Stick it to The Man, or, Tales of Effeduppery

[Dominic]

man, you must be really determined in order to cut off your john-willie with a razor blade.

[whiskeytown]

does stealing office supplies a couple days in advance of a layoff count? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

RB

[Blarg]

Oh hell yeah, I'm slumming and desperate, whatever, for some of my favorite stories.

One of the articles I remember most was a guy saying that Americans had lost the right to f*ck up, tell their friends with a rueful laugh about it, and feel natural and reasonably okay and accepted about it, because with the Reagan Revolution, now the sh*t was really coming down and being human or having the expectable bit of bad luck or misjudgment was no longer feasible, at least in public. "Nobody wanted to be a Ronald Reagan f*ck-up story." This was some serious stuff. People were scared. Liberals were "the L word." I've often mentioned on these forums another article called The Dog is Us, about people giving up pot smoking, that hit the same theme -- it's not funny not living a life that reads like a resume anymore.

One of my favorite books during this time was one on worker sabotage. Tremendously entertaining and cutting through the crap of "right-sizing" and calling lack of job security and benefits an increase in personal freedom, it was a tremendously bracing antidote to our brittle, scary hallucination that Leave it to Beaver had come to life. Back then, that used to be a point of contention. Now it is largely resolved as fact. Yet people then still had to live their ordinary lives, regardless of what disassociated political ideas floated flatteringly about in the ether for those with a little pull. They must do so still.

When I mentioned in OOT under a thread trolling for potential good topics something on the order of Work products and services I have sabotaged, El D, a clever fellow who once called me his favorite poster but whom I have since regrettably drifted apart from due to board politics, immediately posted his high level of interest in my starting that thread. The truth is, what we have repressed is enormously powerful, at least as much so as what we say freely, even to those who may have essential interests aligned against us. What we dare not say is exactly what we want to hear, for exactly the reason that we dare not say it. There is a burgeoning desire to cut the holy horsesh*t out of daily life that has to be addressed in every generation, and daring to do so or even broaching the subject will always have its detractors more and less clever and persuasive. What I would really like to hear from are people like you and me, the occasionally clever and often less than perfectly so, the guy who has to gulp a bowel-full of crap and shut up about it as part of his daily ration -- and the ways in which he might rebel. Including those ways in which he might fail miserably, hilariously, and all-too-humanly, as both a schlep like me and a dork like Nietzche simultaneously might comprehend. And including the cautionary tales of his personal rough justice.

In other words, your f*ck-up stories are funny. I would love to see stories of people doing their best Don Quixote tilting at windmills. If the windmill should fall, so be it, but most of all, I celebrate the arduous, lovely tilting at.

[Glo]

Okay, I'll try my hand at ONE... Got a few but it might take a little for me to remember them. *see my location*

I worked for a Career Counseling firm. Small office, about 11 employees. I have nothing good to say about the company. They stole money from people who were desperate to find a job. Most of the clientele had been unemployed for atleast 6 months before they would come to us. Poor guys, hope the lawsuit goes their way.

Anywho, the 1st year I was there, I asked for Xmas Eve & the day after Xmas off for traveling purposes. I got no answer for about a month. Finally when I did get an answer, they told me that I could only have xmas eve off and that was that. They NEEDED someone there to cover the front & phones. WTF, HIRE A TEMP!!!!!!!

Unfortunate for me, family issues arise during the holidays and my mom is in the hospital xmas morning. I still managed drive 400 miles to be at work the next day and tell every single one of them exactly what happened the night before. FU BHA!

7 months go by of working in this hell hole and I submit my request for holiday time off EARLY! About 2 months go by and I get my answer... "you can have xmas eve off, but that's it, we need someone to greet & cover phones." Alllllrighty! That was the first day in a long time I was smiling at work. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

2 weeks before I would be leaving to go home for xmas, I submitted my 2 week notice. FIND SOMEONE TO GREET & COVER PHONES NOW YOU PRICKS!!!!

I screwed over my boss, the receptionist, & the bitchy HR person who didn't do anything but shop online (she is bffs with the CEO, she got that job because he CREATED IT FOR HER).

-The end-

Hope it wasn't too long.

[daveT]

I did that same thing to the Improv. They refused to give me New Years Eve off. I quit one month early. They had the audacity to ask me if I was willing to work that night! After they gave me a quarter raise. What balls.

[katyseagull]

[ QUOTE ]


When I mentioned in OOT under a thread trolling for potential good topics something on the order of Work products and services I have sabotaged, El D, a clever fellow who once called me his favorite poster but whom I have since regrettably drifted apart from due to board politics, immediately posted his high level of interest in my starting that thread.

[/ QUOTE ]

I remember this post! I was like WHAT? Blarg has sabotaged his office products?? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] LOL.

When I first saw your thread, Blarg, the VERY first person I thought of was Dominic. His exit from OOT was sort of classic and to this day it makes me smile. Fight the man Dom! Not that I would recommend it or anything. I have no problem with OOT.

I have my own story where I tried to stick it to the man but it makes me wince to think back on it. It's not one of those memories that I'm very proud of but hey, you push a girl's buttons so many times and she will eventually quit.

[diebitter]

How about me walking out a job but still going back each week to collect salary for 3 months...

Here's a blast from yesteryear...
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...rue#Post3945547



PS. The whole thread is pretty good actually.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
How about me walking out a job but still going back each week to collect salary for 3 months...

Here's a blast from yesteryear...
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...rue#Post3945547



PS. The whole thread is pretty good actually.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very nice story, and yeah, the whole thread is really good.

[BPA234]

[ QUOTE ]
Here's someone who wouldn't let The Man hold him down:

One Whom The Man Cannot Thwart or Trifle With

Imprisoned for 18 months for possession of a knife(?), this Brit shows The Man in high style that you can imprison a man's body, but not his spirit, and that a Hero's will to exercise sharp edges shall never be stopped by Tyrants.

Are there brave others amongst us who have in similar spirit dared to spit defiantly in the face of authority? I call herewith for your inspiring tales.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have given me just the right idea for a story I can submit to the short story contest.

Thanks!

[daveT]

There was a Fire Chief I knew of that divorced his wife. She collected alimony, and was only able to collect a small sum until he retired, at which point she would receive a large payment. He responded by saying he would never retire.