One day at his company, he didn't have any pen left. So he went to the switchboard and asked for a new ball-point pen. The person at the switchboard told him that ball-point pens are for the management only, employee can only get a felt-tip pen. Order from the boss.

The problem was the fact that after 6 months we still didn't have a refrigerator to keep cokes or any other drinks in, much less free drinks (like you say...how much can that be?). So I offered to go to the warehouse store in town with the secretary and scope out a good "dented" refrigerator. "Great," says the boss, "I'll get one if you can find one cheap." I found a very nice one for about half price because it had a dent on the side (so they couldn't sell it to an average customer). But did we get that? No....the next week my boss shows up with a small "dorm" fridge and that's what we were stuck with....for an office of around 20 people.

Oh, and the CEO showed up a day later with a new Corvette, which I found out later was bought with company money....but that's another story all together.

Ahhh, those were the days.

I run tinyproxy through a SSH shell redirect. I also use Phoenix, where I can clear my cache. It's not because I go to pr0n sites or anything, it's because my privacy is worth more than their tracking system, and I don't care what they have to say about it.

----

January 5, 1998

Memo To: All Employees

From: [president of the company]

Subject: Policies on Coffee Breaks and Food/Drinks

For over 15 years [company name omitted] has had a formal policy on 1)

coffee breaks and 2) locations where food and drinks may not be consumed. These policies are as follows:

-- There are two scheduled coffee breaks each day. The morning break

is from 10:15 to 10:30 A.M. and the afternoon break is from 3:15

to 3:30 P.M.

-- The company provides free coffee or tea to employees during the

scheduled coffee breaks and at lunchtime.

-- Food or drinks (with the exception of water which must be in a

closed container) are not allowed in company offices or warehouses

at any time. Food or drinks may only be consumed in lunchrooms or

patio/outside areas.

These policies were established for good reasons. They were for cleanliness,

electronic equipment concerns, work scheduling and efficiency. The company

decided to pay for coffee and tea to offset any inconvenience employees

might feel.

Many employees are not following these policies. As a result, food and

drinks are being consumed at any hour of the working day, employees are

using extra company-paid time to obtain unauthorized coffee, and

coffee is being consumed in places where food and drinks should not be consumed.

In spite of the fact that our employee numbers have not increased in

the past year, company expenses on coffee and related supplies have almost

doubled in the past year.

Effective immediately, I expect all employees to adhere to [company name

omitted] formal policies as stated above. Supervisors and managers will be expected to enforce and monitor these policies in their respective departments.