Professional Darwinism: Update to OP on p.74

[Shalamar]

yeah, I hate to say it, but I would almost rather have him back and stealing...the place is absolutely filthy again.

The best cleaner I ever had was, alas, also a thief.  If it had only been five bucks here and there, I might have looked the other way.  But she stole $160 from my then eight-year-old daughter's bedroom (she was saving for an iPod), and THAT I just couldn't overlook.

Siiiigghh, I still miss Rose Marie.  She actually volunteered to clean out my oven - a job I absolutely hate!

[BabyMama]

We can add to this list the Michigan girl who dressed as an injured Boston Marathon bombing victim for Halloween. She said there was nothing to be ashamed of, because she wasn't dressed as somebody dead or with limbs hanging off  She lost her job because of this

Or the guys who dressed as George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, including blackface. What goes through peoples' minds?

They've learned that being "edgy" and "pushing the envelope" is what it's all about. That's what popular culture tells us, anyway - offensive is cool. They don't tell you that it only works if you're a celebrity.

And sometimes, not even then.

There's "edgy" and then there is 100% pure tasteless.

Well, that's it - you have to know how to balance on that line. Unfortunately, there is a lot of entertainment out there that also does not seem to know that fine balance.

Yup.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20749699,00.html

http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/10/29/laverne-cox-julianne-hough-blackface/

[hermanne]

At a Halloween waltz party back in college, one person decided to go for shock value and came as Hitler.

Rob

Bet that went over well.

Anyone remember when Prince Harry dressed as a Nazi officer for a party?

[Katana_Geldar]

One of my friends had an  'Allo  'Allo themed party where there were guests as Nazis, including me. It was all good fun though, I don't think there were any swashiskas.

[Melxb]

I have mo idea what an 'Allo 'Allo party is but any party that is themed Nazi and where you all dress up as Nazis is just wrong on every single level.
 I just looked it up. Doesn't change my opinion of the party.

[cabbagegirl28]

For anyone who wants to know, it's a show that's set up in Nazi-occupied France. Here's the wiki for it

[Katana_Geldar]

We were all playing characters from the show, not just the Germans but French and we had an amazing guy as Colonel Bertorelli.

As far as I know, no one objected to it and we all had a lot of fun.

[Amara]

yeah, I hate to say it, but I would almost rather have him back and stealing...the place is absolutely filthy again.

The best cleaner I ever had was, alas, also a thief.  If it had only been five bucks here and there, I might have looked the other way.  But she stole $160 from my then eight-year-old daughter's bedroom (she was saving for an iPod), and THAT I just couldn't overlook.

Siiiigghh, I still miss Rose Marie.  She actually volunteered to clean out my oven - a job I absolutely hate!

I was reading CustomersSuck yesterday for the first time in many months and there were quite a few posts from those who work in hotels. What those people and what Yarnspinner posted were quite similar: what those engaged in illegal activities like thieves and drug dealers seem to have in common is politeness and diligence beyond those of the usual customers/employees. It's not surprising; they don't want to draw attention to themselves so other than performing their illegal acts they tend to be quite nice. No one wants to have their lucrative activity stopped in order to indulge in being a special snowflake.

[Ceallach]

Probably the form of PD that irritates me the most, and has happened twice in the past year.      As we're not a giant company, most staff have a bit of interaction with the CEO (my boss) but generally their jobs don't intersect a lot day by day.   But occasionally I'll hire a staff member who for specific reasons has more interaction with her, for example an administrator who I assign to help boss with some paperwork.   And occasionally, they seem to get it into their heads that sucking up to her is the way to success in their job.    At the expense of actually listening to me, their manager, or following instructions I've given them.     I guess it's a reasonable assumption - the CEO is also the founder and owner, so yes she has final say over everything here.   But I have full authority over my department, and while I will take into account her feedback (as to whether she is getting what she needs from my team, and her observations) ultimately it's my decision who is hired and fired.    My boss thinks this is important because how can she hold me accountable if she is constantly undermining me or making decisions for me?   Plus she wants the company to run well, so even if she liked a particular individual she's not going to insist I keep them on if they're not doing their job.

The funny thing is that they don't seem to realise that tasks I give my staff have often come either directly or indirectly from boss too - so by ignoring my requests or failing to do what I ask properly they are annoying her as much as me!   Plus, boss and I talk constantly about everything that's happening.   So their attempts to suck up are actually professional darwinism.   Remember the rule - if you want to get ahead in business make your boss look good! I'm not power crazy, and I don't need anybody stroking my ego, but for goodness sake if I tell you to do something either discuss why you can't or ask for help, don't ignore me. Because then I get frustrated and you get a black mark against your name for poor communication. 

Don't get me wrong, my team overall is fantastic - I hire wonderful people and we give them lots of training and support to ensure expectations are clear and they enjoy their work - which they do, they have so much fun in there!   And we weed out the bad ones very quickly as I don't think it's fair on anybody to have to work alongside people who are lazy or have a bad attitude.   

[SoCalVal]

At a Halloween waltz party back in college, one person decided to go for shock value and came as Hitler.

Rob

Bet that went over well.

Anyone remember when Prince Harry dressed as a Nazi officer for a party?

Didn't he get sent away to military school or something right after that as a result?

[MariaE]

At a Halloween waltz party back in college, one person decided to go for shock value and came as Hitler.

Rob

Bet that went over well.

Anyone remember when Prince Harry dressed as a Nazi officer for a party?

Didn't he get sent away to military school or something right after that as a result?

There's a time and a place for everything. Allo Allo party? Dressing as a Nazi officer is ok. "Hero's and Villains" party? Dressing as a nazi is ok. Anything else? Stay far, far away!

Although if you're royalty or in other ways part of the public eye you should probably stay far, far away no matter what.

[SoCalVal]

At a Halloween waltz party back in college, one person decided to go for shock value and came as Hitler.

Rob

Bet that went over well.

Anyone remember when Prince Harry dressed as a Nazi officer for a party?

Didn't he get sent away to military school or something right after that as a result?

There's a time and a place for everything. Allo Allo party? Dressing as a Nazi officer is ok. "Hero's and Villains" party? Dressing as a nazi is ok. Anything else? Stay far, far away!

Although if you're royalty or in other ways part of the public eye you should probably stay far, far away no matter what.

I think there are some villains you should just stay away from, period, like Nazis or the KKK (or, if you must, then maybe not going out in public places in such costumes might be best).

Agreed about being royalty or some other role where behavior is under close scrutiny.  It may not be "fair," but there are things that not everyone can get away with doing/being.

[Katana_Geldar]

A satirical TV show The Chaser did once dress up as Germans to try and "reinvade Poland" by entering a Polish club. First as stereotypical Germans in lederhausen, then as Nazis then as Hitler. But they were known for doing crazy stuff like that, like when they had the Trojan Horse.

And as for taboos, I think it would be a sad world indeed if we didn't laugh some things. Even Nazis . Just ask Mel Brooks and Charlie Chaplin.

[SoCalVal]

A satirical TV show The Chaser did once dress up as Germans to try and "reinvade Poland" by entering a Polish club. First as stereotypical Germans in lederhausen, then as Nazis then as Hitler. But they were known for doing crazy stuff like that, like when they had the Trojan Horse.

And as for taboos, I think it would be a sad world indeed if we didn't laugh some things. Even Nazis . Just ask Mel Brooks and Charlie Chaplin.

There are some areas where you have to tread lightly and know your audience.

Years ago, I saw a play whose ending was a little confusing.  I think it was by a well-known absurdist playwright (whose name escapes me at the moment).  The ending involved the characters trying to figure out how to leave a house with a body without anyone suspecting anything.  I was confused because two of the characters walked out with red bands on their arms with some insignia on it that looked like "SS" and carrying a stretcher with a covered body on it.  I was a little confused and later learned that the insignia was originally supposed to be a swastika (which is what I suspected but definitely was not a swastika) and the idea is that no one would question the dead body because they were Nazi soldiers.  However, one of the actors was a bit elderly (this occurred 20 years ago) and, I believe, was old enough to have lived through and remember WWII (I also think she was Jewish).  She absolutely refused to proceed with the play with these characters definitely being Nazi soldiers so the director made the change to accommodate her.  It made it confusing for the audience, but I understood the director's decision.

[AngelicGamer]

A satirical TV show The Chaser did once dress up as Germans to try and "reinvade Poland" by entering a Polish club. First as stereotypical Germans in lederhausen, then as Nazis then as Hitler. But they were known for doing crazy stuff like that, like when they had the Trojan Horse.

And as for taboos, I think it would be a sad world indeed if we didn't laugh some things. Even Nazis . Just ask Mel Brooks and Charlie Chaplin.

And now I have the Springtime song from the Producers in my head.  The remake version, where John Barrowman is singing.  Thank you!