# Workplace beatdown: interesting report on NPR **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960 "2007-01-22T15:55:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/41 "2007-01-23T21:52:05Z")
**Evil Captor** : If you were her supervisor, would you have fired her? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/42 "2007-01-23T23:56:00Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] **Evil Captor** : If you were her supervisor, would you have fired her? [/QUOTE] Yes, I said r ight there in the OP that I agreed with her firing. But I might havew given her a heart to heart when I did and say, “Look, you wanna write, go right ahead, but do your work, too. Nobody’ll help you be a writer, in fact, most people will fight you every inch of the way, because writers are about as necessary as third eyes or neckties, but you’re just gonna put yourself thorugh a lot of unnecessary suffering if you get yourself fired repeatedly because you slack off. It’s the slacking off that’ll get you, not the writing. You don’t owe your employers any of that teamwork and enthusiasm bullshit the corporate guys like to mealymouth about, but you gotta work if there’s work to do. Maybe you could find work where you CAN slack off, like security guard or night attendant at a toll booth. But slacking off and bragging about it on the company computer, that’s just dumb. No need to shoot yourself in the feet when there are so many people out there trying to hobble you in the first place.” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/43 "2007-01-24T02:27:56Z")
I don’t care what my people do on the clock, as long as their work is done. I know pretty much what can and can’t be done. I usually as them for input. And if they are consistently late, then that is when I have a problem. If they get their jobs done on time, they can blog or write or whatever. They DO have to be there though, because a lot of times I need their input for other team member’s projects. Other than that, just make sure your work is done. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/44 "2007-01-24T02:47:42Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] That’s not really a fair characterization of applying for unemployment insurance. What would you like her to do, starve? Go homeless? [/QUOTE] I believe that unemployment insurance is for people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Getting yourself fired for not doing your job, and then expecting the public to support you is pretty damn nervy, if you ask me. It irritates me to no end when people get fired for clearly justified reasons, and then apply for unemployment. There is no reason for her to have to risk homelessness or starvation…she could have just done her job, and she would still have it. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/45 "2007-01-24T03:33:53Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] I believe that unemployment insurance is for people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Getting yourself fired for not doing your job, and then expecting the public to support you is pretty damn nervy, if you ask me. It irritates me to no end when people get fired for clearly justified reasons, and then apply for unemployment. There is no reason for her to have to risk homelessness or starvation…she could have just done her job, and she would still have it. [/QUOTE] Granted, what you say is true. Hopefully she will find another job and do better at it. But jobs don’t always appear just because you need them. I’m sure you wouldn’t want her to go hungry or homeless because of this. (I really don’t think she will, but it’s always a possibility where job loss is concerned.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/46 "2007-01-24T03:45:52Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] But jobs don’t always appear just because you need them. I’m sure you wouldn’t want her to go hungry or homeless because of this. [/QUOTE] Frankly, I wouldn’t have a problem with her going hungry and/or losing her home. There are consequences to screwing up so badly. This was entirely her fault, no need to look elsewhere for blame, no need for the public to support her in this case. Not for a first offense, but if she did this multiple times and didn’t have any money saved up, sure. Are there any actions someone could take that would make you think they should end up homeless or hungry? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/47 "2007-01-24T14:09:43Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] Frankly, I wouldn’t have a problem with her going hungry and/or losing her home. There are consequences to screwing up so badly. This was entirely her fault, no need to look elsewhere for blame, no need for the public to support her in this case. Not for a first offense, but if she did this multiple times and didn’t have any money saved up, sure. [/quote] Maybe she has kids, would you like to see them go homeless or hungry? Or maybe you’d like to kick her or hit her a little? How far are you willing to go here? > [@](#): > > Are there any actions someone could take that would make you think they should end up homeless or hungry? Criminal actions should get you in jail. Screwing up badly could get you out of a nice home and into an apartment. I can’t think of any social justification for making people go homeless or hungry. As you say, actions have consequences, and on a social scale, the negligence involved in letting people go hungry and/or homeless has consequences, too. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/48 "2007-01-24T14:23:23Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] Maybe she has kids, would you like to see them go homeless or hungry? [/QUOTE] If she has kids, their welfare should be a higher priority with **her** than her diarizing. We’re not talking about someone who surfed the net on lunch break, or who had a different way of doing the job. This is someone who had zero regard for the job at all, and **bragged** about how much she got paid for doing nothing. Are you really unable to see the linked article, or are you effectively saying “LA LA LA”? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/49 "2007-01-24T14:31:03Z")
[QUOTE=Rilchiam] If she has kids, their welfare should be a higher priority with **her** than her diarizing. We’re not talking about someone who surfed the net on lunch break, or who had a different way of doing the job. This is someone who had zero regard for the job at all, and **bragged** about how much she got paid for doing nothing. Are you really unable to see the linked article, or are you effectively saying “LA LA LA”? [/QUOTE] I really am unable to see the linked article. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/50 "2007-01-24T15:19:42Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] Maybe she has kids, would you like to see them go homeless or hungry? Or maybe you’d like to kick her or hit her a little? How far are you willing to go here? [/QUOTE] Certainly, kids should be taken care of. First, by their parents who are supposed to work for a living and earn money. If they won’t do that (not can’t, she should have worked just fine but she chose not to) then by someone else. It’s all part of the wonderful world of adult responsibility. But since I don’t believe she has any kids, it’s a fairly moot point. I have no desire to kick or hit her. I also have no desire to pay her money for being a lazy leech. Not giving her money is not abusing her. If she proves that she’s trying to earn her way and circumstances are against her, then I believe in some support. If she’s actively pissing on her employers, then no, she shouldn’t get anything. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/51 "2007-01-25T00:26:14Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] I really am unable to see the linked article. [/QUOTE] Here ya go: > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Emmalee Bauer** > > \*- “I am going to be typing all my thoughts instead of writing all day. That way, there isn’t any way to tell for sure if I am working really hard or I am just goofing off.” > > - “This typing thing seems to be doing the trick. It just looks like I am hard at work on something very important.” > > - “I am going to sit right here and play Elf Bowling or some other nonsense. Once lunch is over, I will come right back to writing to piddle away the rest of the afternoon. … I have almost 100 pages here! I wonder how long that’s going to take to print?” > > - “I don’t feel like doing a single worthwhile thing today. It’s 11:00 and so far I have stuck to that. … I have managed to waste half of the day doing nothing constructive. That isn’t exactly an easy task, either.” > > - “It’s noon already and I don’t feel like I have accomplished a damn thing. Accomplishment is overrated, anyway.” > > - “I just have to get through the next seven hours and forty-six minutes and then I will be free.” > > - “(I have) an hour of time that needs to be wasted - I mean ‘spent wisely.’ I know, that’s a crock. I am only here for the money and, lately, for the printer access. I haven’t really accomplished anything in a long while … and I am still getting paid more than I ever have at a job before, with less to do than I have ever had before. It’s actually quite nice when I think of it that way. I can shop online, play games and read message boards and still get paid for it.”\* ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/52 "2007-01-25T01:28:49Z")
Basically her journal goes: “I’m typing. I’m typing about typing. I’m typing about typing about typing…” I didn’t realize the OP hadn’t read the excerpts. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/53 "2007-01-25T03:55:43Z")
The raw visceral honesty of her prose bespeaks a primal passion that goes back to Allen Ginsberg and Howl or Jack Kerouac’s … oh, all right. I never said she was brilliant. But then, Joyce Maynard wasn’t MUCH better than that when she jump-started her career by giving blowjobs to whatsisname … I’m still seeing raw rebellion against being shoehorned into a job and glee at thinking she’s “beating” the man at the game, both of which I consider good things when properly applied. Which is not what she’s doing. Might someday metamorphose into something good, though. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960/54 "2007-01-25T07:19:10Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] Maybe she has kids, would you like to see them go homeless or hungry? Or maybe you’d like to kick her or hit her a little? How far are you willing to go here? [/QUOTE] Lot’s of people with kids work pretty damn hard in some pretty shit jobs for the sole reason that they need to feed their kids. She sounds like someone who put her own needs ahead of them. Frankly feeding a family on unemployment is pretty tough. She probably would have served those kids a lot better by going out and looking for a real job instead of trying to scam unemployment for herself. Of course, she made finding another job pretty hard by getting her ass fired for cause. If your argument is that anyone who has kids deserves some sort of compensation from an employer no matter how much they screw around at work, then get ready for disappointment. I don’t see a heck of a lot of sympathy. If she is really in a bind the government can help a little with food stamps and various forms of public assistance. But I would hope that she is out trying to find work rather than putting her time and energy into writing about how much it sucks to be unemployed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-beatdown-interesting-report-on-npr/388960.md?page=2)