

Funny, when I delivered pizza I got some of the most interesting tips from attractive young women, but then that was many years ago...

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nd then the boss told her that since she had two infractions in the same day, that qualified as a firing offense, and therefore, she was TERMINATED FROM HER JOB AS A RESULT OF HER BEING A VICTIM OF A CRIME!!!!!

[hubbertspeak7777777]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nd then the boss told her that since she had two infractions in the same day, that qualified as a firing offense, and therefore, she was TERMINATED FROM HER JOB AS A RESULT OF HER BEING A VICTIM OF A CRIME!!!!!