TiredOfTeaching said:
My apologies then. When I was in the military, the only folks that got worked up about the whiz quiz later wound up with UCMJ actions due to hot tests. Generally when there is something to hide people get spooked and start asking questions. Those guys always raised an eyebrow with me and it turned out to be for the right reason.
No need to appologize, I just get worked up over people who use the, "If you got nothing to hide, then..." analogy. In some instances where a question is being asked, it may just be from natural curiosity or from a person who may be wondering what the authority is, who has it and the what, when, where, why and how of it all. Good questions to ask, in my book.
As far as military drug testing? They do it, it's a fact of life and you don't own yourself in the military. Tough luck for those who do drugs and sign a contract with Uncle Sam, I have no sympathy there. Same as it is in the transportation industry. We have to submit to pre-hire drug screening and random drug screening...it's the law and I accept that this is the way things are...it's part of the deal.
Since I don't do drugs (other than caffine, nicotine, alcohol and chocolate) and I don't use any medicines or use any herbal remedies, I don't sweat the random drug screens. It appears that they use a two sample method and they label the samples with your signature, all well and good for protecting them against liability.
I think it's good to know what causes false positives and what a person should do in the event of a false positive. I think that may require questions and I think that an "innocent presumtion" can be assumed when somone asks those questions. I also think that most people can do a google search and find copious amounts of information regarding that subject on the net.
If I haven't bored you enough already...here's an interesting story.
One of my employers sent a form out to us employees, it was sent with a letter that was all "buddy-buddy" about the form and how the company needed it for their rental car/lease car insurance. "It's that time of the year again!" it said.
This form was a consent form, whereby you would authorize any law enforcement officer, Division of Motor Vehicles, National Drivers Registry, clerck of courts, state police, county police, city constable, meter maid, parking utility officer, dog catcher, ordinance enforcement officer, building inspector...and on and on, authorizing the company to have access to anything. It also stipulated no time limit...in other words, if it happend 16 years ago, they wanted to have access to it..."for rental car insurance" purposes.
I just about crapped my pants. There was some discussion amongst the crew and some joker said..."Don't make waves, if you got nothing to hide...sign the form!" That type of mentality almost always initiates a gag reflex, but fortunately, that gag reflex usually distracts me from the "give the loser a web hand across the esophagus" reflex...which helps protect the eating and paying the bills reflex.
I got to talking to another co-worker who refused to sign this turd and we both agreed that there was no way in hell that we were going to give some joker in the office carte blanche to excercise a "corporate patriot act". I had even considered running this form past my attorney for his thoughts on the matter. Eventually, the company sent those few of us that refused to sign the old form, a revised form asking for 3 years look back over the NDR and DMV, which we gladly signed..."for car insurance purposes."
I have been through three 10 year background checks with two 135 companies and one with a 121 company and every time I get a medical, I authorize the FAA to do one look at the NDR. Considering that the company that sent this form was one of those companies, I couldn't believe what they were asking me to sign, in my third year of employment with them. They got a right to ask to see DMV/NDR for insurance purposes and they check those when we're hired and they check them annually. To just up and ask for something that wasn't government required or insurance required, was just too Orwellian.
I reserve the right to question authority...and someday when my co-workers that signed the form are becoming victims of identity theft, because someone possessed questionable and uneccessary information on them and that information gets lost or stolen...I have got a little violin for them.