The night shift was rather average last night, but I couldn't help but look back to the first one I ever did. It was a Wednesday night in August 1985.
I started that night with nothing left for me by the day shift, and during the course of the night I did five blood counts and prepared two units of blood for transfusion. I was phoned about each blood sample individually by the doctor who wanted me to do it, I finished the last task at half past midnight, and slept for the rest of the night.
Things are different these days; I didn’t come in to find nothing waiting for me last night, and during the night I performed over ten times that amount of blood counts that I had all those years ago, did almost as many haemostatic investigations, prepared units of blood and platelets for transfusion, did maintenance on various analysers, and during a lull in proceedings caught up with work-related emails and made a start on the paperwork for my annual appraisal. Not that the lull lasted that long - I was on the go pretty much the entire time. And as for being phoned for each request (like it used to be) - if we still had that outmoded way of working I would never get off the phone.
But I'm not complaining - as I drove home the pundits on the radio told me I've had a pay rise.
I'm a bit vague about the exact amount I’m getting as I can't find a something which says "Dave you will get £X" but most of the work-related Facebook pages say I will get four per cent. That's nice isn't it?
But the same pundits on the same radio said that inflation is currently running at nine point four per cent at the moment.
So if these figures are correct, what does that actually mean? Putting my degree in maths to use... I shall spell it out. Imagine that a year ago I went shopping and squandered a hundred quid on Lego or beer. Today I have a hundred and four quid to squander. Result !
However what was a hundred quid's worth of beer or Lego last year now costs a hundred and nine quid and forty pence. I don't get as much for my money. I’m down five quid forty pence on the deal; I've effectively had a pay cut of (about) five per cent.
And this isn't anything new - inflation always outstrips pay rises. And when you think that back when I did my first night shift all those years ago my pay wasn’t as much as my unskilled mate (with no qualifications whatsoever) who swept up in an abattoir.
I wonder if I can make up the shortfall by wheeling on the general public and having them stand on their doorsteps and clap (like things possessed) at anyone to whom I owe money? Ironically (according to wiipedia) it seems that the woman who came up with the idea of clapping for our public services rather than paying for them has received quite a bit of abuse.
I must admit if I knew where she lived I’d put a turd through her letterbox right now…
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