The Conditioning Facility
Tuesday, October 4th, 2022 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioWeek three feels like the first, "real" week of the new job... because I began it with everything I needed, and am fully trained, and the boss just leaves now, the second I punch in, and I'm on autopilot.
Still, I'm looking forward to week four... when I get the first, "real" paycheck!
Money's still a bit tight at the moment, but as it happens, my paychecks will always fall on the alternate weeks from Dad's SS and Pension checks. So, starting next Tuesday, there will be money coming into the household every single week.
--<>--
Meanwhile, this week, my body and brain have not fully adjusted to the new routines. I'm doing a good job of being up around noon to have my coffee before I leave at 2:30, and staying on top of the basic stuff after work like errands, and our own garbage and such...
But I'm still feeling more tired and lazy than I should, when 9PM rolls around and I have five or six whole hours to do what I like!
Instead of producing more tracks, or maybe getting down into my cellar shop to do things down there... I'm just... sitting in my office chair, vegging out.
At this point, I think it's mostly psychological. There's just something about punching a clock!
Like, this is the low stress job I hand picked, and it's only four hours. And these were just people I was talking to on a phone, to work out a deal that I could take or leave at any time, because I'm my own man...
And three weeks in, I feel like I owe them my life, and I can't be late, and I can't let anybody down, and this is the only thing I do that matters, and there's no escape, because this is what I am now...
Because that's how we're conditioned to feel our whole lives!
--<>--
And working at an elementary school, really drives that home, because I'm at the place where that conditioning begins!
I get there at 3PM, and every day, between 3:30 and 4PM, they line up all the kids in the hallways and then the office lady comes on the PA system and starts announcing the different bus lines as they arrive... like it's a transit terminal.
And the kids are kinda rowdy, but the teachers are keeping them in line... and ushering out this group and that group, to this bus and that bus, until, the last of them is gone, and then the teachers and the office crew run to their cars and speed home!
And I DO intend to record this ritual in the near future, because I think it would make a great SONO!
In fact, I can get a lot of other generic SONO sound effects out of that building too, like paper towel dispensers, switches, the elevator, door latches, etc.
Maybe bringing the S8 to work for some field recording will help to break me out of the punch-clock funk I'm slipping into here.
But... I still have more to say, tonight, about the Conditioning Facility itself.
------------{=0=}------------
The Desks and the class rooms bring back nonstop flashbacks for me, every day, to all of my own grade school memories, of that regimented life...
These kids have to be up at a specific time to make their commute, to an eight hour set of tasks, in a specific building.
They must behave, and perform well, or there will be trouble. They must be prompt, and cannot skip days without a serious excuse. They have weekends off, but their vacations are predetermined for them.
There are flags and clocks in every class room... both in the same spot, high on the wall, by the door!
People make a big deal about forcing kids to pledge allegience to the flag, because this isn't done in other countries and is... kinda fascist... but I think the deeper conspiracy theory is that they are actually pledging allegience to that CLOCK!
That mysterious analog clock, with it's arcane hands, that all children struggle to bend their brains around... is the high guardian of that classroom door! And you will not exit that room until the clock says you can!
--<>--
I pledge allegience to the clock
of the United States of America
and to the republic which it commands
one nation, under time, with
liberties adjusted for all.
The other thing I've really been noticing, are the, "inspirational," phrases written on the walls in every hallway and classroom alike.
You can't be anywhere in the building without one of them staring you in the face, and they're ALL, really obsessed with status issues, like...
"You may not be the best or the strongest, but you still matter if you try your best!"
"Never rest, until your good is better and your better is best!"
"You may not always win, but when you lose, you learn from your mistakes!"
"Other kids may be smarter than you, taller than you, and have better clothes than you, but what really matters is... bla bla bla... Go Polar Bears!"
They don't strike me as being so much, inspirational, as... trying their damndest to instill children with anxieties about how they measure up to others in society, and... like... salvation through hard labor!
--<>--
And the whole, Polar Bear thing (again that's my fictionalization of the actual mascot for what I'm calling, Grape Elementary School)!..
There are three polar bears painted on every hallway wall, and two in every classroom, along with stuffed polar bears, and a big, creepy polar bear mural in the gym.
I've picked up white pencils off the floor that say, "happy birthday, polar bear!" and when they do that line up for the busses at the end of the day, the announcer lady always starts off by saying, "Okay polar bears!.."
--<>--
I do not remember this level of tribal brainwashing from my own grade school. There, the Raiders referred to the sports teams alone... and it being a grade school, the stakes were extremely low!
It's weird to me, how hard Grape is pushing this Polar Bear thing on these kids, at such an early age! They're not gonna continue to be Polar Bears in high school or college so why bother?
All I can think is... it's just a good way to quash any sense of individuality they might be starting to form.
Together with the anxiety reminders about how you compare to others, the big message seems to be, "Some of you are superior, and others are inferior, but you're all polar bears!.. So, learn your place, and serve the polar bear cause as best you can!"
And I guess... that makes sense if you're conditioning children to become loyal corporate workers, right?
Corporations always have these rigid hierarchical systems with leaders and grunts, but everybody's expected to give 100% at all times, for the sake of the company!
------------{=0=}------------
Sooo... yeah!.. even though the job's pretty low stress, I am grappling with the psychological aspects of punching a clock, and having tons of flashbacks from past jobs, as well as from grade school!
But I do think it might help to do bring the S8 to work for a bit of field recording... to remind myself that I'm... me!.. and not just a polar bear with a mop, punching a clock.
Maybe later this week... maybe next week.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Still, I'm looking forward to week four... when I get the first, "real" paycheck!
Money's still a bit tight at the moment, but as it happens, my paychecks will always fall on the alternate weeks from Dad's SS and Pension checks. So, starting next Tuesday, there will be money coming into the household every single week.
Meanwhile, this week, my body and brain have not fully adjusted to the new routines. I'm doing a good job of being up around noon to have my coffee before I leave at 2:30, and staying on top of the basic stuff after work like errands, and our own garbage and such...
But I'm still feeling more tired and lazy than I should, when 9PM rolls around and I have five or six whole hours to do what I like!
Instead of producing more tracks, or maybe getting down into my cellar shop to do things down there... I'm just... sitting in my office chair, vegging out.
At this point, I think it's mostly psychological. There's just something about punching a clock!
Like, this is the low stress job I hand picked, and it's only four hours. And these were just people I was talking to on a phone, to work out a deal that I could take or leave at any time, because I'm my own man...
And three weeks in, I feel like I owe them my life, and I can't be late, and I can't let anybody down, and this is the only thing I do that matters, and there's no escape, because this is what I am now...
Because that's how we're conditioned to feel our whole lives!
And working at an elementary school, really drives that home, because I'm at the place where that conditioning begins!
I get there at 3PM, and every day, between 3:30 and 4PM, they line up all the kids in the hallways and then the office lady comes on the PA system and starts announcing the different bus lines as they arrive... like it's a transit terminal.
And the kids are kinda rowdy, but the teachers are keeping them in line... and ushering out this group and that group, to this bus and that bus, until, the last of them is gone, and then the teachers and the office crew run to their cars and speed home!
And I DO intend to record this ritual in the near future, because I think it would make a great SONO!
In fact, I can get a lot of other generic SONO sound effects out of that building too, like paper towel dispensers, switches, the elevator, door latches, etc.
Maybe bringing the S8 to work for some field recording will help to break me out of the punch-clock funk I'm slipping into here.
But... I still have more to say, tonight, about the Conditioning Facility itself.
The Desks and the class rooms bring back nonstop flashbacks for me, every day, to all of my own grade school memories, of that regimented life...
These kids have to be up at a specific time to make their commute, to an eight hour set of tasks, in a specific building.
They must behave, and perform well, or there will be trouble. They must be prompt, and cannot skip days without a serious excuse. They have weekends off, but their vacations are predetermined for them.
There are flags and clocks in every class room... both in the same spot, high on the wall, by the door!
People make a big deal about forcing kids to pledge allegience to the flag, because this isn't done in other countries and is... kinda fascist... but I think the deeper conspiracy theory is that they are actually pledging allegience to that CLOCK!
That mysterious analog clock, with it's arcane hands, that all children struggle to bend their brains around... is the high guardian of that classroom door! And you will not exit that room until the clock says you can!
I pledge allegience to the clock
of the United States of America
and to the republic which it commands
one nation, under time, with
liberties adjusted for all.
The other thing I've really been noticing, are the, "inspirational," phrases written on the walls in every hallway and classroom alike.
You can't be anywhere in the building without one of them staring you in the face, and they're ALL, really obsessed with status issues, like...
"You may not be the best or the strongest, but you still matter if you try your best!"
"Never rest, until your good is better and your better is best!"
"You may not always win, but when you lose, you learn from your mistakes!"
"Other kids may be smarter than you, taller than you, and have better clothes than you, but what really matters is... bla bla bla... Go Polar Bears!"
They don't strike me as being so much, inspirational, as... trying their damndest to instill children with anxieties about how they measure up to others in society, and... like... salvation through hard labor!
And the whole, Polar Bear thing (again that's my fictionalization of the actual mascot for what I'm calling, Grape Elementary School)!..
There are three polar bears painted on every hallway wall, and two in every classroom, along with stuffed polar bears, and a big, creepy polar bear mural in the gym.
I've picked up white pencils off the floor that say, "happy birthday, polar bear!" and when they do that line up for the busses at the end of the day, the announcer lady always starts off by saying, "Okay polar bears!.."
I do not remember this level of tribal brainwashing from my own grade school. There, the Raiders referred to the sports teams alone... and it being a grade school, the stakes were extremely low!
It's weird to me, how hard Grape is pushing this Polar Bear thing on these kids, at such an early age! They're not gonna continue to be Polar Bears in high school or college so why bother?
All I can think is... it's just a good way to quash any sense of individuality they might be starting to form.
Together with the anxiety reminders about how you compare to others, the big message seems to be, "Some of you are superior, and others are inferior, but you're all polar bears!.. So, learn your place, and serve the polar bear cause as best you can!"
And I guess... that makes sense if you're conditioning children to become loyal corporate workers, right?
Corporations always have these rigid hierarchical systems with leaders and grunts, but everybody's expected to give 100% at all times, for the sake of the company!
Sooo... yeah!.. even though the job's pretty low stress, I am grappling with the psychological aspects of punching a clock, and having tons of flashbacks from past jobs, as well as from grade school!
But I do think it might help to do bring the S8 to work for a bit of field recording... to remind myself that I'm... me!.. and not just a polar bear with a mop, punching a clock.
Maybe later this week... maybe next week.
°¦}
