Safety

Ha. being a ghost and talking about safety. What does it matter? Being noncoporeal has its benefits.

Kidding aside, I am a Safety Team Member in my store. I have been for nearly two years. This means a lot more that attending usually boring meetings, wearing the red badge on my slave tag, oops, wm nametag, and being smippy about people doing unsafe things.

Accidents cost us our quarterly bonus last and it is wrong to blame us. Few listen to us and many just do what they want. Then there are those stupid fucking people called customers. They never watch where they are going and if there was red paint on the floor, they would blunder right through it.

I don't care if you think I am in the wrong business. I have worked in retail since I was 16. Normally in a average store, it's not a big deal. But the store I work in is more of evertything. More money, more items, and more space in which to watch for things on the floor.

What ends up on the floor? Broken glass sometimes. Plastic from wrappings or pieces of things, WATER, spit, vomit, and I saw one time long ago, somebody peeing on the floor.

This is not to say this happens every day. Water is the biggest concern. It could be condensation on a cold pallet, water from watering plants, the rain, or somebody spilled some. The glossy tile floor (which is really a detriment) gets slippery like your penis covered in KY.

People slip and fall. They sue wm. wm's insurance company, CMI, is gleefully charging for these incidents. That money comes from 'extra' money that supplies our quarterly bonus.

It should be a very powerful argument against ignoring spills. But it is not.

I have seen other associates walk by something spilled. I want to yell at them, call them stupid douchebags for jut walking by. But I don't. God forbid that I upset anyone.

Safety is not something restricted to work. Driving unsafe is endemic in the cesspit town I work in. This is largely thanks to the Army base that feeds the cesspit.

Go to www.kdhnews.com to see all the bad things that happen there.

WE ALL play a part in safety, whether it is safe lifting, making sure the floor is clear, or using a ladder properly. Cooking at home is a huge place for safety. Steam and boiling water burn all layers of your skin. Not just the top few.

A www.prevent-it.ca tv spot played today in the safety meeting, which was more of a pizza party than anything like usal. This spot is called 'Chef' and features a young woman who slips on a greasy part of the kitchen floor while carrying a large pot of boiling water.

It did not mince detail. YOU CAN BE HURT by the simplest thing if you are not careful and pay attention to what you are doing.

I am not the safest guy in the world. I climb on things because I'm short. I drive too fast, and I have a room that looks like the dump.

When the Celexa-clone kicks in, I kinda just fade out. That is not a safe attitude but it is the way it is. I do more to pay attention. I can be clumsy. I stay careful.

I can only do my part. I am a Safety Team Member. It has stung me three times in my time on it. Once when I had a car accident, once when my friend Ricky fell and broke his head open, and when I was 'busted' for leaving an open ladder on the floor.

I have been ever more vigilant since then and that is wearing on me.

Why should I be the only one that cares?

Be safe. You don't want to be hurt. You don't want to be responsible for something that could have been prevented. If you have feelings at all, you would understand the cost of being unsafe.

More than pain or money could be lost. It is extremely uncool to die while doing something stupid. It is even more uncool to die at work.

In this winter season, when it is icy or rainy, be careful. Watch your step and do more to make sure others do not slip or fall. I will. I will be the Safety Team Member of any group I'm in. I will make you care.

You do not want to be a ghost like Arthelius. There is no joy in such an existence.