Tales of an American Peasant Job Search US Airways
Being unemployed and with plenty of time on my hands, I thought I’d mosey over to the airport to see what kind of jobs were available. I’ve always been fascinated by airports and airplanes; the bustle of all the people rushing around to board planes that fly to places all around the world; all the official looking people looking smart in their uniforms; the magic of a plane weighing several tons leaving the ground and rising thousands of feet into the sky.
I thought it would be cool loading and unloading luggage on the planes, or guiding a just arriving plane into the gate. They even let you de-ice the wings during the winter time. Sounds like fun to me. I’m going to go check it out. So I applied for the baggage handler’s job and got called in for an interview.
Well I arrived at the US Airways office and was directed to take a seat in the conference room and given some paperwork to fill out. Turns out there were a lot of other people there who applied for the same job I did. They must be fascinated by airplanes just like me. If you can’t fly one at least you can do the next best thing and load them up. Even baggage handlers get a uniform and an official US Airways badge. Maybe I’ll at least get to meet a real pilot captain and talk with him like a fellow employee. “How was the flight Capt’n, no ditch’n in the Hudson today heh?”
It was lunchtime, and we all have been waiting for quite some time for someone to come in and get this show on the road. I wonder why they couldn’t be bothered to put out some donuts or something seems like that would have been the courteous thing to do.
The big guy from Charlotte headquarters finally came in and put on a picture show meant to show the wonders of being a baggage handler. There was also a lot of talk for the need for safety on the job. I’m thinking ok big shot, let’s cut to the chase here, what’s the pay and the benefits. Well hearing what the job paid brought my heart up into my throat and gave me a bought of air sickness of the kind ya get when you run into some unexpected turbulence and the plane your on makes a sudden five thousand foot drop without warning. The fellow across the table looked incredulously at me and then whispered to me “did he say $9.89 an hour? How are you supposed to live on that?”
The people at US Airways know that no one would work for that kind of money, so the next speaker, a longtime employee gives the punch line: it’s not the pay it’s the benefits that got him to sign on. He’s right, I know you’re not going to pay me; I’m here for the health insurance. For many Americans it’s not about pay anymore, it’s about insurance.
Well they did give us all the courtesy of a one on one interview. When my turn came I was asked why I would want to work for them since they gave me every reason not to: low pay and miniscule annual raises of 25 cents an hour. I gave him the answer he undoubtedly gets from everyone, “I need the health insurance”.
But the show is over now because he has sized me up and seeing that I’m over forty, (a little too old to be lifting heavy bags all day without getting injured) he knows I’m just a worker’s comp. claim so he tells me he won’t hire me as a baggage handler, maybe a ticket guy but not a baggage handler.
Well the bastard read my mind exactly since I had a disc injury in my lower back and a torn rotor cuff so I was expecting to have to file that claim before I finished my first week of employment. Foiled again I’m afraid. My dream job came to a screeching halt. It all ended with him telling me to go online and reapply for a ticket punching job and he would personally give me a recommendation. Sure pal, whatever you say.
Bottom line is that they are recruiting only young minority guys; the only ones desperate enough to sign on for a $9.89 an hour career with no future. But it was a pleasant sunny day and I do love the feel and sights of an airport. The whole experience was kind of fun any very enlightening. I learned US Airways will pay their CEO tens of millions of dollars but there is nothing left over for the guy on the tarmac.
Trickle down my ass, the only thing trickling down is the piss from the penthouse commode. That ain’t rain your feel’n buddy, but you might want to take out your umbrella just the same.
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