Is "Snow Emergency" Legally Valid?

We're in the grip of our first snow emergency of the 2013-2014 winter. Winter Storm Cleon. With Dion already following closely.

Now, this isn't about what makes a snow emergency in any specific place. Minnesota and North Dakota would probably laugh at what Cincinnati calls an emergency.Maybe even at what they would call a significant snowfall.

But, the fact is, Cincinnati communities are calling snow emergencies of various levels.

Big whooping deal. It means, for the most part, that communities can write tickets and write off damage to cars parked on the streets.

They say not to go out unless absolutely necessary.
But who decides what is necessary?

I can tell you who does NOT decide.
Service industry workers. They have to go to work or lose their jobs.
The owners of various businesses don't care much if the police say don't go out.
The police don't care much, either. If you are driving slowly and carefully, they aren't likely to chase you down and possibly cause an accident, as well as keeping you both out when you could be getting in somewhere.
But the gas stations HAVE to stay open.
McDonald's MUST stay open.
Facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes, by their very nature, need to stay open. But must they insist on workers coming in in a "snow emergency"?
(I don't know what they could do instead. They should work up snow emergency protocols. Reduced staff, maybe sleep-breaks for people who will remain instead of go out I believe some hospitals do do that.)

Not only do these businesses insist on insisting, they punish those who don't risk life and limb to serve coffee to idiots. (Road personnel excepted from this category.) They write them up(disciplinary action); they brand them as unreliable; they reduce their hours; they even fire them.
They do not pay the fines for tickets received.
They do not pay for damages caused by an accident when their employees should never have been on the road in the first place.
They do not compensate for extra gas burned in longer, slower drives.
They don't pay hospital bills for slip and slide crashes.
They do NOT pay for funerals.

It's not just the service industry. There are factories with this same mindset. Never mind that their product is nonessential -- they have quotas that must be met, come hell or high water. (Hell or high snowdrifts?) The work must be done.

No mere employee can protest any of these disciplinary actions by pleading a snow emergency. The designation has no standing in labor law.

So, a "Snow Emergency" is a money maker for the municipality.
A "Snow Emergency" is an out for insurance companies, who will not pay (easily) for an accident caused when the driver wasn't supposed to be driving.
A "Snow Emergency" is no reason to not go out; thus says American Industry.

So, I ask you, why bother.
Why bother?

What is a Cashier?

I've been trying to find work, like most of America. There are jobs out there, but the hoops we must jump through get stranger and stranger. More and more places are accepting online applications only , or online primarily. Translation: your paper in-store application and your written resume are dropped into the trash can as soon as you are out of sight.

It would be nice if there was some standard form or procedures for online applications. Or a way to copy your filled out application to multiple store locations, for places like McDonald's. For now, you have to fill out the same forms over and over again for jobs under the same corporate umbrella. Please, why can't we just CC the applications? Or better yet, why must we select one location only? Why not allow an applicant to apply at multiple stores with one application? Isn't that the sort of thing computerized applications are supposed to do for both employer and hopeful employee? Eliminate repetition and sort by keywords (keywords being the locations)?

Some sites you have to 'create an account' and log in and out of complete with password and your secret identity  Really? I just want a job, not an account. And you'll know who I am as soon as I start the application process. My name IS the first thing you'll ask for, isn't it?

Once we get to the application (if we're lucky) we'll be asked what position we'll be applying for.
 'Any' is not one of the options.
Do we want to be a BOU? A QST? A CRR? Aren't there any two or four initial jobs?  How about a store team member? Well, since I want to work at your store, I want to be a member of the store team. I'm pretty sure that's a minimum requirement.

What kind of team member? Which spoonful of alphabet soup would we like to be? The better sites have a what-is-this drop down menu that will explain what the initials are. Many won't. I always figure that if I don't know what the letters are, I'm probably not qualified for the job.

But wait -- that means these stores no longer use cashiers! No floor service people!
I'm pretty sure I am not going to shop there, with no one to help me find things.

After much searching and thinking I find a couple acronyms that may qualify as cashier: Customer Service Specialist and Customer Relations Representative. There's also Customer Service Representative.' Customer Relations' and 'Customer Service' seem to be ways to pretty up the job title. And everyone is expected to be a specialist -- or at least called one  -- these days. It supposedly makes them feel more appreciated. (Please and Thank You are an easier way to achieve that outcome.)

Who cares? Most people looking for cashier's jobs are looking for cashier's jobs. They don't want to be Representatives. They don't want to be specialists. They want to be EMPLOYED.

Online applications are Okay.
If I were an employer,  I'd rather do a walk in so I could see who I'm getting and gather important 'first impression' details, but I can see that online will eliminate a lot of personal prejudice eliminations.

But quit with the initials and the fancy sounding names for common positions! I want to come and help your customers find what they want to buy, and I want to help them buy it and get out so they will come back again. And I want a paycheck. Not an empty  title made of fancier words.

I want to be a cashier and shelf-stocker and coffee-maker. No Representing Specialist or Specialized representative.

I am a lifelong (although currently unemployed) cashier and proud of it. It is you who are missing a good employee because I don't know what you call me.


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