Monday, December 19, 2005

Has "Charlie Brown Christmas" always been so... Jesus-is-the-reason-for-the-season?

Because I watched it a few times this weekend and I'm just wondering. I mean, Ziggy's always been a little preachy, but I didn't remember Charlie Brown being like that.

Oh, and, for the record, I'm officially over the whole Christmas-helping-my-fellow-man thing. Let me tell you a little story about why:

I sit at the front desk at work which means that when job seekers come in... seeking jobs, I'm the one that they have to get to deal with, I'm the one who takes the applications, I'm the one who can see that it gets shoved in front of the right people, or who lets it languish on my desk for two weeks.

Thursday, a guy who already works for us came in to pick up his check and he brought his cousin who wanted to fill out an application. I give him the application and chat with the other guy while his cousin starts to fill out the paperwork.

The guy who works for us goes outside and the cousin stops filling out the application and looks up at me. "Ma'am," he says. "I really need a job."

"Okay, well, I'll give the application to the boss and let him know." (translation: "mmmkay, I'm trying to shop on eBay, could you just fill that out and leave me alone?")

"Ma'am, I really need a job. I'll do anything."

"As soon as you get that filled out, I'll go ahead and turn it over to the boss and see if we can find something for you."

"Are y'all hirin' right now?"

"To be honest, this time of year everything slows down."

"But, ma'am, I really need a job. I been workin' at one of those day labor places and I spend all day down there and don't get any work. It's Christmas and I've got my wife to support... Please, ma'am. My uncle works for you and so does my cousin, they both like it so much, they told me to just come in here and be honest..."

At this point, the guy was just about crying and I was softening up a little, so I started bugging a couple of the job foremen to hire him. The first few that I bugged had full crews and definitely didn't need anybody. And I hadn't been lying about this being a slow time of year, I do the payroll and see some of these guys getting 8 or 9 hours a week. Then the Bossman happened to wander past.

"[Bossman]," I holler (because "hollering" is how we communicate here. "This is Louis and he needs a job. His uncle and cousin work for us."

Bossman, obviously in a hurry to get out the door, asks him a question or two, then tells him to be at the shop at 7:45 the next morning and he would be put to work.

The guy looks like he's about to pee his pants he's so happy. Right as Bossman is closing the door, the guy asks me how much he's going to get paid.

"[Bossman]," I holler. "How much are you going to give him?"

"How much does he say he wants on his application?"

I glance down at the application, the guy is asking for a minimum of $7. I know that if I tell Bossman this, $7 is going to be what the guy gets. Bossman may pretend to be a stupid country boy, but he's good with money, specifically not paying anyone any more than he has to. "$8 an hour."

"Okay, fine," he hollers as he slams the door shut and goes about his merry way.

The guy thanks me about 7 million times as I'm giving him the specifics of where he needs to be and who he's going to be working with.

He leaves and I go on the rest of the day feeling all warm, fuzzy and Christmas-y inside.

The next afternoon, the guy comes into the office to fill out the rest of the paperwork. He inquires about paychecks and I let him know he'll get a check on Thursday. He makes a little more small talk and then asks if I have any money I can give him so he can have cigarettes for the weekend.

I tell myself that he didn't just ask me for money. For cigarettes.

Then he asks me again. And then he's a little perturbed when I tell him that I don't carry cash.

My warm, fuzzy, Christmas-y feeling turns to nausea. Why do I keep trying to convince myself that people don't suck? Why?