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Book review from the Whole Earth Review magazine. E-mail to
(wer@well.sf.ca.us) for more info about the magazine.
Sabotage in the American Workplace
(Anecdotes of Dissatisfaction, Mischief and Revenge)
Martin Sprouse, Editor. 1992; 175 pp.
$12 postpaid from Pressure Drop Press,
P. O. Box 460754, San Francisco, CA 94146; 415/821-4592
Sabotage in the American Workplace
In this collection of confessionals, editor Martin Sprouse reveals some
surprising and disturbing truths about the American work ethic and our
common perception of it. Anonymous stories of sabotage and revenge mostly
exacted by abused, bored, underpaid, and sometimes endan-gered workers
make the quote from George Bush in the frontispiece a real eyebrow-raiser:
The American worker is the most productive in the world. Thats what George
would like us (and the world) to believe; but this survey of store clerks,
roofers, bankers, mail carriers, mes-sengers, accountants, and other blue-
and white-collar workers belies that ideal. Some stories are merely
entertaining (jamming machinery to create a relaxing stretch of downtime
seems to be a popular prank), while others are fairly shocking (a waitress
serves spoiled food to ruin her employers business). Motivation ranges from
altruism to simple revenge to explorations in power plays. Instead of
looking at sabotage as a problem in the workplace, the book examines the
action as a defensive move against the empty and unrewarding jobs most
Amer-icans are forced to take usually in an environment devoid of
creativity, honesty and just reward. The workplace generally is the
problem; of course, its also the solution.
-Lorry Fleming
Excerpts from the book:
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Mailroom Clerk [Heritage Foundation]
I got the job right after high school. I had never heard of the organization,
and just found the job through the newspaper. When I was working there, I
would occasionally glance at what they were putting out; the more I read, the
more I thought about it and realized they were doing fucked-up things, like
defending business practices in South Africa and U.S. investments there. They
have a big fundraising deal, and when they sent out fundraising requests,
people would mail in checks. Sometimes they'd be huge amounts, and sometimes
they were piddling. Checks came in from individuals as well as companies. So
I'd randomly take an envelop, open it, see how much it was for, and throw it
in the shredder. I started doing it more and more. I could tell if it was a
check by holding it to the light. If so, I'd toss it, dump it or shred it.
-----
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Technical Writer Dexter
I'm a generalist, a person with diverse interests which multiply daily. Left
alone and well-financed, I would produce voluminous amounts of creative stuff
in a variety of media. But alas, society doesnt cater to such capricious and
irresponsible thinkers. So I circumvent societys shortcomings, and still pay
the bills, by doing my techno-artistic projects at work, on company time. In
the last four years, I have written a novella, a workbook for a major
publishing companys science textbook, two travel narratives, and countless
smaller things. I have explored computer music, art, and animation at work and
have even written a computer game. I have spent at least a couple thousand
hours of company time on my projects, and at a pretty good salary.
-----
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