Somebody's watchin' you

So yesterday at work I discovered that we have a camera in the warehouse placed where our packing guy spends most of his time. I got a call from my boss who told me to move a box that was blocking the camera. I was confused, but tried not to make a big deal out of learning this while on the phone with my boss. He also told me to relay a message to our packing guy to tell him to stop talking on his phone all day while he was working. Given the situation the guy is in, I think it's fine if he talks on the phone while doing something easy - in this instance, folding T-shirts. I told him in broken English so that he could understand, and he brushed it off, thinking I was simply making a suggestion. He continued talking on the phone, and apparently I moved the wrong box, so the camera was still blocked. The boss called again on the phone a few minutes later, telling me the same thing again. I told our packing guy with a more serious tone this tone, and told him "The boss is watching you". His eyes got wide and he quickly ended his phone call.

A few minutes later, packing guy came up to me and asked me what was going on. I did my best to explain that the boss has a camera (apparently, a webcam) set up and that's how we could see what was going on. Packing guy made a face, and cautiously went back to work.

This morning, I asked my co-worker if he knew about the camera. Indeed he did, and he pointed out that there was even a camera above my head pointing toward the entrance. At lunch time when most of the workers gather together with the bosses, packing guy and the boss got into an argument about the purpose of the camera. It went something like this, but in broken English since neither can speak it that well:

Boss: You need to keep this area clear so I can see through the camera.
Packing: So what? So you can spy on me? What's the deal?
Boss: It's not to spy on you, it's for security. This is a warehouse and I need to be able to see what's going on in it.
Packing: So you don't trust me is what you're saying?
Boss: That's not it...
Packing: You know, I work so hard here! I do EVERYTHING! You put way too much work on MY shoulders.
Boss: If you don't like it, you can go back home.
Packing: I do EVERYTHING here, man! You give me WAY too much work!
Boss: So you can leave, if that's what you want.

The packing guy took his food into the warehouse next door and ate there alone. We all finished our meal in silence.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this situation. I was a bit frazzled, to say the least. I know the packing guy's situation. I know he's overworked and underpaid. He's still making more money than he would back home, and he sends most of it to his family so they can support themselves. He's also in a situation where it's hard to find himself another job, not only because of his status in this country, but also because of the economy.

The boss is also in a bit of a tight spot because the packing guy has worked for him for somewhere between eight and ten years. He knows where everything in the warehouse is, he knows how to operate the machinery, he basically knows how to do everything that doesn't involve a computer. If something were to happen to packing guy, the business would suffer a heavy blow and the boss would be in a real bind.

Things seemed to return to the status quo, but one of my other co-workers later told me more about the cameras. Even though she comes from a communist country known for its human rights violations, tightly run state-controlled media, and seedy communist government, she said she still felt uncomfortable learning about the cameras. There's one that has sat above her head in her office since before she started working with the company. But, she noted how she noticed the power light was no longer on, and thus the camera probably didn't work anymore. She even confidently waved hello to it and said "See? I'm doing my work." in the middle of our conversation. We also noted the power light on the camera above my desk was not on. It made me think perhaps the packing guy is the only one the boss doesn't trust. But I'll agree with my co-worker that it is pretty creepy to know that our boss can watch us even when he's not in the office.

"Security", my ass!