Does No One Give a Crap That I've Been on Strike Since Mid-August?

I haven't gone to work a single day since August 3rd, 2007. That is nearly four months, and the media coverage has been virtually non-existent, other than the media I have provided for myself, on my blog, which I haven't told anyone about. But whether it's my fault, or the fault of my strike organizer, me, the fact remains: I have been on strike for a long time without much fanfare.

I may not be a steelworker or a teacher or some other kind of person who works for a living, but that doesn't negate the fact that I am paid for none of the time I spend on the Internet or listening to iTunes. I haven't had healthcare since I quit working and stopped paying for my Cobra. I'm not asking for a million bucks here. Just 60,000 or so, and a gym in my building.

I don't have any fancy celebrity supporters, like Judd Nelson, or Judd Hirsch. Instead, my pet turtle, Mike Belmont, went on a hunger strike in September, which I mistook for a sign of solidarity. It turned out he had some kind of bacteria over his eyes and turtles won't eat if they can't see. That is also how John Popper lost all that weight. Yet there is not even one Blues Traveler parody video on the Internet about my strike. Coincidence? I don't even know how that would work.

When the Broadway stagehands went on strike, I thought, finally, somebody cares about me. People will start to realize, "Hey, without Broadway shows, it's more likely we are going to have to run into Zach going on one of his many, pointless walks around Central Park and Times Square." But then they ended their strike? I don't see how that could possibly help me. Unless someone is willing to donate his or her tickets to The Drowsy Chaperone. Not the balcony, thanks.

And the list goes on.

To the scab who took my job after I walked out in August: "Smooth move, moron, you just got blacklisted. Good luck finding another editorial assistant job in New York City."

To the scab who keeps crossing my picket line in the kitchen: "I'm sorry that the bathroom is only accessible through the kitchen, but that's what you agreed to when you moved in with me, sweetie. We live in a city, go use a Starbucks."

To the scab who keeps trying to cross my picket line in the living room to go into our bedroom: "I know you had a hard day at work, but you know that I split my picketing duties between the living room and the kitchen. I don't know why you are trying to get into Strike Headquarters anyways. I moved your clothes into the hallway, so this shouldn't be a problem. Yes, I still love you."

To the scab who tries to demoralize me day after day, despite the righteousness of my cause: "I will do the dishes later. I have been pretty busy. No, I haven't left the house all day. That doesn't mean I'm not doing anything, necessarily."

To the scabs who have been picketing the senior center outside my apartment for the last several weeks: "What are you doing? Are you even picketing? You don't have signs but you are very loud."

These are some of my signs:

"What would Jesus do for work?"

"Why work more than four hours a week if working four hours a week and some help from your parents pays the bills?"

"Nobody sit on this couch -- I accidentally unionized it."

"Christina, before you try to get by me to go to the bathroom again, realize that we are out of chocolate syrup and paper towels."

"I went to a movie, don't touch my union stuff."

Clever, right? I saw a guy on the street striking about men's haircuts for only $10, and he had strike signs on his front and back. I saw another guy with front and back signs striking about a Thai lunch special. He had learned from the haircut guy. That gives me hope, people.

Meanwhile, none of the Hollywood writing mafia considers how their strike will affect other people on strike for different things. What am I supposed to do all day on strike if there is no television?

Here is a list of movies I have watched on TV in the last two weeks alone:

Invincible

Gridiron Gang

Sci-Fi original mini-series, The Tin Man

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

The Wicker Man

Hollywoodland

The Iron Giant

I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With

The Last of the Moriartys

Moriarty's Gold

The Moriarty Clan Gets a Free Trip

A Moriarty Christmas Funeral

Kathy Moriarty Meets the Moriartys

The Wonder at Moriarty Creek

Moriarty, Moriarty, and Sullivan, LLP

Moriarty and Me; A Tale of Incest and Love in Middle Earth

HBO First Look: Bee Movie

Without the Moriarty Family movies I don't know that I would even have the courage to not work.

Comments

[nuglet304]

what an incredible lack of any sense of humor mosta these people have in here.

great article, hilarious. :-)

[repearwo]

No

[bitplayer]

I must strongly insist upon joining the majority of my fellow commenters in protesting my lack of getting the point of what I have taken to be your completely non-comedic addition of words beneath a headline - words if, had I read them, would have further angered me in their irrelevance to some random thoughts of my own which should teach you something once and for all. I protest, sir. I protest.

[Gipsytim]

No, not really. People get laid off, downsized, and screwed over by employers all the time. What makes you so freaking special?

[liquidcrystal47]

sooo when are the jokes gonna start?

[Qbear]

I hope negotiations settle his strike soon, and that writers get a descent new contract.
I agree there hasn't been enough coverage, of a whle industry, with families getting hurt.

[ninthlevelmonk]

Terrific bit of satire! (Clearly went over the head of some of the commenters.)

[trailblazer]

Keep picketing. Someone in Bangalore er, Bollywood, will end up with your job.

[Charity]

wait 'til you're older and hollywood pushes your "old" ass out. just ask the writers of MASH and others around mid-50 and beyond. one writer had to get his son to be his "beard" for him just so he could continue to stay employed in his profession.

so, if your negotiations don't have a clause in there that includes flagrant age discrimination, well - it should.

and btw, i am college educated with a year of grad school, have mucho experience in my field and in other fields, but yet at my age, i've spent more time unemployed and looking for work than i ever did when i was in my 20s and 30s. to survive - and i mean at the barest level - i've had to do temp work and service jobs. great fun, that!

i've also had to sell precious inherited items, downsize to poverty level, and in the meantime, my self-worth, ego, esteem have all taken a horrific beating. all of this i've done alone, no mate, no relatives, no friends who could help.

after three years of this, i have FINALLY located a full time permanent job this week that is not in my field (which i did not limit my job search to) and heck, i may even be able to get health insurance now.

welcome to the real world, kid.

======================

[chucktrotter]

Zach:
When you were but a lad, workers throughout the U.S. went on strike as Corporate America started off-shoring maufacturing operations. Labor costs and tighter environmental standards were major factors in the decisions to off-shore. Nary a word was printed in defense of the millions of skilled workers who were displaced. Last month, Maytag closed down its' last American factory and moved it to Mexico. Only the local press made note of the close down. During the past three decades, the middle class has been torn assunder with hardly a note from those who write. Off-shoring started among those with no voice or media attention. Now, white collar workers are being impacted by this race to a third-world economy. I include a quote. Not really fitting, but use your imagination:
"In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me."

[nihilon x]

And by the way, I'm not saying that you should stop writing, I'm saying that maybe you should stop writing for an industry that exploits you and treats you like interchangeable, disposable parts of a larger whole.

Maybe your strike will change all of that, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[nihilon x]

My cousin told me that this strike would be over quickly -- I told him that I disagreed.

Reality television and sequels have taken the place of original creation in the writing field.

My suggestion is that you look into other opportunities, because even when this strike "ends" there is no guarantee that these studios will even want many of you back.

As someone else pointed out, now might be a good time to go (back) to school or to explore other job options.

[Heyman]

Television has been going down hill since the middle 90's. I can't blame the writers. It's the OWNERS.
Welcome to the real World. No insurance. No one gives a damn. And the me, me, me...attitude is dominate.
The Hollywood stars are meaningless to the majority of Americans. Why would the writers be any different?
I'm a union worker. I agree, that every job should be unionized. More wages and benefits. Which every worker deserves. Considering companies make millions, if not billions of dolllars. And throw slivers to its workers. (Cry poverty before workers contract ends.) I'm sick of the crap corporations are pulling on us. And any worker out there reading this? Should be sick of the garbage WE have to put up with everyday.

[Rightupsidethehead]

You have a list of places you've applied for jobs?

You're not getting paid for listening to I-tunes?

That was my second career choice. Dammit.

[dnb53]

I can answer the headline of this article: No. Ninety Nine percent of scripted television is soft, weak garbage. Created, written, produced, and directed by men and women who want to be respected as artists, yet cave into any and all forms of censorship from their corporate masters through special interest groups, and the government regulated first amendment violations of the FCC. Stick up for your fellow artists when they get hammered by these dishonest organizations, give me better TV, and then I will have your back.