Fortunately, noon passed without a company-wide "call to moment of silence."

Hi. I know this might bounce back because I subscribe on both my personal e-mail addresses, but I can't get to those 12 hours a day now.

This is the sort of thing all too common in the less glossy companies (the Countrywide employees are largely working class or of working class background; few are college-educated when they begin employment; few send their children to college) in the private sector that I feel is not only an extraordinary presumption (with its Orwellian "five minute hate" quality), but pernicious -- it ultimately degrades political will -- perhaps more pernicious than the lack of free speech in the workplace.

All best,
Catherine Daly


This message is being sent to all CFC personnel by Angelo R. Mozilo, Chairman and CEO.

In 1994, former President Ronald Reagan stated, "When the Lord calls me home, whenever that day may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future."

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in the town of Tampico, Illinois. His life’s journey took him from his early roots as a lifeguard and athlete to stardom on the silver screen. From 1947 to 1952, and again from 1959 to 1960, Reagan served as president of the Screen Actors Guild. Commencing his first term in office as Governor of California in 1966, Reagan easily won re-election in 1970. In 1980, at the age of 69, Reagan became the 40th President of the United States. Known during his presidency for his supply-side economics in response to the nation’s then double-digit inflation and high unemployment rate, Reagan urged the country to "stay the course." The economy rebounded into prosperity, lasting an unparalleled eight years. Winning re-election in 1984, he achieved an unprecedented landslide, capturing victory in 49 states. Fostering a strong relationship with Russian Secretary General Gorbachev, in 1987 the two men signed a treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles. After his departure from the White House in 1988, Reagan continued as the elder statesman of the Republican Party through his last public appearances in 1994.

Tomorrow, Friday, June 11, 2004, has been declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President Reagan. I ask that all CFC employees join me in observing a moment of silence. Each manager should lead the moment with his/her team, which will be observed at precisely 12 noon EDT (11am CDT, 9am PDT), concurrent with the 21-gun salute held in his honor in Washington, D.C. Please also join me in extending our thoughts and prayers to the Reagan family in their time of grief. Thank you.


Comments

Anonymous said…
Good grief. Time to quit that job...
Howdy said…
well, I think the point is that it is getting so that you CAN'T quit jobs for reasons like free speech, religious toleration (or, I suppose in my case, lack thereof?), because corporations have become so powerful

I see this most clearly in small offices and even teams not in centralized offices, for example in big four consulting firms, where the corporate mentality (rather than the corproate culture) persists, even when no one actually in the office / on the team has a direct interest in following codified "mores" [ex., when they are overly detailed, when they deal with issues arising from large groups of people working together rather than small groups, when no one is attempting to proselitize, etc.]

another example of this is when I worked at M&M / MARS, at the central office, one of the Mars Brothers had once gone through an office and seen a memo on an employee desk that he wasn't supposed to see;

after that, even in the Kal Kan manufacturing plant in Vernon, CA, where no corproate board member would ever appear, and although the memo was discovered during the daytime, all employee desks had to be absolutely clear (of personal effects, not only contents in in / out boxes but the boxes themselves, pens, notes, etc. etc.) -- the cleaning staff was instructed to discard everything on desktop

and of course the company lost lots of time & information that way! due to this policy

those incredibly subversive pictures of friends and loved ones; those outre coffee mugs

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