Rant of the Week

Boy, I should have thought this through a bit more (or at all). I worked desk last night from 7-12, and now I'm covering for Ms. Judy from 8:30-11:30. Too much desk! Too little sleep! Money!

On with the show...

I hate it how we have so many different ways to say things. Why can't we just say what we mean? Much of it stems from the effort to be politically correct - which I don't like either. Take, for example, job titles. They're no longer called trashmen; now they're called waste management technicians. That's crazy!

Bob: Hey man, you find a job yet?
Ted: Yeah, dude. I'm a waste management technician.
Bob: What the heck is that?
Ted: Basically, it's a glorified trashman.
Bob: So why aren't you just called a trashman?

Exactly, Bob. Why, indeed. And now, there are so many different ways to be kicked out of a company. You can be fired, let go, or laid-off. They're all the same, only some sound better. If you're fired, you probably did something bad. If you're let go, you probably did something your boss didn't agree with, though isn't wrong, so it's like a nice way of firing you. If you're laid-off, that usually means that the company is down-sizing and either your job is being cut or they need to hire someone cheaper or something.

But what if you're let-go, but don't want to go? "Ben, we're going to have to let you go." "No, I'm OK working here, thanks." Then, will they fire you? Then what do you tell your next employer? Were you let-go AND fired from the same job? Is that possible? It's much too confusing.

I'm all for saying what you mean. If you want to fire someone, fire them. Don't "let them go." Adding all this nonsense to titles is rediculous. Call it what it is. If there's bad connotations, change them. Changing the name is the lazy way to trick people into thinking something has changed. It hasn't.