Employee Fired For Journaling At Work
An individual typing on his computer, his face staring intently at the monitor, is the image that best captures the hardworking employee of the 21st century.
Most of us don’t earn a living by pushing a broom, welding a piece of metal or wielding a hammer, but by pecking away at a keyboard.
But appearances can be deceiving; is your coworker in the cubicle next to you entering work data on his computer or sending an Instant Message to the cute temp in Accounts Receivable?
At work I may be busy typing , and most people would think that I’m an excellent employee, but am I really writing another essay for mensnewsdaily.com?
God bless computers, as long as your supervisor isn’t standing over your shoulder and your company hasn’t installed software that tracks your every keystroke, you can gamble, shop or surf porn Web sites, and still appear to be a model employee.
From the Associated Press (AP) :
“An administrative judge has denied unemployment benefits to a woman who was fired from her job for keeping a journal detailing her efforts to avoid work.”
Avoiding work is an all-American pastime, who doesn’t stretch his break, gossip at the water cooler, play Spider Solitaire online or spend 20 minutes “powdering his/her nose.”?
But only a fool would keep a journal of all the ways that he avoids work on his work computer.
According to the AP, Emmalee Bauer, 25, wrote on her online journal:”This typing thing seems to be doing the trick,” she wrote. “It just looks like I am hard at work on something very important.”
Bauer also wrote: “I am only here for the money and, lately, for the printer access. I haven’t really accomplished anything in a long while … and I am still getting paid more than I ever have at a job before, with less to do than I have ever had before. It’s actually quite nice when I think of it that way. I can shop online, play games and read message boards and still get paid for it.”
When her journal was discovered by her employer, she was of course fired. Ms Bauer had the audacity to apply for unemployment benefits.
The moral of this story is: Fool around, but be discreet. It’s OK to look up images of Britney Spear’s vagina on your work computer – just try not to smile too wide or you will give yourself away.
I write a weekly column for a small town newspaper in Virginia, and I also write for several Web sites. Please leave a comment or send me an email at: rreyes4966@aol.com | More from Robert Paul Reyes
Stumble It!
January 20th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Man I can relate to this. I like to work when I am at work and to have something to keep busy with. I probably would be considered the model employee.
However, I got into some bad blood with coworkers, since to the office it didn’t appear that I was busy enough. I would be printing off audits and looking for charges that didn’t process. However, this required some waiting for the report to come up (usually 30 secs to a min) then print off the report and move on to the next one.
However, to the office I guess my hands weren’t moving enough to seem like I was really busy. Yet if I wanted to goof off and blog or something I actuall would seem to be busy. My mother even told me that its something you learn to do at work, is to look busy. Not that you are busy but its more important to look busy.
January 20th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
That’s the key, to “look busy.” If you finish your work, dont’ twiddle your thumbs, write an email to your spouse or girlfriend, or blog — anything to appear busy.
January 20th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I push a broom, lol! I am not lucky (?) enough to have an office job.
I think it was very stupid of the woman to keep a journal about avoiding work. I think when people are at work, they should work, BUT if they are done with what they have to do, for the day or for the moment, there should be nothing particularly wrong with keeping busy in other ways, as long as you are discreet.
January 20th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Well Robert that wasn’t the issue. I WAS BUSY! I was doing things that I was supposed to do. However, I didn’t APPEAR to be busy enough! So some jerk can be goofing off and seem to be doing more than me, while I am actually doing my job.
January 20th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Avoiding work is an all-American pastime, is it? I guess the Mexican influx has some basis in sense then. Next time a shuttle blows up on the launch pad, I will wonder if anyone in the control room, all busy looking busy, notices. And I will wait for the NYT articles explaining that Iraq is a lost cause because all the soldiers over there are playing spider solitaire. Thank the Lord for Donald Trump or nothing would get done at all in America. At least he keeps himself busy firing folk.
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:07 am
RPR:
What is it with your obsession with Britney? I guess you figure if you can pick out a female slut to criticize, you must therefore be a MRA. Why else are you even a columnist on Mens News Daily? Can’t you find something positive to write about that would benefit the male gender?
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:23 am
“Mens News Daily: Daily news, commentary, culture, liberty, a chronicle of mankind”
As you can see from MND’s banner, this Web site is not just for essays that “would benefit the male gender.”
MND is about mens rights, but it’s also abut pop culture and current events (my specialty).It’s a chronicle of mankind (generic term)
In other words, I will freakin’ write about whatever I want to write about. If I want to write about Britney every day, I will.
Don’t read my essays if they don’t meet with your approval.
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:45 am
Given the amount of searches that have been done for Britney online, a lot of men would find reading anything about her as beneficial in some way
Everyone has a right to be obsessed about something/someone!
Robert, even if some of your buddies don’t read your essays, I always will
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:39 am
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