Once upon a time lived a lovely young mom named Poysyn. Now although a kind and honest mom who loved her child, Poysyn yearned to have an income, so she accepted a position with the seemingly wonderful company RighteousBeing (not the name, but close enough). RighteousBeing seemed to be an excellent company, which trumpeted great caring for its employees and members. They hired Poysyn on part-time and even allowed her to bring her child, BabyPoysyn to the in-house childcare while she worked. What could be better? In the morning, blue birds would alight on her shoulders as she arrived at work, rainbows painted the sky overhead and life was wonderful.
Then came a time when a position higher up was vacated. With no one to helm the business, Poysyn stepped into the role. BabyPoysyn went into full time care and she worked hard while virtuous powers that be at RighteousBeing searched the kingdom high and low for someone to take over. Eventually, realizing that Poysyn was doing a wonderful job they came bearing job offers. “Take this full time position, and we will thank you in the form of a pretty good paycheck.”
But Poysyn was not fooled; she read the contract that detailed too many hours with no extra pay. “Never fear,” said RighteousBeing, “work smarter not harder, we know you are a mom, you are doing fine with the hours you are keeping now.”
And so there were good times in the kingdom, birds sang and manna fell from the heavens.
Then Darkness came, and Darkness’ name was Zocha. She was an evil she-beast risen only to bring horror and sadness to Poysyn’s life. Her evil revealed itself as she spoke to people and randomly closed her eyes, a sign of evil people everywhere. She became the ruler over Poysyn’s job, otherwise known as Upper middle management.
She decreed that all general managers must work a minimum of fifty hours a week (unpaid overtime) and said to Poysyn, “ You will work two evenings a week, every other weekend and the last week of the month, plus regular business hours.”
Poysyn was heartbroken. How could she continue at this job and be a mom? She brought her concerns back to Zocha, who offered her another position, which would allow more freedom. That is wonderful, thought Poysyn, I’ll do it.
But ALAS! It was only a ploy to get the letter of resignation, and poof the jobs vanished! Poysyn went home to think about what to do next. “I know,” she thought. “I will apply for benefits and take the self-employment course and start writing. That has been my dream for so long, now I can do it, this is a blessing in disguise.”
Thunder and Lightning from RighteousBeing, they did not want to allow this, for their name was really LifesuckingExistence and they didn’t give anything to anyone, especially staff that left.
A tremendous battle ensued, on one side the monster corporation LifesuckingExistence represented by their champion - Zocha, on the other, tiny little Poysyn, alone. It seemed a grim, grim day. The two sides met on a grassy riverbank to duke it out. The referee? A government claims adjuster. The claims adjuster reported that Zocha was claiming no change of hours that Poysyn just left. She demanded proof from the company. Days turned into weeks and the war raged. Lightning slashed across the sky as the company took cheap shot after cheap shot. Poysyn struggled to rise again, after each blow, growing weary. The fighting went on for seven weeks.
Zocha announced she would be faxing over the signed contract of employment, which detailed the hour requirement and payroll records. Poysyn was struck down, lying in the mud. The fight seemed lost. The mighty corporation would win again. Reaching out with battle weary arms, Poysyn cried out to someone, anyone to help. And collapsed, face down in the muck.
Just then, she felt an edge under one finger, a smooth stone. Carefully she dug it out. Zocha jeered and pranced, feeling victorious. She never noticed Poysyn slowly sliding her belt loose.
Painfully, Poysyn rose to her feet and looped the belt over in her bloodied fist. She nestled the stone carefully in the makeshift slingshot and whirled it overhead. With the deafening cry of the downtrodden working woman she let the stone fly.
The silent missile struck the evil Zocha right between her closed eyes. Her eyes opened for a moment in sudden shock then the thunderous crash as her body fell to the mud.
VICTORY!
I got my benefits. The contract, which was signed four months after hire, I was smart enough to date the day I signed it, and my hours showed that I had, in fact, been working less then fifty hours the whole time! The adjuster said this proved that my old supervisor was lying.
Oh Happy DAY!
