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June 1, 2004

the right to fuck off

At work I often encounter people who complain that their boss tell them to go to hell. Now, we can just go and arrest them. A new law is effective in Quebec as of today, and I fear for my safety. To my knowledge, I have not yet uttered out loud the words that often crosses my mind when faced with dubious, manipulative work practices. But who knows.

I don’t really know how to see it…I favour any law that promote respect, but I never felt I had to get even with someone if they ever told me to go to hell. I guess it all depends. I feel happy the labour law is changing. One out of ten Quebec workers reported to surveys they have been bullied or belittled, and around 9 schoolchildren out of 10. As with all conflicts there are seemingly three options – to fight back, to hide or to desert. You can hide under your desk. You can desert within yourself. Or you can fight back with lawsuits, if you want to get even and hurt the other back, if you conceive justice in form of money tradeoffs.

I am always maddened at the way the weakest gets abused by the strongest, and the law can be a form of protection. Still the lawsuits operates on the same principle of war in a way that confuses me. It’s like we never learn, and laws upon laws are increasingly erected all around us, as protection against ourselves, our bad mouths and despotic manners. In the long term I think mandatory coffee breaks might be more effective (as you can tell I haven’t had mine today).

Posted by nathalie at June 1, 2004 7:39 PM