It takes me maybe an hour to finish everything I need to do with the entry door, and since it's in my station, I want to listen to the music I like. I've brought in many different CDs like Dream Theater, Ayreon, Nightwish, Therion, and Porcupine Tree, just to name a few. The best response I ever get from anyone working inside the coach is "It's alright" and the worst response is them "voting it out" and turning it back to 104.7, which is our pop station. That pisses me off because they are turning off my music without asking me and are doing it when they are in my station.

Headphones are not allowed and I thought it was due to safety. However, I noticed that we are allowed to use earplugs that block out 25dB. I tried them and saw that I can hear things around me better than those with my earphones in, listening to my iPod. So, I sought out the safety guy for my building. I was originally intending to get some earplugs and trying to make my earphones look identical to them so everyone would think I was wearing the earplugs. I got my earplugs from Matt Harris and then went back to work with them in to see if anyone said anything about me wearing the earplugs. No one paid any attention to them.

I knew headphones were not allowed, but I didn't know how high the rule went. Was it just my boss that didn't allow them? No, because one of his bosses once caught someone wearing them and told him about it. I then saw Eli Finn making his rounds in our building. He's the safety guy for the whole company and is the guy to ask for anything safety related and is really strict on the safety rules. He pretty much told me that it wasn't listed in the safety handbook, but only in the employee handbook. He said the rule had nothing to do with safety at all. I even tried pointing out how it might be a safety risk and he shot those down. He said he doesn't know who wrote that in the policy, he doesn't know why they wrote it, and he wishes they would change it. He was clearly on my side of the matter. I asked who would have the authority to allow me to use them and he said it would have to be Ed Read or higher. Dang.

Now, at Country Coach, all of the regular employees are managed by area managers, or AMs. AMs are managed by supervisors, who control 2-3 stations. Above all the supervisors in a building are the production managers. There is one or sometimes two production managers for each building. Above all the production managers is the Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, Ed Read. He's been at the company for about 30 years, wrote most of the employee policy (including the no personal listening devices rule), is most commonly described as an asshole, is the only guy in the company who can fire you on the spot, and has been known to fire people whom he sees goofing off just because he's having a bad day.

There are a few people who are as high up as he is and they govern different areas, but the only 2 people above him are Jay Howard, the president of the company, who has only been there for 3 years, and Bob Lee, who is the founder.

I saw Jay Howard walking through our building and I stopped him with "Hi, Jay." The rest of the conversation went pretty much like this:

Him: Hey, how's it going?
Me: Good. Hey, I was wondering--
Him: Yes, sir.
Me: --if I might be allowed to listen to music with my earphones.
Him: Oh, well, I don't really deal with the employee policy, so you'll have to talk to Ed Read about that. I don't see a problem with it, but you'll have to talk to Ed Read. I'm not going to step on people's feet. But tell him that you talked to me and I referred you to him.

And then he was off. So, I decided the best way to get him to hear all that I had to say before giving me an answer was to email him. When I got home, I looked through the site but didn't find anything about his email address. I ended up guessing based off of the common theme that everyone else's email addresses followed. Here is the email I sent:

Subject: A Reasonable Request from an Employee of Yours

To be frank, I request your permission to listen to my personal music, at low volumes, using earphones. I have already spoken with Jay Howard on the matter and, while he sees no problem with it, he referred me to you so as to keep from stepping on your feet.

Upon asking Eli Finn from the safety department about the policy, he assured me that it poses no threat to safety. Even regarding the chance that it may block outside noises that I would need to hear, I have tested them against the OSHA approved, and sometimes required, earplugs and can say with certainty that the earplugs block more sound and thus are more hazardous in that aspect.

I hear you are a man all about production. As such, I ask you to consider that all my life, being accompanied by music I like has significantly helped me to focus on the task at hand. It minimizes the chance of me being distracted by the socializing of co-workers and greatly helps me maintain a positive attitude and good overall mood. Please also consider that I have chosen to ask permission, unlike the several other stations in my building whom I see and hear having radios that play music to a large area and could potentially disturb nearby workers. My music would be for me alone and low enough to where I could hear things around me.

You may reach me by my personal email address by replying to this or at work. I look forward to your response and thank you for taking the time to read this.

-Jason Reed Paint Department Building 1

(continued in next entry due to lack of room).