# To my Increasingly Dickensian Employers... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 5, 2002, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-increasingly-dickensian-employers/140742 "2002-12-05T18:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-increasingly-dickensian-employers/140742/21 "2002-12-06T17:27:12Z")
Heat? You want HEAT? In MY day, we didn’t have _heat_! We were locked in basement with blocks of ice strapped to our heads for twenty hours a day! And we didn’t have fancy-schmancy _computers_ - we had quills and watery ink and had to write everything _long_hand on cold, crispy papyrus that would snap in half because they were covered in frost! And _lunch?_ We didn’t have _lunch_ - we had to nibble little bits of the moss growing around us in our cold, dark, dank basement and chew on papyrus until our teeth rotted out - _ **and we liked it!** _ Esprix ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-increasingly-dickensian-employers/140742/22 "2002-12-06T17:34:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Esprix \* > \*\*Heat? You want HEAT? In MY day, we didn’t have _heat_! We were locked in basement with blocks of ice strapped to our heads for twenty hours a day! And we didn’t have fancy-schmancy _computers_ - we had quills and watery ink and had to write everything _long_hand on cold, crispy papyrus that would snap in half because they were covered in frost! And _lunch?_ We didn’t have _lunch_ - we had to nibble little bits of the moss growing around us in our cold, dark, dank basement and chew on papyrus until our teeth rotted out - _ **and we liked it!** _ > > Esprix \*\* Well was your boss nice at least? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-increasingly-dickensian-employers/140742/23 "2002-12-06T17:38:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Haydee \* > No one appreciates this comment _nearly_ as much as it deserves. I’ve been laughing my ass off here for the last five minutes because of this reply alone. Nah, I was just trying to think of a good follow-up line but am too uncreative to manage one. It also got me thinking of my last job, where our area had no heat for something like 4 days. The maintenance guys were too busy trying to restore heat to a couple of entire buildings that had none, so we were low on the priority list. We technically didn’t **have** to come into work, but we couldn’t really leave our office unstaffed since we worked in a pediatric cardiology office in a hospital. So, we came in and worked anyway. There’s nothing like working at a computer in a parka, trying to figure out if you can type better with padded gloves or stiff fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-increasingly-dickensian-employers/140742/24 "2002-12-07T06:38:47Z")
So, can you go home if you’re, you know, SICK? Cause I would be feelin’ a real bad flu coming on right about now. Maybe you should stick your finger down your throat and go vomit on your boss’s desk. That oughta do it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-increasingly-dickensian-employers/140742/25 "2002-12-07T06:43:39Z")
Oh, I forgot to add my Canadian perspective here - I have never worked for a company that didn’t understand people calling in “my car is stuck in driveway and can’t get out”, or people leaving early in a bad snowstorm. People would leave anyway if they tried it. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-increasingly-dickensian-employers/140742/26 "2002-12-07T18:58:36Z")
Do they actually own the building or are the offices rented out. It may be building management that turned down the heat because, you know, _everyone_ left for the the day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-increasingly-dickensian-employers/140742.md?page=1)