Drowning or Swimming in Book Four: Ichi-no-Tani 2017

Today is a day I have dreaded. I couldn’t sleep last night. Woke up at 5 to play video games to calm me down.

The bosses are back. The Chinese Assistants are practically trembling over it.

Which also means, time to look at our list..... and no. No.
No powerball wins. Not even a $4.00 “nothing but the powerball” win. So, the odds of 1 in 25 are not good odds for me.
No phone calls on jobs. Not a single one. Not even a phone call to say “no.” So those odds aren’t good for me either. Well… eyes shut tightly. Breath held. Lets plunge into the day like a naked rat into an icy ocean.

GLASSDOOR asked if they could do a Free Salary Estimate for me. I gave them the name of my company; told them it was a Small Private Legal Firm, I told them how much I make; I told them I had 1 year of previous experience; and I was working as an Associate Attorney.
With all that information, Glassdoor says
Your Market Value ?
$60,173
Your current pay is below your estimated Market Value.
Percent Below (-50.1%)

First Blood:
Reviewing the case summary I sent to my bosses; Chinese Boss sees my list of “Follow up on Immigration Cases”. She doesn’t recognize the names. I explain. She gets upset. Apparently, a petition that we were trying to send out before they left… hadn’t gotten sent out. And since it hadn’t gotten sent out before they left; I needed to get Chinese Assistant to send it out. Since Chinese Assistant didn’t send it out; we’re both in trouble. Like… a “this doesn’t get to happen again; we’re penalizing you via your paycheck.” kind of trouble. And I’m serious on that. I was told that they are withholding $200 “because of (my) failure.” And… y’know… sure? I guess it makes sense if I fucked up badly. Of course… this is Immigration, and despite the fact that I’ve been here for 6 months… I’ve been doing Business Formation, Civil Litigation, Landlord/Tenant law, Collections, Criminal Law and trying to learn Immigration Law in that time. As impacted by a depression and significant hating of my life and job. So… sure. Take 7 hours out of my paycheck. Not like this job is really The Money Maker.

HA! So, it should be obvious considering how trembling the Asian Staff (2 people) was about the bosses coming back… after only 2 hours, they were already saying “I envy Montana!” Montana is the Legal Secretary of another firm in this office space. This firm has 2 Partners and No Associates. They have been in business for ten years. They have their shit together to the point where they can all smoothly take on anything that comes their way. This is a wise business move. You establish a sound and solid foundation and build on it. Except… as we know… my bosses don’t do that. My bosses try to build as much as fast as possible. Whether the foundation can withstand it or not. Thus the high turnover.

HA! I knew it. I KNEW IT! So, 5150 has a Game scheduled on Saturday. I was reluctant to commit myself to it, knowing that the bosses would be back, but I figured that if there was something I would be required to do on Saturday they would tell me earlier. Especially as I have a 3:45 Court Hearing on Friday… that is 3 hours away. So I won’t even be back in DM until 8 or later. So, I said “Yes, friends. I can spend time with you on a Saturday.” SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT. Over the lunch hour, Chinese Boss texts me that I will be required to attend an event from 8 am to 6 pm on Saturday. Thanks! And oh yeah, OF COURSE my presence is required but it is an unpaid event! Glad that I can be required to sacrifice my free time for no pay. Any way I can help.

Is it racist if… sometimes… I really want to just stand up and start shouting? No, that isn’t racist. What is racist is that I want to shout “DISHONOR! DISHONOR ON YOU, DISHONOR ON YOUR COW! Crickee, take a note!”