BOHICA

For those who don't know, that stands for Bend Over, Here It Comes Again.

In the wee hours of Tuesday, January 29th, Dell had people all over the country removing the kiosks they had in malls. At 8:30 that morning, all the employees of these kiosks were told they were fired. No notice, no nothing.

Now, this wouldn’t have been so bad if not for the fact that these kiosks were about the most profitable part of Dell’s business. The machines they’re selling at Wal-Mart are mostly basic models that barely run the operating system, and at Best Buy they’re not paying for shelf space, so even their top XPS models are hidden amongst the cheap knock-offs on the metal shelves. Even the lap top computers they’re selling – for the most part – do not meet even the basic standards required by the schools here in North Carolina.

Dell knew by New Year’s Day that they were going to do this, so what would have been the problem with giving at least one week’s notice? Sure, some may have left, but that would have saved Dell on severance packages. Hell – just the weekend before they did this they had a guy pack up his family and move from Florida to Atlanta. Now he has nothing in either place.

The reason I write this is because Boy Wonder had been employed by Dell at the kiosks for four years, and on two occasions had been their top salesman nationally. Now he’s out of work, the single parent of a 6 year old girl, and was in the process of buying a house. Now – not to put too fine a point on it –he’s screwed.

This leaves me wondering if Dell will keep it's factory here in Winston Salem, or if it will end up in Honduras or somewhere.

Corporations around the U.S. demand loyalty from their employees. I’m old enough that I can remember when that loyalty went both ways.