Comments on: Those crappy jobs CEOs couldn’t do to save their lives

By: Jennifer Kesler

Jennifer Kesler — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:38:40 +0000

To my knowledge, we don’t have that term. But we definitely have that attitude. In fact, I’ve been on the receiving end of that attitude in many jobs – not just customer service. In some corporate cultures, you get a clash between employee initiative and all the droll paperwork that must be handled so that the inevitable lawsuit won’t destroy the company. Some employees will try to cut corners to get ahead, and guess who’s put in charge of stopping them? An administrative assistant or some similarly unempowered, lower-paid person who really need his or her (usually her) job. And then those employees go to management and say you’re not a “team player” because you won’t do things for them in a unique and creative way that gets great results… and exposes the company to millions in potential lawsuit losses.

Yes – been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

By: SunlessNick

SunlessNick — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:11:45 +0000

Does US English have the term “jobsworth”? It comes from the phrase “more than my job’s worth” in the sense of more than a job is worth to help you in this way which is efficient and sensible but breaks company policy and might get me fired if I’m caught at it. Of course what it ostensibly means is someone who won’t help you in this way which is efficient and sensible, because they’re a stickler for policy and enjoy messing you about. Neatly obfuscating that part about how the employee might get fired.

So yeah, we Brits have a word that’s essentially a disparaging term for someone who fails to realise that [i]your[/i] case is sufficiently unique and important that they should risk getting fired over it.

By: Jennifer Kesler

Jennifer Kesler — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 01:53:08 +0000

I wish I was more surprised. But it’s truly shocking how people act like the exact person they’re talking to personally messed up to annoy them, when in fact it’s always the least powerful people who get shoved in front of customers.

By: SunlessNick

SunlessNick — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:29:43 +0000

Retail paid even less – while I found it easier than waiting tables and doing reception, that’s only because I never had to do it very long at a stretch. The amount of abuse you put up with from assholes who perceive you as a captive audience to whatever hostility they want to vent is ridiculous for any salary.

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but this reminded me of a time I was ordering a book from a high street store, and whichever office dealt with it messed up so that it wasn’t arriving by the time they’d promised. And the poor young woman on the counter who told me this was relieved – actually, visibly, relieved – that I didn’t take it as personally her fault. She even thanked me. That told me a lot about what her job must have been like.

By: T. O. Patrick

T. O. Patrick — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:36:06 +0000

Thanks to this thread, I’m currently rewatching it and remembering how much I love Dina Meyer as Flores! And how this future has women competing in men’s sports and women completely integrated into the military. And still, the heroes are white, which for the main characters, I still think might be on purpose (just like their woodenness ), but the rest might just be Hollywood casting: get a few “ethnic” faces in the group shots and done.

Still, 13 years later the film holds up quite well.

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 03:48:25 +0000

I also saw the anti-war satire…when I was, like, ten. It’s kind of funny how people don’t notice those sorts of things! That happened to a lot of Kubrick’s films, as well.

It’s definitely one of my favorite movies. And having NPH in it doesn’t help! I never hated gay men until I found out they have a better chance with him than me XD. Okay, you’re right, I’m only jealous. He’s awesome.

By: T. O. Patrick

T. O. Patrick — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 10:48:52 +0000

Verhoeven's Starship Troopers (quite different, actually, from Heinlein's book) is one of the best satires of the 90s, to me, and like many of the best satires, there are people who don't get it and like it as a dumb action movie. In fact, it satirizes military culture and militarized culture and quite clearly draws a parallel to fascism. I even love that despite featuring characters from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the whole cast of main characters is white because I have the feeling that that's very intentional. A pretty comprehensive overview can be found here. I had two good friends when the film came out who, when we saw it in the theater, were totally gung-ho about it and bought into the surface story wholesale – one of my first inclinations that they and I weren't in it for the long haul. They saw a pro-war actioner, I saw an anti-war satire.

By: Scarlett

Scarlett — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 00:56:49 +0000

It’s been ages since I saw that but even at the time I thought he was sneakily doing a satire/political commentary while calling it b-grade scifi.

By: Jennifer Kesler

Jennifer Kesler — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 05:12:40 +0000

I didn’t see it – what were the relevant highlights?

By: Nathan P

Nathan P — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:47:39 +0000

Honestly, I loved Starship Troopers too. Not all of it, but a lot of Heinlein’s ideas about government, morality, and the ideal relationship between the two.