Pacificapocalypse

“We are made to believe when we cannot understand, and to obey so that we will never understand”

It’s been 30 years, and I still remember exactly where I was when I heard the news that a bunch of crazy people had killed themselves in some jungle somewhere. I was at the now closed James D. Phelan middle school in San Jose, and I had just turned 11 years old.

Crazy people in a jungle somewhere.

That’s all I knew then, but as time progressed and the story unfolded, I and the rest of the world, learned how absolutely bug shit insane the situation was.

I still don’t understand what really happened. There is, and always will be, a strong San Francisco connection to the People’s Temple. The majority of his followers came from Hunters Point, Bay View and Vis Valley and they still have relatives here. He had his fingers in City Hall and was courted and valued by politicians, as a guaranteed ‘vote getter’. So perhaps that’s why, people, good people, looked the other way (shame on you Chronicle, you fucking knew better) when word got out, before they fled to the jungle, that things were going very wrong inside the People’s Temple.
What force drives, what are to all expectations, reasonably intelligent people, to give up their lives, their homes and deny their families and move to a jungle, an absolutely primitive campsite really, thousands of miles away on an entirely different continent.
What makes committing, logically and methodically an incredibly illogical and insane act, seem reasonable?
They killed their children. They squirted the Kool-Aid down their throats and killed their children.

Kool-Aid in a jungle or new Nikes in San Diego. Something moves these people to commit these horrific acts.I don’t think I’ll ever understand, and frankly I’m not entirely convinced that I want to understand what drives these people.

There’s a lot of info out there; here’s a good place to start.
Jonestown 30 Years Later - SFGate.com

Yeah the post title has absolutely nothing to do with the actual post, but how often do you get the chance to insert random Doors lyrics?

SF Chronicle announced - Part V: The Aftermath
Okay, so the final tally is something like 30 people from the business side have taken the buyout and are already gone; there are ( that I know of ) another three or four that have applied for and been accepted for the buyout but they’re still on-site for a number of different reasons ( training replacements, that sort of thing).
My old department has been eviscerated. And I mean that in the technical sense in that the internal organs have been removed leaving and empty shell of a carcass. I started with the Chron three years ago; when I was hired my department was made up of 14 people, some outside people, some inside people, some dealing with agencies.
As of this morning there are three people remaining.
Where once, there was enough business to support a 14 person department, there’s now only enough for three. Like a jumper of the Golden Gate, the business has just dropped out of sight.
Pretty friggin’ tragic.

Oh yeah and I’m no longer *in* my old department.
I’ve been transferred to a whole ‘nother part of the business. It’s been busy ( hence the lack of and intermittent posting ) which is good, makes the days go by quickly.
The training has been pretty much what I expected. None.
But at least I already know all the back end systems that make this multi-media behemoth function.
A whole new group of people to charm and subvert to my will; it’ll take time, but that’s ok.
I have all the time in the world.

Previous episodes of this sordid tale here:

SF Chronicle buyouts announced
SF Chronicle buyouts announced - Part II: The Reckoning
SF Chronicle buyouts announced - Part III: The Long Descent
SF Chronicle buyouts announced - Part IV: The Death March

In addition to the weirdness from last week and over the weekend, the body count continues from the buyout offer from management. So far 25 people have opted for the buyout AND they’ve pushed back the final filing date from August 22nd to the 29th. Does that mean that they have a large number of applicants or that they don’t have enough? No ones sure.
Of the three people in my department that I’m sure were taking the buyout, two were told that the offers had been accepted and their last day was Monday this week. Holy crap! Gone! Poof! Just like that.
Three more that I know of are on the fence… it’s an odd feeling, the sense of uneasiness. There’s talk of just disbanding the department but they need local people who know the marketplace, so I highly doubt that’s going to happen. I’m guessing we’ll be downsized ( christ I hate that word ) to the minimum number of staff and be done with it. Time will tell. Life goes on, blah blah blah, but coupled with the break-in, this is making me very uneasy.

*sigh* ok so the score is now officially three people from my department are taking the buyout; two more are considering it and I learned yesterday that the remaining supervisor has put in her request, which, if she gets it approved, will leave the department with no management at all.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. I see the department being reduced to no more than five people in the future and eventually folded into SFGate.com which makes sense to me.
More later.

So the fallout continues; another person in my department is taking the buyout; she’s been with the company for 15 years, so again, it sort of makes sense. That’s two definite and two maybes.

What other fresh, disturbing revelations shall the day bring?

Yeah I wasn’t going to post about this but…
We received a company wide email announcing a buyout program starting today, Monday, August 4th.

Dear Chronicle Guild Members:

As you may already know, Hearst management intends to reduce staff by about 125 positions through voluntary buyout packages. The packages will be similar to the last round of buyouts and will include: 2 weeks pay per year of service, with a minimum of 4 weeks to a maximum of 52 weeks; COBRA commensurate with weeks of service, with a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 12 months and members can cash out COBRA if they choose; and uncontested unemployment benefits. The 3-week offer period is from Monday, Aug. 4 to Aug. 22, 5 p.m. Once you sign, you have 5 business days to rescind. End dates will be worked out with your supervisor or manager, but all must be finalized by the the end of the year.

This reduction will affect all departments and also include management. We will hold meetings on Monday, Aug. 4, at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in the third floor Guild Conference Room at 433 Natoma St.

We know that this a difficult time and will assist you in any way possible. Please check mediaworkers.org for the latest updates.
I wasn’t too concerned (I being an absolutely integral part of the Hearst Corporation’s long term financial plan) but today is weird, people are huddled in small groups in cube farm intersections speaking in low tones. There are these odd wondering, sideways looks from people: who’s taking the buyout? Will they get enough volunteers to avoid layoffs? You can smell the fear and desperation.
Or is that lunch? Anyway, there’s a strange vibe in the office and I don’t know which way people are going to jump. Certain managers have already indicated that they might take it, leaving the department in even more precarious straights.

Time to polish the resumé.

Stayed tuned for further developments.

UPDATE: Wow, one person in my department is definitely taking the buyout and two more are seriously considering it. All three of them have, on average, been here 20 plus years, so it makes sense.
Dame this might be serious.