On Sunday I went through my Junk Email folder for the first time in about two weeks.
To my surprise, I had an email from Glassdoor letting me know there were new reviews of Diamond Comic Distributors.
“That’s interesting but useless,” I thought. Still, I was curious, and I wanted to take a look.
Looking at Glassdoor at work wad discouraged. People did it anyway, and it was often a game to try and match the anonymous reviews to people. I have no doubt that the executives watched Glassdoor like a hawk, and they knew the reputation Diamond, not to mention Steve Geppi, had on Glassdoor. Of course they didn’t want the peons in the cubicle maze looking at what their peers, current and former, really thought.
To look at something on Glassdoor, you have to give it something. It’s like the Riddle Game, but not fun. Of the four options I was offered that would unlock this review from July, I chose to give it my salary.
I don’t work there any longer. The company no longer exists in any meaningful way.
Glassdoor sent me this email:
Well, jeez, Glassdoor. Tell me something I didn’t already know. 😆
At times I would sardonically say, “Diamond pays worse than a non-profit.”
This sounds bitter, but I find it funny. Glassdoor asked a question, I gave it an answer, and then it’s like, “You have got to be joking.” Nope!
My mom, before she died, thought I should take a pay cut in my job search. She gave a number of how much below Diamond I should look for. “I don’t think that would be legal,” I said. “That’s probably below minimum wage.” (It wasn’t. Pennsylvania is still $7.25 an hour. Even West Virginia has a higher minimum wage than Pennsylvania.) The point is, even she thought I made more than I ever did.
There’s a reason I supported “Fight for 15.” I didn’t make $15 an hour until I’d been at Diamond for five years. Even as an assistant manager at EB Games in my early career there over a decade earlier, I made more than that.
So, yes, Glassdoor. The number I gave you is absurdly low. It also, unfortunately, was accurate.