wednesday . december . one . nineteen ninety nine. the entire day was chaos. what started as a wto protest turned into what looks more like a serious class war. police have clearly crossed a new line in policies. i think they panicked. for all the talking and planning they did in the months before, they obviously had no real idea of the extent of the protests. the media keeps saying that now once the protesters yelled slogans and carried signs, why didn't they go home. they say that protesters have "made their point." but i have yet to hear any detailing of why the protesters are there. none. the police have made down town a "no protest" zone?! reports of police confiscating protester's gas masks. tons of arrested protesters bussed to an old navy brig, where they are denied access to phones and lawyers. one bus full refuse to exit the bus. not a lot of clear organization for my fw's. most went to pike place to fight with others, but police, with national guard were absolutely brutal. yesterday, there was tear gas every 2o minutes, sometimes stopping for an hour at a time. today, canister after canister is being released without regard for pedestrians, workers or press. late tonight, there was basically a police riot. and it wasn't even in the down town area, but in residential neighborhood. the cops went berserk. they were shooting rubber bullets at everyone..old people coming out of supermarkets with groceries were gassed. people came out of their homes and into the streets and tried to speak with the police, only to be pepper sprayed. they would yell "i live here!" and get no response other than force. the radio station is covering it to some extent but there is a complete black out on the television. a couple of labor big wigs were hit with clubs, radio reporters and a council member were gassed. my fw's are recovering from the day, preparing for a rally and press conference in the morning. i had to work tonight. i wasn't pleased with the idea of making money for my bosses while there's a war in the streets, but i didn't know what else to do. some customers talking about what's happening. some of them don't make the connection between what the protesters are doing and their own every day lives. they're pissed because they can't get to work, or because traffic is bad. they don't understand that the people in the streets are fighting for THEM. i understand the pain, but nothing changes withoud discord. i partially blame the media, who have come straight out and said they will not allow protesters a voice, simply because they demand it. it's also strange to see these horrible police actions in between commercials and sports scores. one sports guy last night said "just like the protesters are taking a beating in the streets, the sonics took a beating last night ..." and the really mournful, cheesy observations from the reporters. they're playing up the holiday angle with projections about the loss of commerce. and the ironic contrast of moods..."the twinkling lights of the holidays have been outshined by the flashing lights of police cars." -- thursday . december . two . nineteen ninety nine 8:20 a.m.: seattle is essentially a police state. the "no protest" zone is now a 24 hour restricted zone. the radio announcers are now contradicting their own reporters from last night. complete cover up. my fw's were denied access to the press conference this morning. there was one labor person, a steel worker, allowed to speak. he basically said he was hurt last night and they shut him up. fw's are trying to figure out what to do next. they may go to the navy brig. the bus full of arrested protesters are out, not sure if they got processed or if they were released. people are exhausted and frustrated. -- monday . december . thirteen . nineteen ninety nine worker girl has, unfortunately, lost her mind. we're not exactly sure ... (phone just rang. mr. obsessive/compulsive called to ask me what "munchhausen by proxy" is. he thinks it'd be a good band name. um...i love that guy.) as i was saying, we're not exactly sure if worker girl was always insane or if she was somehow broken by the job. she started out ok. she took extremely precise notes about every aspect of the job, which looked at first like diligence and turned quickly to obsession. but she handles the computer fine, stocks ok, etc. then, stories started to filter in from regular customers about how the new girl was being unyieldingly militant about store policy. we were amused and started calling her "the stickler". a few weeks ago, mr. o/c arrived for the closing shift to find that worker girl hadn't put any videos away all day. she had stacked them all on the counter. there were at least a hundred videos there...this is on a really slow day shift, mind you. mr. o/c asked her what happened and she mumbled something about being busy. he didn't bother to press her on it, and it took him two hours to get everything put away. last week, because she wasn't happy with her hours conflicting with her boyfriend's, she gave two weeks notice. we were kind of sad, because we really like her, but we were also somewhat relieved. a few days later, i arrived for my monday closing shift to find the counter full of videos and none of the new releases processed. worker girls was quick to explain that she intended to stay until she finished everything. i didn't say much and just let her do her thing. it turns out she had spent the entire day selecting her "best of the nineties" staff picks. ten movies. all day. after giving notice. ??? she finally left the store at 10:30pm, not having completed all of her tasks. essentially, not being able to accomplish in eleven and a half hours (the last five and a half of that time UNPAID) what a normal employee can finish in the first three hours of a five hour shift. and so we assume she has lost her mind. the new guy starts next monday. -- tuesday . december . fourteen . nineteen ninety nine last night was the "company christmas party". i was working the closing shift, having been told erroneously that the store would close early. when i got to work, mr. o/c told me that he was sorry, but the man decided that the store was to keep normal hours. meanwhile, the man, the grand pubah and the pubah's wife were all gathered in the back office. as they headed out for the party, the grand pubah said "so, melysa. you closing tonite?" me: yep. grand pubah: we gonna see you down there later? me: maybe. and they left. without a good-bye. without a "happy holidays". without even feigned remorse at sticking me with a full shift while they all partied. they just left. nice. to his surprising credit, the man called at ten (one hour before closing time), giving me the option of closing early and kind of encouraging me to show up at the party whenever i felt like it. i figured, too little-too late, plus i had to open in the morning so i went home at my normal time. today i found out that the party ended at 10:30...so if i HAD shown up, everyone would have been gone. the man gave me my bonus today. yes, a christmas bonus. it was five discount movie passes (not free passes, but discounted passes) ...which can not be used on the weekend. i almost wept with gratitude.