Pretending to care
Working in a corporate environment, you get used pretty quickly to the idea that nobody actually cares. That’s fine, that’s fair enough; no one is being paid to care. But what annoys me, and I mean really, really annoys me, is when they start *pretending* to care!
I do not think my employer cares two hoots about its staff at all. The high level of staff turnover we enjoy is a good indication of this. Of the staff in my department below manager level, I can think of three people who were here when I started less than three years ago who are still here today. That would be three out of thirty odd. People are quite prepared to tell you to travel the length and breadth of the country at a moment’s notice, require you to work your evenings and weekends without claiming the overtime to which you are theoretically entitled, and suggest you walk around carrying a two tonne weight of files on your back.
However! Stop! Press! Next week is officially Well-Being Week~!, a chance for our employer to show they are really all pink and fluffy and actually care. Next week we are therefore required to attend breakfast at 8am every day and participate in fun lunch time activities, such as a guided walking tour of the city centre and sudoku competitions. This is “to promote well being by offering advice and support to help you sustain a healthy lifestyle… encouraging and empowering each of us to take preventative measures to improve our health and overall well-being… just the beginning of the firm’s long term strategy of becoming a great place to work”.
Right. These are, like, the same people who as of tomorrow will be responsible for me taking anti-depressants?!
To get well-being week off to a flying start, this afternoon we have all been emailed a preliminary lecture on the importance of proper nutrition. “Fruit and vegetables should make up one third of our daily food intake and information will be on display to remind you of the wide variety of ways of ensuring you are getting five portions a day”.
In case any of us have been stuck auditing in windowless cupboards for so long that we no longer remember what a vegetable is, someone has gone to the trouble of forwarding us a helpful leaflet with pictures.
I particularly like the technical questionnaire on the second page which walks you through the process of adding up whether you are getting five portions a day 
Tags: fruit, vegetables, well being