Chapter 29

Recruiting Blues

Staffing development for Findlay had taken on a whole new dimension with the addition of H&S.

Sunday morning, Margaret, Nancy, Helen and Carol were in David's office after Susan and Jack had left and were grooming through the selection lists to find compatible Goats. The Goat problem was worse then the straight hires due to the overlapping issues of law, ethics and regulations. Plus it was pretty uncouth to reach out to someone and say "Would you like to come down and interview with us prior to us killing you?"

"I can't help but think we are loosing a lot of time on this." Margaret said in exasperation. "It is a shame we can't advertise."

Helen and Nancy both laughed at that idea. Carol said, "It takes a few days to get through your head that it is actually happening. Besides, what do we do with a candidate that we don't like?"

"That's easy. Process them. The hard part is finding and setting them aside while we are walking the halls. As busy as we are, we don't get time to do a lot of interview." Margaret said.

"Margaret, I think you are getting worse as we get older" Helen replied. "Your callous is showing. I have to agree that we have been very lucky so far."

"Hey. At some point you just have to get practical. Nancy, do you have a list?"

"Pretty close. We have another shrink and a few with social salvations. No historians though. We can call them starting tomorrow." Nancy said.

"Good. Print out a list. We don't want to pass anyone by. Carol, what are our legal limits?"

"We have been pretty good so far. We have not run afoul of any of the statutes with any of the ones we have so far. The closest would have been Abby. Kim was a no brainer. So who picks?" Carol asked.

That question hung heavy in the air for a moment. "I guess we do." Margaret said. "Pending David's agreement. So far that has been pretty good. Why change what works?"

"So how do we handle this?" Carol asked.

"Let's come up with a list and see what we can do with it. If we have some already coming to us, we have them come in late in the day. Or have them come in for an intake appointment. Then we can talk about them over night." Margaret offered.

Thus began a long and careful sorting by the inner circle to find the next set of staffing for Findlay. Which found a few surprises.

That afternoon, at the other end of the building David was with Marty talking to some perspective recruits for the back office.

Kevin Magee was a young healthy African American student at U of Chicago. He was majoring in business administration, but needed some money to assist with the cost of college. He and a few friends had batted the idea around over drinks on Friday night. That was where he and Jasper had come up with the idea of applying Saturday.

Jasper Collins was from Tennessee and had never thought of working in a slaughterhouse. Like every other male in America, he had known a few women who had been picked. One of the women he had dated a year ago he recognized at a spit roast party for his college fraternity. It had been a shock, and he was drunk enough at the time to not be too disgusted with eating her. She had a hell of a chest and the rib meat was pretty good. (Once you got past the idea of having been talking to her several days earlier.)

Morris McDonald had been an experienced butcher in Pittsburgh, but had moved to Chicago when his father had died. He had been told at the union contact that Findley was expanding and that they were good to work for. But he was also warned that they were a little strange with their rules.

Tom Bradley was from Texas, and had moved north for union wages and benefits. He had worked in human stockyards in Dallas, and had been a butcher in a small shop in Houston.

"So, what exactly does an apprentice do here?" Jasper asked.

"Well at this plant, pretty much moving carcasses around and then stacking boxes and parts after the trades butchers get done. Before we go into detail, you have to agree to sign a non-disclosure agreement." Marty Robinson said. "We have a union book for you to review, in addition to your contract and non-disclosure. Other then that, we just need you to show up early tomorrow for some orientation, and paid first day. Breakfast here is at seven o'clock, and you have to be ready for work at eight. Breakfast is a benefit that is outside of the contract, but it is worth it. We will do orientation from eight to nine o'clock, and you get paid starting at eight."

"One more thing. I don't know for you experienced men how your operations were where you came from, but our operation is different here. If you see a woman in an orange collar, you listen to her as if she is a supervisor. If you have any questions about something she says or tells you, ask Marty, or Me." David said. "Follow that rule and you won't get into any trouble."

"I thought collared women were Goats. Servants and such." Tom said.

"Other places, maybe. Here they are the ones who run all of the intake and most of the operations. Listen to them and you will do ok. Ignore them or disrespect them and you are out of here. Say anything to anyone about it and we sue you so badly your grandparents will be paying us." David said with a smile.

"Ten four. Got it." Tom said.

"Ok. Marty, I will leave it to you, and Gentlemen I will see you in the morning."

After David left, Tom whispered to Marty "He sure seems intense."

"David is. He wanted to build a different model here and he has with the help of his wife and her friends. In the last six weeks we have turned this place from thirty-five a day on three days a week to over a hundred and twenty a day. And we do specials three days a week as well."

"Shit. In Dallas we had over three hundred in stockade every week." Tom said.

"I am sure. But here they walk in every day. No stockade and no live storage. Everyone is in and done on same day." Marty replied. "And we have not had a bolter in over four months."

"What kind of security?" Tom asked.

"Just David. None of us sees a live woman except for the goats. And you don't sass or bother them or I will personally throw you out of here. Not David." Marty said with emphasis.

"So how does that work?" Tom asked, clearly amazed.

"Show up tomorrow and we'll you." Marty said. "But first sign and notarize the NDA."

At the same time, another conversation was going on between Margaret and Carla Sanchez. This one was on a different note.

"What's up, Chica? You get your notice?" Margaret asked, when she answered the call from Carla.

"How did you know?" Carla said in a quiet and stunned voice at the other end.

"Sunday morning, the MAB publishes the names and selection numbers to all of the state houses. I recognized your name from the list we got."

Silence greeted this as Carla let the information sink in. "So you know who is coming to dinner?"

"More like who is going to be dinner." Margaret said.

"I guess there is that." Carla said. Taking a deep breath, she continued "Ok. So what happens next?"

"Well, Monday is a very busy day with us. Go ahead and register with Findlay tonight and do intake on Tuesday morning. That sets appointment time and starts the week clock. Some of the girls will work with you on Tuesday and we will see how it goes."

"Chica" Carla began.

"Carla, this is the business. Make an appointment for Tuesday intake, and meet with our consultants and guides. Under modified letter of agreement we have with the MAB rules in Illinois, the clock starts for term at the interview day, and we can process you up to the following Monday. Monday is a catch up day for women from the weekend and previous week, so we really won't have much time to talk tomorrow. I don't recommend waiting until Thursday because you have a lot of things to do and you will need the time to meet with lawyers and stuff before we process."

"What about extensions?" Carla asked.

"We can talk about that Tuesday. Carol is our consul at Findlay, and she is very good at explaining things. But don't be expecting anything beyond a week from tomorrow."

"That's pretty cold, lady."

"Carla, I'm sorry. The state picks fifteen hundred women a week, and we only can process a third of that. So slots are tight. Get on the schedule with us and we can talk about your situation." Margaret replied.

"Ok. I guess I will see you Tuesday."

"Make the appointment. The slots fill up quickly. And start getting things in order."

Hearing his wife's side of the conversation, David waited patiently for Margaret to hang up before speaking. "So, are we getting some Salsa beef in the house?"

"Depends. Do you want to fuck her first or just put her on the table?" Margaret asked.

"My, you do have a mouth on you these days" David replied with a smile. "With all kidding aside, do you think she is someone we can use?"

"Carla was a sorority sister of mine, so she should be close to the exception age. She might not know it though."

"Well, we will leave it in the hands of our competent staff." David replied.

At the other end of the phone, Carla thought to herself "Is this any way to treat a friend?"

Realizing that there was nothing anyone else could do for her, Carla decided to do exactly what Margaret had advised. Opening up the Findlay web page for an appointment, she saw that Tuesday morning had already filled up, and that the afternoon slots were filling up too. Grabbing a three pm slot for intake discussion, Carla breathed a sigh of relief. All of this was happening so damn soon, Carla thought to herself. Downloading the pre process questionnaire, Carla started to work on the end of life paperwork that would be her focus for the next forty-eight hours.

Monday Morning.

Kim followed her nose downstairs to breakfast. She had slept like a log last night, after having spent time with Susan, Jack and her girls. Phil had relented to allow them to come to Findlay's for a visit. Other then the nudity, both girls took everything in stride and were cheerful. Both were unhappy that mommy could not come home with them but both were able to understand that it was just for a while. In the meantime, they would be able to talk with Kim every morning and evening. Phil had sent some of her personal things with Susan and Jack. David and Carl had helped set things up in Kim's room to make things more comfortable. And the late night conversation with the girls had been good.

Helen, Margaret and Candy were all already downstairs when Kim came down, and after pouring a cup of coffee, Kim joined them at the table.

"You are looking pretty chipper this morning." Margaret said with a smile."

"Thanks. Seeing the kids was good. I forgot to thank you for that."

"You don't have to thank us. That is pretty much SOP since David started collecting people here." Margaret said with a laugh." It was good to see Susan and Jack in a social setting. I think they may be back on Saturday for the frolics. So, what is on your agenda today, Ms. Project manager?" Margaret asked with a smile.

"Well, I was thinking about that. Do you mind if I work here today, and we can go over to H&S tomorrow and do a checkpoint? I want to make sure we have the bugs worked out of the system here today and prepare a bit of a training and troubleshooting session for here and H&S."

"What did you have in mind?" Margaret asked with interest.

"I'll run the mechanicals here today and coach each of the runners through it. Make sure that there are no issues on a full production day. I don't want to have any issues like Friday stalling groups. The backup could be bad news."

"You asking to be designated clipper today?" Margaret asked.

"Sure. If we do two people to hang and slide, it will go faster. We might want to get parts for the winch and cable system as spares. That is the main weak link now. We have three pieces of equipment that are critical path for production days and I didn't notice any stand by spares in stock except for clipper blades." Kim finished.

Damn, this woman is right. "Kim, you are right. I don't recall seeing any spares. And you are right to bring this up. Tell David when he is in and we'll order parts today. Maybe even look at how that was built to get fast repairs if we have problems."

"I also have some ideas for blade alterations for our business. I am going to send some drawings to Maguire to build into some blades for us. Straight-line cutting is smooth, but we really need a serration to grip and hold while we cycle the jaws closed. If we can get slight serrations into the ceramic blades on the cutter dies we could minimize play of the neck around in the arc of the cut and get quicker slice through the spine."

Margaret smiled at Kim's use of the phrase "our business". She then sat and thought for a moment. "Will that make our operations cost increase?"

"I don't think so. If we have serrations on the blades on one side, and in opposition, it should cut through tendon, muscle, skin, and everything else pretty easily. Having them bite in tight is the key to finding the opening through the bones on the spinal column. That is the big thing. And the serrations should last longer time between blade changes."

"Speaking of which, how often should we do that?" Candy asked. "Should we do them at beginning of production each day?"

"I don't know. We might want to establish a gauge test. Use a standard piece of stock and measure the backpressure of the blades. As pressure increases, we know the blade is getting dull and we are using more force." Kim said.

"Well, I will leave that to you two engineers" Margaret said. "Candy, do you want to work with Kim here and see what we need to get things fully operational? I will spell you in the walk through".

"Ok. Are we using the new guys to slide and help with the winch?" Candy asked.

"Ask Marty. Also make sure the union approves this technique. And Kim, I need to get you a apprentice papers if you are going to do production work for the week."

"If you don't mind, I think I would rather do that." Kim said. "I would like to leave the intake and other stuff alone."

Margaret thought a moment about this. "If we don't have any issues with the union, I suppose we can do that. Make sure you talk with Marty about that."

Conversation then moved to the mundane, until the rest of the group began to gather.

One of the first rules of psychology and sociology is that group dynamics change when new members arrive. Tom and Kevin arrived earliest. They were somewhat shocked by the appearance of all the naked female flesh when they walked down the hall to the break room. Being served breakfast by a naked woman was a little different. Margaret waved them over to sit with her to eat, while Candy was doing production estimates with Nancy.

"Boys, eat hearty. We have a lot of work to do on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So, Tom, I understand you worked in Texas?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I worked at Swift meatpacking outside of Dallas. I came up here to spend time with an aunt and uncle, but I also needed a job. Mr. Findlay was pretty explicit about everything being explained during orientation, and I wanted to get here early." Tom replied.

"My husband is pretty intense, isn't he?" Margaret asked.

"Yes ma'am. Were you selected?" Tom asked.

"No, I wasn't. I passed age of selection a few months ago, and I offered to help out here. David was sweet enough to let me make a few suggestions and things have grown from there."

"Marty said to listen to everyone with a collar like they were boss. I do have to admit that the supervision here is a lot nicer looking then I have seen before." Tom said between bites.

"Why thank you, Tom. So, Kevin? What is your story?" Margaret asked the tall young black man.

"Need money to complete college. I have heavy classes on Tuesday and Thursday, so part time here is going a long way to cover expenses." Kevin replied. "Marty said that those were the key days you had for operations, so I felt that this would work out."

"Have you ever worked near slaughter houses before?" Margaret asked.

"No ma'am. I admit I am a little nervous." Kevin replied.

"Well, we'll see how it works with you. Have you had any female friends or relatives processed?" Margaret asked.

"Yes. My older sister was two years ago. And I have had a few women I dated end up as the main course at fraternity parties."

"Ok. Well, first you need to remember that the female goat staff does all operations here. That includes slaughter. You guys will never see a live woman here except for goats. And our clients won't see you either. Keep that in mind wherever you are and you will do ok."

Shortly after that, Marty Robinson arrived, with Morris and Jasper in tow. "Hey Margaret, you scared these fellows off yet?" Marty said as he was entering.

"No. I don't think so. Was I supposed to?"

"No. When we finish breakfast, I was going to have them go round the circuit to get some orientation. If they have their NDA's done."

"Go ahead and eat, Marty. If you like I can take them around." Candy said as she was standing up. "I finished and I have to take water and stuff up front anyway."

"If you don't mind. Kevin and Tom, help this young lady with what ever she needs. Usually that means lifting and carrying." Marty said with a laugh.

"We'll meet you in processing after the circuit. Say in about thirty minutes?"

Getting Marty's nod, Candy led Tom and Kevin down the hall to pick up the sodas and light eats to take to reception. Figuring over a hundred thirty people for today plus goats cycling through, the group loaded up two full hand trucks of water, soda, and other beverages as well as light Danish and other continental breakfast treats.

I guess everyone get's a last meal, Tom thought to himself as he was stacking things on to the hand truck. Sure is different from Dallas.

Stopping at the door-marked reception, Candy turned to the new employees and said, "See the orange line on the floor and walls? That is the furthest to the front you can come while wearing butcher uniforms. Any time you are beyond here you have to be in street clothes. And the sign on the door is a reminder. We don't let any clients see any blood."

Continuing and leading Tom and Kevin into reception and over to the coolers and tables, both men were surprised at the number of tables, chairs and the three desks. "Wow. This looks like a cafeteria" Kevin said. "Reminds me of the one at school, but smaller."

"We tried to get it comfortable and relaxed. We have seating for sixty now, and that will probably be strained at the rate things are growing. We are going to have morning and afternoon groups now. That way we have seating for everyone at their time of arrival."

After stacking the soda and beverages into the cooler and setting up the table and coffee pots, Candy turned to the two men and started her orientation spiel. "Ok. This is reception and intake. When women come here they bring their paperwork to the desk and we give them a folder with a questionnaire and a printout of their selection letter. It also has a picture of them. We do verification of identity and then have them go pick a seat at a table. They are in groups of four as you see."

"So, No one here is bossing anyone around or doing anything like that?" Tom asked.

"No. We have not had any problems yet. A guide comes to each table after the women are seated and helps them with the questionnaire, any documents they need to finish up, and reviews their reporting status. We weed out the obvious mistakes that the MAB makes, and if there are things not done on the questionnaire, we send the woman back home to get things finished up first."

"Really?" Tom asked with an amazed tone in his voice. "You send them home?"

"Sure. Getting all the end of life stuff done here makes things a lot smoother. We don't care how long you are in intake. Once you start down the halls we don't want anyone coming back up or having emotional shakes." Candy answered.

"I guess it is easier to handle here then farther back." Tom said.

"I think so. Helen is our staff shrink and she said that this keeps everyone off guard and in small groups so we don't have a crowd reaction problem."

"You have a staff shrink?" Kevin asked.

"And a MD. And we have two nurses. And have a lawyer. All on staff permanently." Candy said with a smile. "And the lawyer does in house consultations on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Shaking his head, Tom thought that this operation was as far from Texas as the moon. "Definitely different from Texas." Tom said out loud.

"It is different from anywhere else. And we are taking over operations at one of the other two other plants soon. I am supposed to be operations head here when Margaret goes to the other plant." Candy said.

"Congratulations I guess," Kevin said.

"Thanks. Anyway. When the client is finished with her intake form and all of the items are finished, a guide takes the group of four down the hall to the examination rooms. Bring the carts and follow me." Candy said.

Showing the guys the exam rooms and through the lavatory to stripping, Kevin and Tom were amazed at how clean and quiet everything was. "We have white noise conditioners in all rooms and in the hallway. Keeps everything calm and quiet." Candy said. "Here in stripping we check the list one last time with each client to make sure everything is done. We box their clothes and belongings with their jewelry and effects into these boxes and put this envelope with the questionnaire onto the top. Notice that it has the ship to address displayed on the outside?"

Looking at the forms both men saw that everything was neatly labeled and visible.

"And we go to this window last and look at the health documents. Those go into these other envelopes with the death certificates that we have on file here. We have the client sign those on the back as well. That way they are sure that all insurances and benefits are released to the next of kin." Candy said. "This is new, we didn't used to do this. But the MAB made a new regulation after Merle Hill raised a stink last week. He has been saying our production figure were bogus. We are fighting to have this no longer required because it raises the stress of the client. They don't need any reminders that they are going to die." Candy said.

Tom and Kevin both thought about this. "So, at this point, you have been tested, you have filled out this documentation, all of your things are done, and you are getting undressed. What happens next?" Tom asked.

"Well, from here it depends. If you are normal production, you go through that blue door there. I'll show you how that works in a while. If you are here for Special Events, you go this way here. We have to take these carts back to the rear are, so we will go through special events. That way we don't have any contamination in the food process area."

Following Candy through the double doors into the Special Events area, both men were a little shocked at the sight of the Gallows and Guillotine. "I guess I know what this is for." Tom said.

"Yep. Clients with fantasy endings usually opt for this. Depending on load, and other factors, we may do this for free or with minimal charge. For groups and gala's we charge more, and we usually have a full house here on Saturday." Candy said.

"Where is your overnight storage?" Tom asked.

"Freezer storage is in the rear of processing." Candy replied.

"No. I mean live storage." Tom persisted.

"There is none. Every woman who comes in here is same day processed, unless you are doing a early intake." Candy said. "From the time you start down the hall to on the table to be carved is forty five minutes. It used to take a little longer, but we have streamlined the processes and I expect that we will have shorter times now."

Tom shook his head. "That is unreal."

"Yes. It is a far cry better and quicker then when I started here."

"So, you are a selectee?" Kevin asked.

"Yep. If it wasn't for working here in this place, I would have been eaten a long time ago." Candy said. "And if the laws change or Merle get's his way, I will be eaten sooner rather then later."

"Well, I don't look forward to that." Kevin said.

"Aw. Thank you, you are sweet. Stick around after work and we will show you some of the other benefits of this place." Candy said with a grin. "Be sure you read the union bulletin board at lunch."

Jasper and Morris were having the same sort of orientation with Margaret. For both of them, the front office was different. Morris was a little shocked to hear that all terms were done by the female staff.

"Yes. I established that a few months ago. It keeps the men out of the loop, and women who would want to be treated like that themselves do terms. The new mechanical trimmer is a change of course for us, and I am not a real fan. But my goats over ruled me on that one."

"Your goats?" Morris asked with a smile.

"Yes. They ganged up on me and so I guess my throat slitting days are over."

"You mean you did terms?" Morris said.

"About six hundred or so. I take a sharp knife, slit the jugular and arteries and talked with the client while they bleed out. Takes about three minutes. Of course the line is backed up at the door and the last woman was standing there for up to twelve minutes by the time I get to her. Which is why the team argued for the de-capper. Cuts wait time at the door from twelve minutes down to four."

Morris was a little stunned at this revelation. Sensing this, Margaret continued. "Of course, Candy and Cindy and Abby are the major killers here. Between the four of us we have killed every piece of stock that has come through here in the last four months."

Jasper breathed a sigh of relief. The thing that had him most worried was the killing. Hearing that he would not have to does that soothe his conscience a little? "So I don't have to kill anyone?"

"Not unless you want to pull the rope on the guillotine or the lever on the gallows. And the women here do most of that. Tim does some of it, but not much any more."

This is definitely not how they did things in Pittsburgh, Morris thought to himself.

Lunchtime.

"Production is pretty good. We have popped almost seventy this morning," Candy said to David at the lunch table. "We have a five to ten minute break between groups to move carcasses, clean up and remove heads, and get ready for the next group."

"Any sign of any awareness?" David asked.

"Medically speaking, that shouldn't happen." Abby said. "The head dies fifteen seconds after decapitation, and all sensations are pretty much shocked senseless by the stunner."

Cindy said "Kim is an artist with that foot treadle raising and lowering the capper blades. I expect that the chutes at H&S will make things easier and less work. We need a conveyor here for baskets."

"I heard a couple of low moans once or twice, but nothing to give me the impression that the client was any aware of what was going on. The hands move to the neck sometimes when the blades start to close, but not with any conscious effort." Candy said.

"Any idea of wear on the blades?" David asked.

"I checked the back pressure on the gauge at start of day today, and I have watched it all day. Airflow and pressure are essentially the same at the end of shift as they were at start. The blades don't show any nicks, not even at the back where they hit the spine. No notches or anything else. So far, I think we will be able to get at least a week of production before we have to change. Maybe more." Kim said.

"I understand we had a accident this morning." David said.

"Yes. Jasper is not cut out for this work. After the third clip, he lost his breakfast. Marty got him out and we cleaned up after the string. Morris keeps saying that this is not the way they did it in Pittsburgh, and he is sure glad to be here."

"Yea. Tom and Kevin are ok. Kevin got splattered with arterial spray on the second string and had to change. But he wasn't wigged out or anything. Tom keeps saying that this is a lot different from Texas. And asked where the Union board was." Candy said with a smile. "I told Kevin to get a health screen at lunch. I haven't had any black cock yet. Wonder what it will be like."

"Well, let me know." Kim said. "I might want to try that later myself."

"Anything different from normal?" David asked. "Any hiccups besides Jasper?"

"Yes. Helen said to tell you we have a weird case in the front office. She asked you to come up when you finish." Cindy said.

Going up to reception, David saw that the crowd was about twenty or so. Margaret waved at him as she started down the hall with a group in tow. Helen and Carol were at the middle desk with what looked like a small piece of luggage. Approaching the desk, David recognized a small animal carrier.

"David, we have a issue." Helen began. "One of our clients had no one to take care of her cat while she was down here, and had arranged with her sister to pick it up with the personal effects later today. I agreed to let her leave the animal here. But."