Moonlighting in Industry

Do Something-He’s About to Snap

Jeng yeng

Humans are wired for survival, from how we choose our mates to how we react to threatening circumstances. So when we are threatened, our first reaction is to eliminate the threat. The world is no longer a safe place. Since 9/11 and more recent the Anders Breivik murders in Norway, there is a feeling of vulnerability and unrest among many people. However, setting prejudice’s against people for being different to the social “norm” is never the answer.

Gossip is not uncommon in the workplace. It often acts as a release from the reality and stress of work and can sometimes be therapeutic. However, gossip should not become acceptable. If rumours spin out of control, they could “undermine management’s ability to lead, foster resistance to change, perpetuate unnecessary drama and contribute to higher than normal employee turnover” according to Tim Hallet, an assistant professor at Indiana University. Essentially the workplace as a whole suffers, not just the individuals concerned. For example MMI could potentially lose an employee with a “strong work ethic” and “a great programmer”. In order to combat gossip, one should simply refuse to participate and redirect the topic, which Derek did try to do, “Oh, come on Nicole, the poor guy probably just has a cold”, but this worked to no avail. Leaders also need to act immediately if they think employees are gossiping, unfortunately managers often pretend not to know gossip is taking place. Lynn confronted Nicole when she suspected gossip but didn’t stress how inappropriate it is in the workplace, she just accepted Nicole’s excuse about her daughters school play but she still “had a nagging feeling that she was missing something”.

The treatment of Max reminds me of a Leaving Cert poem is studied named “an Ghealt”, meaning maniac. Its about a man who rides the bus in his pyjama’s. A mother on the...