I, for one, am considering quiting on principle.
Now, I grant you, I should have seen that sooner or later this was bound to happen. After all, my company does police work and government contracting. Some DOD contracts are so tense they quiz you on whether you've ever done drugs in your life and they won't have you on the project if you've even smoked pot once 20 years ago when you were 16. So, I suppose our lack of demanding policy should have been something I expected to go away.
I'm still angry.
Now, you all know me. I don't use drugs. I smoked a little pot in college and took magic mushrooms twice. Literally, that is the sum total of my lifetime substance abuse. I don't think I've even SEEN an illegal substance since about 1997. And now I have to decide whether or not I can be ordered to pee in a cup on command. Or go find a new job. It's funny. I'm willing to sign any pledge not to do things. I just get resentful when I'm not trusted. And random drug testing is about lack of trust. My bosses can say "The government makes us do it" but it still comes down to trust. And the lack thereof.
And we're caving to the things outsiders demand of us. Trust me, if I wanted to abuse my position here in this company, I'd think of nastier ways of doing it than smoking a joint. When I quit SAIC I swore I'd never work security cleared or drug tested work again. Now... did I mean it???
Posted by karen at March 19, 2002 12:00 AM