The Diet Coke of Evil

Wow

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08:40, Tue 12 Feb 2008 .. Posted by pd

He's a bit like the Frank Abagnale story. You find yourself appalled at it, but at the same time, you think, "Well, if he got away with it for that long, good on him..."
It also makes you question the systems they've managed to rort so easily and for so long.

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09:29, Tue 12 Feb 2008 .. Posted by thedietcokeofevil

I don't know, it doesn't really surprise me much at all, honestly. Perhaps as someone so impassioned about their own work, you haven't noticed it, but in my experience the general condition of the working man and woman, certainly in america, but I expect just about everywhere is primarily one of not making waves and going along to get along just enough to keep those paychecks until you can finally retire and realize that your pension isn't going to be sufficient and then get a job at WalMart as a greeter.

Very few people are impassioned about their work. Teachers included. It's a shame, but it's the truth. I think maybe in that profession more than a lot of others people start out with the best of intentions and the highest of ideals, but the politics and idiocy of the system just grinds them down until they're totally prepared to ignore even obvious signs that somebody might not be getting all they should be and pass them along to the next grade. Especially somebody who is a discipline problem. I had all KINDS of parent teacher conferences and stuff when I was a kid, because I "wasn't fulfilling my potential" and so on and so forth, but I expect I would have had a great deal fewer if I had lobbed a few spitballs at my teachers or maybe screamed profanity at them. I think they wanted to fix me because I was "easy." Never mind I was already reading everything I could get my hands on.

Anyway, yeah, that wasn't supposed to be about me. Teachers are afraid to make waves because their livelihood is at risk. The system promotes conformity and makes it almost impossible to try anything new outside the system.

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09:31, Tue 12 Feb 2008 .. Posted by pd

I have nothing to add to what you just said. I agree.

....there's such thing as a "greeter"?

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09:37, Tue 12 Feb 2008 .. Posted by thedietcokeofevil

yeah. It's more Wal-Mart PR move than it is an actual job. Basically it's an old guy, or someone with a disability, who stands in the doorway, smiles at you and asks if you'd like a cart. It's supposed (I imagine) to show that Wal-Mart is a part of the community and they care and yada yada yada. It also is supposed to feel friendly and inviting, but most of the time it just comes off as sort of creepy and unpleasant. There's a sort of carnie vibe, sometimes.

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09:38, Tue 12 Feb 2008 .. Posted by pd

HAHAHA!!!

I'd run through the door as fast as possible, shrieking and covering my head with my handbag.