Jason got fired again, for the same reason as before: too many travelers on jobs while guys from the local union sit at home. What-fucking-ever. Not to betray my socialist roots, but I think it's bullshit. Jason's bosses love him -- he's the smartest, hardest working guy they've got -- and they've gone to bat for him to try to keep him on the job, explaining to the company that they'll lose money by getting rid of him and bringing back guys that are slower and dumber. But the union guys are putting the pressure on, so they had to can him. He's got prospects for other work, and he can collect unemployment, but it's still got my blood pressure up.
In the meantime, my boss and I are trying to work out an arrangement through which I would work for him on an hourly basis rather than being on salary. We started talking numbers, and his numbers are way low. He keeps talking about what the going rate is for contract attorneys. And I had to explain that traditional contract attorneys are people that big firms bring in to do document review or big discovery productions in monster cases. Their work is tedious and requires no real intellectual or analytical effort, and as a result, their pay is shit. I'm not that kind of lawyer, I don't do that kind of mindless work, and I won't work for shit.
He's not being a dick about it, and I know we'll be able to work something out, but it's making me anxious nonetheless.
Zeke and Jason are coming home tomorrow. Jason had an indiscretion from way before he met me on his record, and the customs guys tend to give him a hard time when he enters the country. We took care of all of the legal stuff before we even got engaged, and worked everything out so that he could get his green card after we got married. But they still detain him and search him and harass him. The last time Jason went to Australia, when he came back into the country, he was detained by border patrol guys once again, and they actually accused him of having a fake green card. As if they couldn't just look up his alien number and other information in their computer, and confirm in about 3 seconds that he is actually a legal resident of this country. But no. A little power in the hands of someone who doesn't wield much of it in other areas of his life can be very dangerous.
Anyway, now he's traveling with an infant, and I'm terrified that after flying all night, my baby is going to be detained so that a bunch of assholes can swing their dicks around and abuse my husband for no reason. My mother has made some calls and has been assured that there shouldn't be a problem, but I won't feel secure until I see them with my own eyes.
With all of that, you have every reason to vent. I hope that the work stuff gets worked out to your satisfaction and that Jason finds something quickly.
ReplyDeleteAnd I especially hope that their trip home goes smoothly.