Brotberuf

Unwinding from the psychic foetal position I have been in recently I am reminded of Kafka's observation concerning rejection : "Anyone who cannot come to terms with his life while he is alive needs one hand to ward off a little his despair over his fate... but with his other hand he can note down what he sees among the ruins." I am keyboarding using my right hand this morning.
My employers are demanding of our production teams higher quotas for each shift. There is a great demand world-wide for the widgets we produce. Management had previously eliminated one entire production line and now realises they can't meet customer demand with the remaining lines. Hence, workers are being pushed to their limits physically and mentally. Morale is low. Rumours circulate about the operation moving overseas because of cheaper labour costs.
I operate the machine that is the linchpin of the production line for a particular in-demand widget. It is the policy of management that this machine be run 24-hours a day a minimum of 6 days a week. No preventative maintenance is performed on any machine in the plant. Management's policy is until a machine fails it is to remain online. Try driving your automobile without regular oil changes and see how long the engine lasts.
The machine I operate began to fail. It was 3 weeks before enough emails were exchanged between the Techs, the Engineers and Management until any maintenance was performed. The loss in production was for one entire shift while adjustments were made. The machine is still not functioning properly. The plant has three such machines. One that is on the production line, one that they took out of the warehouse to rob for parts, and one held in reserve in the warehouse in case the first unit needs replacing. I asked around among persons I felt were trustworthy about who I could approach with an idea I was working on. My question to my peers was, "Who can I go to with an idea who is honourable and will credit me if I suggest it?" The answer I got was,"Do not go to your Supervisors or a Tech because they will steal your idea and present it as their own. We know from experience this is what happens." I was told to go to one specific Engineer who is honest and honourable. I asked this man if I could speak to him the following day for five minutes. He was very cordial with me and we arranged to meet.
I pitched my idea to the Engineer, explained the reasoning behind it and told him that production could be doubled if the third machine was pulled from the warehouse and fabricated into a self-contained mobile unit where it could be wheeled onto any production line or set-up immediately in place if the primary unit should fail. I humbly confessed to him I was not an engineer or an expert in production. I did however explain to him my thoughts on how to build the mobile unit. The man listened intently to me keeping direct eye contact. The man is obviously extremely intelligent and I could not read him. He did not smile, did not frown, did not interrupt. His eyes were directly on mine the entire time. I finished my pitch and he said he would take it to the Boss. That was it. I thanked him, shook his hand and he walked away.
That night I shared with a bloke I trust my idea. He looked away for a moment, looked back at me and asked, "Why don't They think of these things?" I replied sardonically, "I think its because they've been here too long and no one wants to make waves. Things like this have to come from nobody's like me because we have nothing to lose". He agreed.