The consequences of the CRSAB's emergence, among other efforts in the
late days of monopoly telecommunications in the United States to
consolidate its labor force are best chronicled in Robert Howard's "How
AT&T Workers are Drugged, Bugged, and Coming Unplugged," the essay that
taught the rest of America about "greenies," a potent combination of
aspirin, caffeine (and, according to some, diazepam) that became a
fixture of AT&Ts offices, and joined a raft of other prescription
medications dispensed by office physicians[^10]. Drugs, of course, were not
the only means of keeping the Telephone Girl in line; Howard also describes
an early precursor to contemporary office tattleware:
> In the brand new Centralized Repair Service Bureaus that are sprouting
> up throughout the Bell System, the techniques of work-force control
> are considerably more refined. Nearly 50 repair service clerks sit in
> groups of four, their eyes glued to the cathode flicker of jet-black
> video display terminals. [...] A supervisor rushes forward to explain
> the new system. What he says holds true for workers throughout the
> Bell System. "These girls are merely the interface between the customer
> and the computer."[^11]
--------
[^10]: Howard, Robert. 1981. "How AT&T Workers are Drugged, Bugged, and
Coming Unplugged." *Mother Jones* (San Francisco), August 1, 1981,
39-45, 54-59.
[^11]: Howard, ibid.
late days of monopoly telecommunications in the United States to
consolidate its labor force are best chronicled in Robert Howard's "How
AT&T Workers are Drugged, Bugged, and Coming Unplugged," the essay that
taught the rest of America about "greenies," a potent combination of
aspirin, caffeine (and, according to some, diazepam) that became a
fixture of AT&Ts offices, and joined a raft of other prescription
medications dispensed by office physicians[^10]. Drugs, of course, were not
the only means of keeping the Telephone Girl in line; Howard also describes
an early precursor to contemporary office tattleware:
> In the brand new Centralized Repair Service Bureaus that are sprouting
> up throughout the Bell System, the techniques of work-force control
> are considerably more refined. Nearly 50 repair service clerks sit in
> groups of four, their eyes glued to the cathode flicker of jet-black
> video display terminals. [...] A supervisor rushes forward to explain
> the new system. What he says holds true for workers throughout the
> Bell System. "These girls are merely the interface between the customer
> and the computer."[^11]
--------
[^10]: Howard, Robert. 1981. "How AT&T Workers are Drugged, Bugged, and
Coming Unplugged." *Mother Jones* (San Francisco), August 1, 1981,
39-45, 54-59.
[^11]: Howard, ibid.
Meditations On A Telephone Girlhood by Emmeryn Cariglino, page 8