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27 october 2000

testing, testing, smoke smoke smoke

I have some most unusual friends in this most unusual town.

So Mike and I are taking a coffee break yesterday, down at the much-improved Morning Dew. We're chatting about our respective lives, mostly about what he's been doing lately. I'm always interested in what Mike is up to. Although the big picture of his life doesn't change too much from year to year, the details are a constant source of laughter and intrigue.

Take the last long-term job that he had. Mike's never really had a "job". He's the prince of odd job work, so between selling his paintings and some trust entitlements, he does okay. So I guess he's one of the few people who can do what he likes, even part time, at his whim.

So he does.

Winston-Salem houses the headquarters of RJ Reynolds Tobacco company. Between Baptist Hospital, Wachovia Bank, and RJR, most of the population is employed. Now, we all know one of the items RJR manufactures, and that's cigarettes. How to know if they taste good, though? Puff down smoothly? Look and feel like a cigarette should?

That's where Mike came in.

RJR hires people to test-smoke their cigarettes, which can become a somewhat regular deal if you want it to. You show up, they sequester you with the other testers, and they provide you with various new and existing products to test-smoke. You provide feedback, and a couple of hours later you're finished. For awhile, Mike thought it was a pretty good deal. The money is great, he was doing something he enjoyed (a lot), and he worked with other nice people. There was only one little problem.

Mike told me yesterday that he didn't know what to do during his break. It was one of the reasons he quit. He had to kind of bide his time until they could get back to the business of smoking. Break activities included reading magazines and talking to others. Okay, but this confused Mike. A cigarette break involved smoking, and he didn't want to smoke because he was being made to smoke those other two hours. This was no kind of job. He stopped test-smoking for RJR, because it was making him not want to smoke anymore, ever, in his life.

And in this most unusual town, filled with most unusual people, that's reason enough to cease employment.