The new CEO, Jake, dispensed with the usual format of the monthly staff meeting on Thursday and got everyone's attention, Clint in "Jaws" style, by dramatically tearing to shreds a piece of paper he was holding above his head. He told us, in so many words, that this was how things were going to be handled from here on out regarding the "old way" of doing things, especially as it concerned the company's culture.
"Oh shit!" I thought. "Hodor has become The Hulk."He said he tried to look up the definition for the word "culture" and came up with 180 different answers. (Really? Webster's lists just six.) He said, as far as he's concerned, that means no one knows what it is. He opened up the floor to us all after letting us know that, for him, culture includes the "feeling you get" from a place when you arrive. He admitted that when he first came on-board (back in April) there were quite a few things which didn't make him feel comfortable with the culture of Lakewood. He talked about how, from here on out, employees would be treated with respect and dignity and made to feel valued in their role at the company. This spurred a round robin sharing of war stories up to and including at least a couple of employees starting to cry as they remembered the way they were belittled and scolded in the past.
Yup. It was pretty much an all out roast fest, and not in a humorous way, of Helen.
And some of the more vocally descriptive ones throwing Helen and her legacy under the bus? None other than Jessica and Susan!
WHAAAAT?? They were Helen's loyal henchwomen! Remember, I labeled them the Gestapo for their hardlined, immovable interpretation and implementation of THE LAW ACCORDING TO HELEN and now to placate the new sheriff in charge of Dodge, Helen is lumped in with the likes of Stalin, Po Pot, Hitler, Mao, and Saddam Hussein...notorious past leaders who are now looked upon with everything from deep regret to shock and horror at the evils of their respective reigns.
I ask this again, as I have been asking it quite frequently in recent times..."What fucking Mandela effect universe am I witnessing?"
Remember too, all the while this shit is going on, all I can think about is the very cold, hard truth that while he's playing them all for this bullshit image of the Great Liberator coming to free the masses from the oppression of the past, I can't help but flash the image in my head, of his face, curled in a knot of disdain and contempt while he berated me for being "historically condescending" and commanding that I will submit to his rule from here on out and then suspending me for three days without pay for my innocent action undertaken with independence and empowerment to protect the interests of Lakewood.
This is Our Savior? Our Glorious Emancipator? Umm, I think not.
But wait, there's more:
After the meeting we endure another of Louis' in-services and then Charmaine chairs this month's Caregivers' Meeting featuring special guest: Jake. What's he got to say? He's been on the lookout for a thief. According to him, several thefts have occurred from employee's lockers and cars. In an effort to reportedly catch the culprit, he admits he set up a hidden camera inside the locker of one of the victims.
So, basically, not so long ago, there was a bug recording us in the time clock/locker room. One would assume the camera, though not able to see very much from the inside of a closed locker, would be able to record conversations in the room for who knows how long.
Who knows where else around the building recording equipment is hidden? Is this why I got the feeling a few months back that people may have accessed this blog since it seemed like they knew shit I was bitching about? I fucking love to bitch and talk shit out loud and I know I've said downright treasonous things when I thought I had a sympathetic ear, or, just myself to rant to.
Who's the real dictator, NOW? Who's the real Gestapo leader? Who's the real Destroyer of Worlds?