Clinton, MS – The 2002 WorldCom employee picnic has been cancelled, according to an internal memo obtained by The Blue Brick. The memo, which circulated to the remaining employees of the once mighty telecommunications giant, stated that “due to low interest, and a general lack of employees, the summer picnic has been postponed indefinitely”.
One of WorldCom’s remaining employees, Steve Cooper, told The Blue Brick that with so few workers left, several of the food sign-up sheets for the picnic were blank, including the essential side-dish sheet. “The great thing about potluck picnics is covering your plate with a lot of side dishes, like coleslaw and beans. It’s a chance to eat a ton of food, and you can ignore the main dishes if you want to. Besides, we see enough of each other as it is” he said.
In addition, only three workers had signed up for the tug-of-war contest, and just one employee had signed up for badminton, making for lopsided matches in both events. “I understand why they cancelled (the picnic), but I think it would have been damn funny to see Johnson (Richard Johnson, Human Resources director) playing badminton all by himself”, said Cooper.
The semi-annual bowling outing, originally planned for September, is also in doubt, although Cooper for one is hoping that WorldCom still holds the event. “I still think we should go (bowling). It was always a more popular outing, because it was at night and we (WorldCom employees) could get drunk on the company dime. Plus, Ebbers (WorldCom CEO) was a horrible bowler, and we all got a chuckle out of that”, said Cooper. According to Andrea Watson, director of employee relations for WorldCom, if the demand is high among remaining employees, the bowling event will take place. She added, however, that “four or five” lanes will be reserved, as opposed to the usual fifty. |
