I’ve got some bitching I need to do.

Yesterday, it snowed. In accordance with the Office’s snow day policy — “If you want the day off, use PTO” — the majority of people did not arrive for work. From those who came in, including myself, there was some grumbling about having to work, especially since our lack of internet for most of the day made it almost impossible to actually get anything done.

Two of my coworkers commute down from far-far away. They were in a minor car accident yesterday, and thankfully, neither was injured, although the car was not so lucky, and might need some fairly expensive repairs.

The car’s owner is fairly pissed off, and I suppose she has a right to be — goodness knows, I’ve been plenty of pissed at this company in the not so distant past. But when she told me, “I know I can’t expect anything from this place!” I just sort of had a realization.

Okay, so we don’t get snow days — we all get a base of three weeks’ worth of PTO (Paid Time Off). We’re allowed to go negative on our PTO to the tune of two and a half days.

The Office is flexible about unpaid leave, and working hours: their only restriction is that you be in the Office from 10 am to 3 pm Monday through Friday. How you fit the other fifteen hours per week in is per your discretion — many of my coworkers stay long hours Monday through Thursday and only come in from 10-3 on Friday.

We have health insurance — good health insurance — and dental insurance. There’s a 401K plan that might actually be coming into fruition, although talk about it has died since the economy nose dived. We have catered lunches once a month, and a budget for “fun” out of the office activities which allowed us to go play pool one day after work last week, not only with the Office picking up the tab, but letting us use the time towards our forty. (That was the day I met Mister The Plumber.)

Our building’s parking requires payment: the company picks up the tab for the monthly parking permit. Those of us who don’t drive can have that amount reimbursed towards our commuting expenses.

Our only rule governing personal internet time is that any streaming site (YouTube, Pandora) is off-limits. Other than that, we’re permitted to spend as much time on Facebook, Gmail, or CNN as we wish, with the caveat that our work must be done by the time we leave for the day.

I don’t mean to mock my coworkers’ bitching: many have voiced such complaints. But I worked for the better part of a decade at menial hourly wage jobs, where being paid to take the day off was not an option. If it snowed and I couldn’t make it in, or I chose not to endanger myself trying, I did not get paid for the day. I had no health insurance through work, and when I did, it was a crappy, horrible plan that ate too much of my paycheck and fooled my coworkers into thinking a vision plan (free eyeglasses!) was a good benefit: no.

Sometimes I think people should be forced to work blue-collar jobs for a set period of time before moving into the white-collar field. I never particularly liked many of my jobs, only got along with a few of my bosses, but I learned enough in that time to appreciate where I am now (even if I sometimes forget that lesson).

Admittedly, the culture here has changed in the year I’ve been working at the Office (that’s not entirely true: my first day was March 24th, so I’m three weeks shy). We used to get multiple lunches a month, and chartered buses to baseball games. Our budget for fun used to be greater, and no one cared if you worked twelve hours a day Monday through Wednesday and came in from 7 to 11 on Thursday, because, by God!, you had your forty. At the end of the week, individuals used to be recognized for assorted achievements with gift cards: I still have one in my wallet: $50 Cheesecake Factory. (Any takers? Single ladies only need apply).

I attribute the changes to the nations’ financial woes: the big changes to the corporate culture came when the economy tanked, when a hiring freeze went into effect.

And it sucks. Of course it does. But when it comes to “not expecting anything from this place?” I’m still happy to be able to expect a paycheck every two weeks, which was far more than I could from a lot of the other places I’ve worked.