Tennessee Drifter

So, my millennial daughter works for an IT company in a large liberal city, and a majority of the other employees are millennials too. My daughter is also rather conservative, perhaps not as conservative as I am, but much more that most of her contemporaries.  We talk several times a week and I always enjoy asking how are things at work.

This high tech company she works for provides employees breakfast and lunch along with unlimited hot and cold beverages throughout the day and snacks, let’s not forget the snacks.  They also pay for adult beverages for monthly/semi-monthly team meetings and then there are the frequent “happy hour” visits to local establishments a couple of times a month where the company pays for the first round.    And recently, employees celebrating their first year with the company received a bottle of their favorite beverage, signed by all. Decent pay, food, beverages and good times for all. Sounds like an utopian work place.

However, not all is peaceful in Utopia.  One of the frequent complaints is that the company does not provide salt in the lunch area, kind of a weird complaint from my perspective, but there it is–no salt.  Then there is the issue of free beverages all day long.  All of those beverages require containers to hold the beverages while they are being consumed.  Once they finish a beverage the cup, glass, or whatever goes into the breakroom sink, waiting for the fairy of Utopia-land to clean, dry and return the container the cabinet so that the privileged residents of Utopia to return when they desire a new beverage.  Never mind that there is a dishwasher right there next to the sink.  As a response the company hired a lady to come and wash the dishes, along with cleaning up after everyone.  I mean, it would be unreasonable to expect anyone to wipe down a table when they finished eating.  But when the cups are all dirty, and none are available there is a meltdown…seriously, how could this happen…no cups?

As I thought about the situation, it occurred to me that this is a micro-example of socialism.  Consider for a moment that company management is the government and the employees the citizens.  The government provides everything until they can’t or won’t–then panic ensues.  In response, the government provides more to satisfy the citizens” in this case, they create a new job for someone to clean up behind everyone else.  In the meantime, costs keep rising and at some point they will have to look at reducing services, perhaps cheaper or fewer free items and less frequent help to provide services.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the company invites employees to a weekly happy hour at a local establishment and the company buys the first round, but some employees are unhappy about “happy hour” because the company only provides one round.  It seems that some believe it is unreasonable that the company does not provide drinks until they decide to stop drinking and they can’t understand the company’s unwillingness to provide them each with transportation home when they are no longer able to drive or walk for that matter.

Utopia is indeed a wonderful place…until someone has to pay.