Someone is out to get me...

And I think they work for the Roanoke Times.

See, this weekend they went right for the throat. Printed things they KNEW would get my blood boiling, and would raise the level on my blog here.

Well no such luck.

Sure I read the Ed Hall peice (Take a chance, make Roanoke cool.)and I too sat bewildered as one of the top Commercial Real Estate leaders in Roanoke spells out his dream of peace, love, and puppies in the Art Museum (all visible from the invisible Mill Mountain Inn (which cannot be built the way Ed lays out - due to a large LANDMARK star, 2 overlooks, and a zoo being in the way, not to mention the personal property of a taxpaying homeowner)).

But no, thats a softball for me. I like a challenge.

Then todays business section, "'Retirement jobs' are in demand by boomers". Oh the fun I could have with that one. You know, like perhaps the problem with the lack of "workers with experience" is that the Boomers will not step aside (as was done for them by the preceeding generations) and retire giving them the opportunity for advancement and learning those skills? It smacks of systematic lazyness, and a soft comfort knowing you have employees you have counted on for years still on the payroll. Rather than take the risk and allow some new brains on the floor to do the job, they would rather keep what they know.

Employer loyalty has been a subject hotly discussed among my co-workers and I lately. All of us have varying experience in the food industry, some have worked in it longer than others and some have worked other fields (as I did with my time in retail) - but the one common thread is the lack of loyalty in the workplace. There is no consideration to retaining the best and brightest, no willingness to compete to keep the competent ones. If I were to recieve an offer tomorrow for a job that pays more doing the same thing I am doing now (with the competition, for arguements sake) - I know with 100% faith that my current employer would wish me good luck, so long...

There is no reward for hard work, no reason to strive to keep yourself and the company doing the best it can. Everyone is expendable, whereas in the past it was 'Everyone is expendable, some at a higher cost.'

So lets see, pension - social security - possibly investments, and you still want to work? Then where is my opportunity? If you suck up 5% of the entire payroll budget for the department, and the other 95% is taken up (in varying chunks) by the rest of the staff - where is my opportunity?

And a 2% a year raise on a minimal hourly salary (we will say $9) is hardly worth the effort. At that rate, it would take me 5 years to go up a full dollar in pay. I've heard it said that the 2% raise is there to encourage people to move up, to advance. I've personally been told that, only to find out that the 2% is across the board, for everyone short of the manager. Who has been there 10 years, and shows no sign - nor has any plans, of going anywhere.

Truth of it is, there seems to be very little reward for experience and effort these days. And with the Boomers sticking around the workforce even longer, the situation will not improve unless the younger crowd strikes out on it's own and goes into head to head competition with the existing businesses.

But thats a topic for another time. The focus now is on getting the page ready for tomorrow nights roll out, the podcast seamless as a vintage radio show, and the HQ packed up and ready to roll.

Oh, and in my spare time - continuing the deconstruction of Mr. Mayor's State of the City Speech.

I hope your all taking notes, you will be tested.