I am Legend

I’m beginning to like certain things about my job here. I don’t like my job or the position I hold in this company, so don’t get me wrong there. I’m just biding my time here until I make a power play and take over someone else’s position which I’ve had my eye on for some time. However, there are some perks of being me and being the scheduler in this plant. Mostly, I’ve become a legend out on the production floor. Granted, there are people out there who know my story and know better. But, there are a couple dozen employees who look at me like I’m a god. Don’t ask me how they came to this conclusion on their own, but I hear these stories that just make my day.

Take Ken, for example: Ken is a low level vat washer. He’s around number 2 from the bottom of the manufacturing totem pole. Ken is a short, round, excited and hardworking African-American guy who started as a TEMP and got himself hired full time. He’s a nice guy about 5 years younger than me. I overheard him in the locker room the other day talking to another TEMP about how he worked hard enough to get hired. I walked past them and Ken said, “Aw Man! What’s up, Pete?!” I said hello to him, asked him how he was, and continued on my way. Around the bank of lockers, I heard him lower his voice and say to the TEMP in an excited voice, “That’s Pete. He’s the Scheduler for this place. Everyone has to do what he says! He tells us what to run, when to run, and how to do it. Did you know he started out as a TEMP vat washer just like us? He worked his way all the way up to Upper Management, and now he tells everyone else what to do! I wanna work my way up there some day just like that!” By this time, I was laughing almost audibly. I did NOT start as a TEMP, NOR as a vat washer, NOR am I ANYWHERE close to upper management. I certainly don’t tell everyone what to do, and they absolutely do NOT listen to me when I tell them to do anything. But hell, I let it slide.

Being a Production Scheduler is definitely an important role in a manufacturing facility. In fact, in most companies, schedulers make quite a bit more money than I do, have quite a bit more authority, and a hell of a lot more respect. My place is a bit different, which is one reason I don’t like my job very much. The other main reason is because of the people I deal with, but there are plenty more entries to talk about them. I do like that, even with the traditional “Us vs. Them” mentality of production and the office staff (and vice a versa), both sides see me as an ally in the fight against the other in most circumstances. At other times, however, I’m frequently called a Traitor by one side or the other. This makes my job wonderfully interesting at times. Little do they know, I’m no Traitor. I’m just not really a fan of anyone, yet everyone seems to like me more often than not. Good for them. It’s nice to feel like someone understands you sometimes. (Even if that person is just pretending so you will leave sooner…)