It was the best of times; it was the worst of times; very much depending on your position in the Chattersby Company hierarchy.
From the management point of view, it was the best of times. After 10 years of Republican rule Washington, DC, business practices had run amok. The government worked very hard to favor business and business had taken great advantage of the situation, especially in the areas of employee relations. All concepts of employee rights had slowly disappeared over the years. Terms like "harassment" had been dropped from the company vocabulary. Lower-level employees were lucky to have any job at all and knew better than to complain about their treatment.
From the employee's point of view, it was definitely the worst of times. Almost all traditional white-collar jobs were now exported overseas. America in 2010 was a true service economy. The only jobs were clerical and cashier positions that barely paid above minimum wage. Worst of all, there had been so many layoffs as jobs left the country that almost all existing jobs were part-time with no benefits. Most people had to work two or three jobs just to pay the bills.
The Chattersby Company was an unusual organization in many ways. Its location was in a small town in western Arizona. This was lucky for the local people because jobs were scarce, competition for them was fierce and Chattersby offered employment for many. Some people felt the company located in the town just to take advantage of the situation - people would work for low wages and they would never complain about the way they were treated.
Chattersby was also unusual in the product it offered - contract secretarial services. Other firms would use Chattersby to handle document generation (known in the old days as "taking dictation" and "typing"). Executives at companies without the burden of their own clerical staff would call in to dictate letters, just as if the clerks were in the "outer office". And once documents were generated, copies of them needed to be "filed" for posterity. To provide these services, Chattersby had a large, old-fashioned "Secretarial Pool" where the majority of its employees worked.
Chattersby didn't take any shortcuts with these services. The employees, known by the old-fashioned terms of secretaries and filing clerks, actually typed letters on old-fashioned typewriters obtained very cheaply from companies that were fully computerized. Copies were made with carbon paper and the copies were put in filing cabinets. This inefficient way of working necessitated a fairly large staff of secretaries and filing clerks, with a correspondingly large staff of supervisors.
Another unusual touch was that all the secretaries and filing clerks were female (typically young and very pretty) and all the supervisors were men (typically lecherous). In keeping with the old-fashioned theme, the clerical staff had to dress in office wear of the 1970s - white blouses and black skirts or pretty dresses. Accessories were also important to the scene - high heels, hosiery (stockings and garter belts were preferred over pantyhose), lacy slips and other feminine touches were required if a clerk was to be promoted to secretary and a secretary was to keep her job. New employees were somewhat put off by the dress code (especially since the men didn't seem to feel the need to wear suits and ties) but, with jobs scarce and the pay relatively generous, Chattersby had no trouble keeping a full staff.
The male supervisors (known formally as Bosses) prided themselves on their supervisory capabilities. Chattersby had a elaborate "performance review" system and employees were reviewed quarterly. The review would evaluate the employee's actual work (number of letters typed, accuracy in filing, etc) as well as several intangible categories such as teamwork, promptness, attendance and conformance to company policies.
Getting a bad review could mean dismissal. Many other seemingly minor infractions of company rules could also mean dismissal. Stealing offices supplies for use at home was considered very serious. Damaging any company property was a serious offense. Spending too much time at a coffee break was very bad. Sneaking a cigarette in the ladies room was also very bad. The secretaries and filing clerks had to really toe the line to keep their jobs.
Of course, there were no government agencies available to arbitrate an unfair dismissal for either performance problems or petty rule infractions. However, during a visit to "The Room" where offenses were discussed, the offender was usually given a choice - face dismissal with no chance of being rehired or suffer a company sponsored punishment. With the job market like it was, most employees chose punishment over dismissal.
The reader can probably guess that Bosses found many reasons to threaten dismissal, whether as part of a performance review or for a real or trumped up rules infraction. As a matter of fact, the Chattersby Company had a formal Hall of Punishment suitably sized and equipped for carrying out the punishments that were accepted.
Most punishments took the form of public restraint, discomfort and humiliation. The Hall of Punishments was actually the wide main hallway in the building, connecting restrooms, the cafeteria, Bosses offices, the secretarial pool and filing rooms. There was a lot of traffic in the hallway, especially Bosses on their supervisory rounds. A punishee was restrained in cleverly designed equipment and forced to suffer all manner of embarrassment. This would occur over an hour or more depending on the severity of the offense and the sufferers were exposed to anyone in the hallway. Punishments were always timed to include lunch hour, so everyone got a chance to witness the punishment.
Which is a long way of explaining why Chrissy was more than a little nervous. Chrissy was a Level 2 Filing Clerk and was desperately trying to get promoted to Secretary. Filing clerks were on their feet all day long and being in high heels was a real killer. Since secretaries were able to sit down while they typed, that was a much more desirable job. Besides the pay was a little better.
Chrissy had been with Chattersby for about a year and had a hard time getting promoted from Level 1 Filing Clerk to Level 2. She tried real hard but always seemed flustered and clumsy. Since she was very pretty with long blonde hair, she seemed to attract more supervisory attention than other clerks. Her first Chattersby punishment was for that very reason.
She was busily filing letters a week or so after she started working there and was in the filing room. The bosses kept a nice leather easy chair in the filing room so they could closely supervise the newer clerks. Chrissy wore a short, low cut dress to work that day, trying to impress the bosses. She was surprised to find that almost all the letters she was given to file were either destined for the bottom drawers (requiring her to lean over) or for the top drawers (requiring her to stand on tiptoes and reach high over the drawer with the obvious consequences). Boss Frank was paying very close attention to her activities and made Chrissy very embarrassed. She politely asked Boss Frank to please stop looking up her skirt.
Of course, correcting a Boss was very bad behavior and she was immediately taken to The Room. Her options were explained to her and she reluctantly chose "punishment". She knew that if she was fired, her husband would be very unhappy and he had interesting punishments of his own.
So, after only a week the job, she found herself in the Hall of Punishments, standing on a wooden block with her hands tied behind her back and pulled up high behind her in a very uncomfortable position for two hours. Naturally, this allowed anyone passing by to look up her skirt or down her top with very little effort. Many bosses paid her a visit that day.
Today was her quarterly review and she had been summoned to The Room and told to wait in The Chair (the process was very formalized with ominous names for everything). The employee chair was a straight-backed wooden chair that was not very comfortable. Employees usually had to wait for a time for the Boss to show up and were expected to sit very quietly with a proper posture (ankles crossed, hands folded in their lap, sitting very straight). It was rumored that there were hidden cameras in The Room and a punishment could be given for poor sitting technique.
Eventually, Boss Frank came in and got comfortable in the fancy desk chair reserved for Bosses. He had Chrissy's Permanent Record with him and spent some time reading through it. The folder contained past performance reviews, punishment history and photos of the punishments she had endured. He seemed to be spending a lot of time in the photo section, but Chrissy maintained a proper posture and said nothing.
