And so the strike begins...
Today I made a decision, quite possibly not my wisest, but one I intend to stick to for as long as possible.
It's been a year of quitting things, and as of midnight tonight, eating will be another of the things I will have quit.
I'm going on a hunger strike. The reason for this- is red tape, big brother's hands, bullshit posturing, and poor leadership. Or, to be more specific, there is a certain portion of pay that we are supposed to get so we can afford our meals everyday. Either we get paid, or we must have all our meals provided for us. This has not been happening. We have all been shelling out pocket meant for other things, be it bills, clothes, gas money, or (I know I know) entertainment. Now, can I afford to buy food. Yes, I can. But that is not the point. There was a system in place where we were in charge of our own finances, if we were in positions where we were unable to get to the chow hall or what have you, we would fill out forms to be reimbursed our food expences. It's the same with travel, if we are travelling for military purposes, we get travel pay.
Well, it has been decided that rather than the soldier being in charge of his own finances, and coming to his leadership only if he needed help figuring out how the paperwork works, instead each soldier must monthly fillout 3 sheets of paper, to be submitted to his (in many cases, flutterbrained) chain of command. The chain has (in my case at least) about 4 links it must go through before it reaches a civilian who must give her stamp of approval, then from her it goes back down to the chain, who then must submit it to another institution. The problem is, with whole units all submitting together at the same time, if one thing is wrong on one person's sheets, it all gets shelved, and then sent back down. To make matters worse, by following the chain of commands instructions to the letter (which you must do or else! *scoff*) there have been more errors, and papers from march just came back today needing to be re-written, because the boss didn't know how to do it the right way, even when half the people on the team were telling her.
So I decided, until the whole team recieves at least one of the many payments that we are due, I will not eat. Even if it's provided for me- because it's not the money that bothers me, it's that the system is screwing with everyone's finances, when it didn't used to be that way, and as a result, it's more paperwork, more bullshit, and no one is getting paid.
We'll see if this makes anyone take another look at how things are being run.
I'm also still sober and drug free. So yay for that.
This has not only been a year for quitting things, but a year for beginnings as well. I'm still working on more songs for the Choir of Liars, and my book, In Exile, is now being carried at Target. (the upscale wal-mart style store for those unfamiliar) I'm happy and quite proud of that. Pick it up if you haven't yet. (sorry, shameless self promotion is key for struggling low key artists.)
I guess that's about all that needs bringing up at the moment. As if I needed more.
Skitz.