Took me a while, but I said I’d have tales (and tails) from the Mother Earth News Fair. So here are a couple.
The young lady with the radiant smile is — you can tell! — a member of the furry community. She wears her tail happily and presented me with a bushy faux wolf tail of my very own.
Furry folk are much misunderstood and (you won’t be surprised) sometimes discriminated against for their playful self-expression. (The example at the last link happened on private property, so the security guards in question were probably within their rights — which doesn’t make them any less bigoted or stupid.)
This young lady had the guts to wear her tail while flying. Heroically alert TSAgents — who astutely realized that tail-wearing was Suspicious Behavior (exactly the sort of thing a terrorist might do to avoid calling attention to his Nefarious Plans!) — put her through two rounds of extra screening — and made her put her tail into a bin to be checked for traces of explosives. They just knew she had to be Up To Something. But what, they never figured.
She was laughing about it. Not sure I could — although when you’ve got the panache to wear a furry tail, I suppose you’re prepared to smile at the world’s silliness.
She also pulled from her bag the most dog-eared copy of The Freedom Outlaws Handbook I’ve ever seen. Dog-eared is good. Dog-eared is wonderful. It says: well-used and appreciated.
—–
A sadder tale came from a hospital admissions clerk who stopped by the BHM booth several times and spent a long time talking with us.
Sigh. It seems as if the most discouraging workplace experiences come out of the medical profession these days — though part of hers could have come from any corporatized workplace.
She told me she works in a small hospital known for its excellent customer service. They’ve received many compliments not only on the quality of their care but the friendliness of their staff.
Management, deciding that friendliness is A Good Thing, demanded that everybody in the place attend classes on how to give cheerful, smiling customer service. Then they instituted a policy encouraging employees to report each other for any breach of cheerfulness.
Now, she says, she observes her fellow workers walking across the parking lot looking glum or blank or merely preoccupied, but the moment they cross the threshold — slap! — on goes the artificial smile. And eyes dart here and there in case Big Brother is looking.
—–
Along with politically correct cheerfulness goes a fading regard for the real individuals. As she talked about one incident, this medical worker (who, like so many, wants desperately to get out of her profession but doesn’t yet know how) started to cry. At the time, I didn’t understand the real reason for the tears, though what she described was awful on several levels.
Her small, rural hospital was overwhelmed one night when victims of a horrific industrial accident were rushed in. Everybody on late-night duty — receptionists, nurses, doctors — performed heroic work, struggling to stabilize gruesomely injured men and women and keep them alive for airlifts to a larger hospital.
Later, her boss showed appreciation by emailing a generic thank you “to all who were on duty that night.” There were only a handful on duty. They have names. The managers knew them. I thought the woman was crying from indignation at the slight.
When she came back to buy more BHM books she told us one of the victims had been her daughter-in-law. Who didn’t survive. Managers knew that, too.
—–
I may have more cheerful stories from the fair later. There were many of those. The fair itself was great, as Dave and I already mentioned, and it was a chance for several meetings with warm, encouraging “friends I’ve never met.” Dave could tell some tales — about what a hit BHM is on (of all places) Long Island — about the couple who showed up toting a copy of BHM issue #1.
But the stories of these two booth visitors cried out to be shared, while other encounters were more personal.
/*
Later, her boss showed appreciation by emailing a generic thank you “to all who were on duty that night.” There were only a handful on duty. They have names. The managers knew them. I thought the woman was crying from indignation at the slight.
When she came back to buy more BHM books she told us one of the victims had been her daughter-in-law. Who didn’t survive. Managers knew that, too.
*/
You’re so certain that “managers” (nice demonization there) know exactly who was on, without any chance of missing a single key contributor?
No chance at all that any staff rushed in on their own; no chance any were handy to the incident and rolled in with the victims; no possibility anyone stayed over from first shift or was sacked out after their shift and turned to when needed?
Absolutely positive that every victim relationship to every staff member is well-known? No-one else lost a relative, or a close friend, or a phratrie brother?
Certain, beyond a doubt, that the woman wanted every person who might get the email to know the detail of her personal loss? No question that putting the facts out there to a large community is actually the best grieving facilitator, and that you have the right to make that decision?
Yes, the artificial smile program is rubbish, and the Stalin-esque “report your associates” is worse, but for a broad circulation email they did the best possible thing; other actions and communication should take place out of the public eye and personally, not impersonally.
But hey, “Managers” are all evil, uncaring tools of The Man.
HassledManager — You’re reading a lot into one post.
I don’t know the hospital in question, but I know it’s roughly equivalent in size and traffic to the local one where I live, where everybody knows everybody who works there. So yes, I would say that managers did know, or had the ability to find out, who was on the scene that night. Even if off-duty employees had rushed in, a bit of asking around could have discerned who those people were.
Also, I didn’t say that anybody should have mass-emailed details of the woman’s or anyone else’s personal tragedy. They could have made the acknowledgement privately. My point in mentioning that is that the woman’s manager responded very coldly and that coldness was compounded if she knew that one (or more) of her staff was functioning through a personal tragedy.
And why you think the word “managers” is a demonization, I have no clue. Nor have I ever said or implied that Capital-M “Managers” as you put it are all uncaring tools of The Man.
I’m talking about one business whose cold corporate style seems to be evidenced by both the smile-or-else policy and impersonal treatment of staffers. And saying that this seems to be coming more common in the medical profession.
Boy, you seem very hotheaded and prone to jump to conclusions. I’m glad you’re not my boss.
Manager- You are missing the big picture in your hurried attempt to defend managers.
“There were only a handful on duty.” As a manager, it is part of the job to know who that handful was composed of. Even a CC’ed email to those specific individuals, thanking them all by name, would have gone a long ways toward managing well.
Perhaps the manager in question didn’t know the relationship between the deceased daughter-in-law and the one employee, but I’ll bet the manager found out later. A personal word at that time would have probably made the woman forget the impersonal email, so I’m willing to bet it never happened.
There are good managers out there. This example doesn’t seem to be one of them, based on the information (admittedly limited) in this one woman’s tale.
On a happier note- I’d love to pet that girl’s tail. 🙂
In addition to what Claire said — a small hospital’s “managers” (who often do the exact same work on different days, whether clerks, nurses, or maintenance) would have responded to the emergency him-/herself and known who was present, who wasn’t, and why; and might even had offered to dismiss the clerk from emergency duty on the basis of family loss. The clerk may not have taken that offer, but I have seen it being given under those circumstances.
That hospital sounds like it’s fast becoming a “generic” one these days, no matter what size.
Sad to say, but in my experience HassledManager’s response is very common.
I occasionally work with front-line hospital workers and their managers. The workers are by and large quite dedicated (the ones who aren’t quit long ago) and the managers are touchy beyond belief.
My job is to report on condition of certain equipment, not to judge management decisions, but that often puts me in meetings where those issues are also on the agenda.
I’ve seen the hyperbolic, spittle-flying reaction countless times. I’ve witnessed threats of personal violence that would get one fired in many settings. The slightest hint that any hospital manager has done anything in their entire career that wasn’t absolutely perfect and above reproach is treated with the kind of hostility that normally requires speculation about ancestry and hygiene.
I’ve seen this behavior repeated so many times that I’ve become convinced there is a common theme. Either the pressures and limits of the job train them to be this way, or the ones who erupt at the slightest perceived provocation are rewarded and promoted for that behavior.
I don’t know which it is, but hospitals are that much more dreadful as a result. It really is a pity.
Kent, Pat, and -S — Thanks for the defense and the insights. -S I was particularly concerned what you think, since I know you’re a sort of “ultimate manager” yourself and can be pretty tough on anybody you think is being unfair to business. And Pat, for those who don’t know, speaks from long-time experience in the medical field.
I have to add — if it’s not already obvious — that I don’t know for sure that the woman’s story is true. I didn’t investigate. I didn’t get the hospital admin side of things. (I do know the accident really happened; it got a lot of media coverage. And I know that the name of one of the dead matches the name the woman at the booth gave me when I autographed a book for her.) But everything she said was very consistent internally and consistent with what I know of workplaces where people are becoming increasingly governed by PC and corporate/government relationships.
Kent, I also thought the tail was adorable — and the girl wearing it very huggable.
I’d have enjoyed testing that huggability, too.
Then you’ve worked in, or made contact with, different hospitals than I have, -S. Maybe I’ve been lucky. I’ve worked in over a dozen hospitals in 50 years, over half of them small hospitals (75 beds or less), and every one of them had a reputation from the patients of “the best in the area.”
I’ve seen “nurse managers” (RNs) relieve a nurse so she could take a sick child home from school; a housekeeping manager vacuum patients’ floors because his staff was short from a flu siege; even an administrator serving trays to patients when the patient load was so high his staff couldn’t handle it all. (Granted he should have hired more personnel earlier, but at that point it was too late to hire and train. The point is, it was not beneath these “managers” to do the job.)
Another point is: these managers came up through the ranks… they knew HOW to do the job. Many managers today are “educated,” rather than trained, to their job, and simply _can’t_ (or it’s beneath them) to do the jobs they oversee.
I realize “the times they are achangin'”, and trained-on-the-job managers are becoming a scarce commodity. And hospitals, large *and* small, are changing to meet the scatologically-endowed regulations of government. But none of that should ever alter the humane response of an emergency situation in ANY field.
(And this mini-rant is not personally directed at you, -S. You — and especially HassledManager — have hit a sore spot today.)
To finish up my thought process: I guess what I object to most is the role of — and the word — “manager.” People do not have to BE managed! They have jobs, and probably a job title. The business of _managing_ them is insulting. And the ego that a manager brings to *his* job title is both unnecessary and too often tyrannical. It has no place in any work environment.
Claire, I agree with you a fair amount of the time — but I think you’ve got a blind spot on this one.
First, the generalization — you started by discussing “her boss”, and immediately generalized to “[t]he managers”, and went on to paint the managers as cold and uncaring. Yes, I see that as demonization. I’m sure her boss has a name, too; is it just as easy to say “Elise was cold and uncaring”, or only when pointing at the faceless managers?
“A bit of asking around…” — but if you miss even one, you’ve grossly insulted that person, even moreso than by generally thankign them all. Again, we don’t know what else went on in addition to the email.
You remark that they could have acknowledged her personal tragedy privately — I agree, and said as much. As far as I know from anything you presented, they did, and gave her time off, and referred her to a grief counselor or LCSW, and took up a collection for the family. We don’t know. Your “I think…” makes me think you don’t either — but it makes a good story to blame The Man.
[I recognize that your column is commentary, and as I review my comments in this note, I could be accused of holding you to a journalistic standard. That’s a fair rebuttal.]
-S, your stores about over-reaction are unfortunate; people who react as you describe don’t belong in their roles — not for how they behave, not for the culture they create, and not for the example they set. Period.
For what it’s worth — not a lot, but still… — many many workplaces, as
– an exponential function of the number of employees,
– as a function of the inherent risk of the field they’re in, and
– as a function of the presence of unions,
have little practical choice but to make many administrative aspects formulaic; anything else opens them to an increasingly ludicrous range of civil and criminal regulatory penalties, and civil liability. (“Awkward stage”, anyone?)
It’s true I get tired of the “evil businessman” cliche. I didn’t take Claire’s tale as anti-business. I see plenty of bad management, in business large and small. I’ve defended big box stores driving out the mom and pop stores because all too often, mom and pop don’t run the business very well.
Nor did I intend to imply that all hospital management is bad. I’ve worked with some really top-notch people. I found the prevalence of hypersensitive, aggressive to the point of hostility, taking offense where none was given personality type much higher in that setting. Not universal, but it’s pretty rare to see that behavior in most workplaces.
I must admit I haven’t worked in many small hospitals, mostly medium to larger ones. Even there, it’s by no means everyone. But the only time I’ve ever heard a professional threaten to lobotomize a colleague with a paper clip was in a room full of hospital mangers. It made a lasting impression on me.
You make some good points, HassledManager. And it’s very true that I have only this one woman’s viewpoint on what happened.
I definitely agree with you that formulaic (good word) administration is a product of fear and caution.
I don’t have a furry tail, can’t say I’ve ever wanted one, either….however there’s no reason why they can’t be in a mall or in an airport/on a plane (or anywhere else, for that matter)……
Terrorists generally don’t walk around trying to call attention TO themselves on purpose, as well……
“Terrorists generally don’t walk around trying to call attention TO themselves on purpose, as well……”
Now if you could only persuade the TSA …
Speaking of tails. Here’s some Fife types trying to tase a cow.
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/06/10/pelham-police-zap-wandering-cow-with-taser-owner-furious/
Apparently the cow probably thought a bee was trying to sting it. I do wonder if it would end up making electrified milk.
Never understood the big hate-fest against furries. It’s a weird subculture, and you might need a big dose of eye bleach if you ever come across one of their websites…but I can think of much more common and accepted sights that bother me more than someone wearing a furry tail. Besides she’s pretty cute.
winston — Yeah, that’s strange, isn’t it, that plenty of “accepted” sights are creepy and strange when you really think about them, but something as fun and innocent as wearing a faux-fur (or, I should add, a _real_ fur) tail rouses suspicion? Sigh. It’s nothing new, unfortunately. Within my memory, “normal” people have been horrified by things as innocuous as long hair on guys, pants too tight, pants too loose, skirts too short, skirts too long, etc. etc. etc. I got my first taste of that sort of mindless discrimination against “the different” in high school, when I was scorned and mocked for wearing clothes that — a scant year later — were the big thing that everybody “had” to wear. But on me and my “art geek” friends they were … horrible, simply horrible. Yeah. What’s wrong with wearing a tail or dying your hair green if if makes you happy?
Sheesh. A pox on all their houses.
But I agree. Tail girl was a real cutie — as much because of her personality as her looks. I cropped most of her face for discretion. But you’d think she was even cuter if you could see the rest of her face.
Aw, nice to see everyone loving the tail. And yes, I am quit huggable, and my tail very pettable. Though, its still mildly creepy when random strangers do that.
I’m just happy the TSA tail incident happened a couple years ago, and at a small airport, before they had body scanners and pat downs. Although I do sort of regret not having the electronics skills to build my animatronics wagging tail. That would have been really funny… though now I would probably be jailed for wearing one in an airport. Course, I don’t intend on flying much anymore, since the last time I was in the airport I got to watch them pat down a toddler while it screamed bloody murder. Guess what, it didn’t have explosives in its diaper, how odd.
And yeah, there’s nothing wrong with us furries. Well, not most of us. That dang CSI episode just put us all in a bad light. Come on, if you can put a mini skirt and a bikini top on a six year old, I can wear a tail. (Have actually a tail to Bellevue Square, no one kicked me out for it, just made a lot of kids giggle).
Two things:
I noticed a few years back while checking out the latest Virtual World fad called Second Life, that while creating your Virtual Self you could choose to be a Furry Avatar. I thought it odd (initally) and was surprised at how many people actually chose to represent themselves in this fashion. It was its own mini-culture.
Furry Avatar linky (http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Furry)
Second: I’ve been in Radiology for almost a decade now and one thing I know for sure: when an unusual or gruesome trauma comes through your Emergency Room, EVERY staff member that worked the trauma remembers the details (who the RNs were, Respiratory, Doctor, condition of the patients, etc) We still talk about traumas of the past in great detail. If management DID want to know which employees worked the trauma, all they had to do is ask.
Case in point: My hospital has 30 beds. I’ve worked for the company since it opened (3 yrs), and three years before that under a different company name. As small as our hospital is, my CEO and my Chief Cardiologist still have no clue what my name is. Management Schmanagement.
I wish we could elect our bosses like we elect our POTUS…oh wait, that didn’t work out too well either did it?
“Guess what, it didn’t have explosives in its diaper, how odd. ”
Mom needs to feed him more beans.
(Oh come on, you were thinking it too!)
It’s actually amazing the number of people in the furry/otherkin subculture. I’ve never tried going through an airport while wearing my pointy elf ears, but I’ve gotten some interesting looks in restaurants or movie theaters. Had to stop when the latex started to irritate my skin, though. I still like the rest of the costume, I need to make more of those sometime.
I would ask for permission before petting your tail or hugging you, Tail Girl.