Company That Cares

In this economy, I was just thrilled to be offered a job, to be honest. Even better, this one was well-paying, the company seemed stable, and there were plenty of perks (great pension, health insurance, lots of holidays, a company car...)

My induction went well, I loved my office, and my line manager, Malcom, seemed terrific.

"Anything I can support you with," he said, shaking my hand, "Anything at all - come and see me!"

I was made to feel welcome straight away. I remembered stories from older generations of staying in the same company for decades, or even your whole career, and I thought, I could see myself doing that here.

I put my head down and worked hard. I didn't want to give them a single reason to let me go before my three month probation period was up.

When that three months drew to a close, I had a meeting with my line manager to make sure I was completely happy with my contract, and go over some paperwork. There were other new starters there as well, and some new apprentices.

We were more than a little over awed when the CEO came in and shook hands with us all. "Please, call me Ben," he said.

Something about the whole thing reminded me of when I was a kid and used to go to cadets.

I flipped through the file I'd been given, almost absent-mindedly. I couldn't think of anything that might entice me to leave at this point.

"Hey, what's this... this blood and organ donation bit?" I said.

"Oh," Malcom beamed, "It's a company -wide initiative to encourage everyone to opt in as an organ donor. We pledge to give blood regularly as well."

"What a good idea," I murmured.

"We think so!" he enthused. "Until the register is an opt-out one, we think this is the next best solution. We pride ourselves on being a company that cares. We hold regular fundraisers for charity as well, and any donation you make is matched by the company."

After the meeting they threw a party for us new starters. I was proud and excited to be part of a company like this. My face hurt a bit from smiling so much.

Something niggled away in my brain. It wouldn't accept the donation thing as wholly positive, and it insisted there was something off about throwing a party for us. It was a little voice in the back of my mind that hissed, "it's over the top. Too corporate. A bit creepy if we're being honest..."

I squashed that killjoy voice, opted in as an organ donor, pledged to participate in the next blood drive, and paperwork dealt with at last, took the oppurtunity to get to know some of my colleagues better.

****

Six months later, something else happened that made me raise my eyebrows.

Ben, the CEO who had shaken our hands and smiled at us once, never to lay eyes on us again, had a niece with leukaemia. A nurse (or maybe, just someone in a nurse's uniform) went round the entire company taking cheek swabs from everyone to determine whether there was a potential donor among us.

I balked at this. I hoped he found a donor for his niece, and I would even be happy to see if I could help. But having a nurse do this actually at work just seemed a bit much.

When she got to my desk, I tried to say I was too busy, "This only takes a moment," she said. "Now, would you be happy to donate stem cell, bone marrow, or both? Or, do you need more information first?"

"Umm..."

The fact there was no option to decline just made me want to do exactly that.

I noticed after this that a few people didn't show up for work. Were they fired? For not agreeing to be donors? I was uneasy, but I couldn't afford to be jobless, not in this economic climate.

****

A year later, a similar thing happened, but this time somebody's cousin needed a liver transplant. The nurse came round again, offering half days off for people to get the necessary test, and dilligently taking down the names of anyone who didn't sign up.

I loitered at the water cooler for the nurse to leave. There was a young woman there I didn't know. I'd seen her around the building, and I thought she had most likely been here quite a bit longer than me. She had long, straight hair which had a pale red tinge and was drawn back into an tight ponytail.

"What do you think about that?" I asked her, nodding after the bustling nurse.

The woman with the ponytail looked away quickly. She'd been smiling just a moment before, but that expression slid off her face and she wouldn't meet my eyes. When I caught at her arm to press her about this, she shook her head and muttered "I can't talk about... It's against the NDA."

Once again, people who didn't sign up were mysteriously missing from work by the following week.

****