an explanation of the j-lists

J is a coworker. I use the term "worker" loosely here, because he doesnt actually do a lot of work. He's capable of it, but has chosen to augment his pay through attrition of his productivity. Of course, he doesnt actually make more money this way, but I'm sure he goes home far less tired than I do. Over the months of his employment, I, and most of my co-workers, have gotten tired of watching him goof off, so I decided to document it. Not in order to hand it over to management, since that kind of thing tends to backfire, but rather just to satisfy my curiosity. And who knows, maybe if management asks nicely, I might share. A little. Maybe*.

These lists are not very detailed, and it should be understood that I myself was working while making them. All day long, I would look over at J to see what he was doing. If I looked over and he was on the phone, I'd make a note of the time, then make another when I looked over and he was no longer on the phone. I could only do this when I myself was actually in the department, so if I was gone there is no record of what he was doing. I also make no claim as to whether he was on legitimate company business or not; it is possible that his many forays away from his station were to consult someone on company-related business. Possible. Not probable, though.

Here are the terms used, and they are necessarily broad so as to facilitate brevity of the recording notes and time spent doing them (since I am, after all, at work and doing a job). Generally:

• "internet": means what it sounds like. Surfing on the workstation computer.
• "wandering": not in the department's area. Could be pursuing some answer, or on break, or he could be at lunch. Could be yakking outside while smoking. Definitely not manning his post.
• "phone": could be on his cell, texting, surfing or talking (frequently seems to be watching videos, judging by the intensity with which he stares at the thing). Could be on the work phone, legitimately or otherwise. Not manning his station, though.
• "sitting": not at his post, but still in the department, sitting in a chair. Might possibly be doing company-related paper work, but there isnt a lot of that (although strangely, for the person in the department who does the least amount of work, he does appear to spend the most amount of time doing paperwork). Often writing something, or possibly on the phone, or sometimes just staring at nothing.
• "yakking": in the department, but talking rather than working. Possibly at his post, possibly not.
• "gratuitous cleaning": cleaning the work area in unnecessary ways, apparently to avoid work. Should mention that J may be a germaphobe, and the plant VP is former electronics engineer who likes sterility and square corners. I usually only cite this if J is using a spray cleaner outside his general area or has gotten out the air hose (yes, I said air hose).
• "rapping": just what it sounds like. seriously.
• "working": occasionally,  J will buckle down and actually work. Sometimes, I am so amazed that I actually make note of this fact (this is why "working" will often be accompanied by an exclamation point, thusly: "working!").
• "MW", "HK", "HP", "RS": Bosses. Except for MW and RS on weekends, their presence is fairly rare. Note the change in J's behavior when they do show up, though. Sometimes.
• "Training": J does actually know his stuff, so occasionally he's in charge of training new people to run the machine he runs. It's not like he's all that productive, anyway, so he might as well be training. When training, J gets a break from my note-taking, because there's a lot of time spent standing around and personal productivity isnt really an issue.
• "Jr": occasional volunteer note-taker from after my shift. J tends to ride the clock, Jr sometimes makes notes.

I should point out here that while I record all these things when I see them, I only record them if the machine he is supposed to be operating is not running. If the machine is running, I dont really care what he's doing. Talking, texting, surfing, whatever. The Bosses might, but that's their problem*. Granted, his activities when the machine isnt running arent mine at that time either, but at those times he just really bugs the hell out of me, so I write it down.



* Management gets paid big bucks for two things: 1) facilitation of the production, i.e., giving workers the resources and direction they need to complete their jobs, and 2) being the cop on the beat and keeping workers in line. I'm not paid enough to do their job for them.