Shout outs

This came from caffeekklesia.co.uk

First and foremost, here's a shout out to everyone who posts comments on this blog. Woo! Comments are what the Internet is all about, isn't it? Now, I don't want to embarrass anyone, but I have to give a big shout out to the person who posted a comment who doesn't even know me! Thanks.

Yesterday I was reading the New York Times Magazine. Now before you go and call me hoity-toity (fun to say) or a bleeding-heart liberal commie (also fun), just make sure you've read some of it once before resorting to name calling. I just think it's good that we are informed when making fun. Anywho, my favorite sections of the magazine fall right next to each other. They're the regular columns "On Language" and "The Ethicist." They're both short, sweet, and offer tasty tid-bits of fun, sometimes practical, information. Yesterday there was just a little something in the "Ethicist" section that seemed appropriate to mention in this blog.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the column I will explain. The author, Randy Cohen, answers reader's questions dealing with ethically ambiguous situations in their lives. In yesterday's column, one reader said that she kept a diary of sorts at her work computer, and in some entries she bad-mouthed her boss. This employee had to leave her job and her former boss discovered her unflattering remarks. When asked for a reference, the boss said no, for pretty obvious reasons. The question was something along the lines of whether the boss was being ethical in denying the reference. For those of you who are interested in the answer, or just interested, here is the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/magazine/23wwln-ethicist-t.html?ex=1348113600&en=c6acd1132b944c45&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

I doubt it will work. I'll try to figure out how to do it.

Now here is my question: why would you keep a diary at work? Especially on your company-owned computer? Especially complaing about your boss (however true the allegations are)? You may be reaching over to pick up your Hypocracy Paddle to give me a swing, but before you do, I have to say that for all of my griping and complaining, I am grateful for my job at my present company. This blog in no way reflects the views of my parent company and so on and such and such. Point is, this is just a blog about working, not a specific rant against individuals. As the great Oscar Wilde once put it, "I'd rather be liberal but still not liable for libel."*

*(Oscar Wilde probably never said that, I just made that up. If the estate or ghost of Oscar Wilde reads this, please don't sue or haunt me. Actually, having Oscar Wilde haunt me might be amusing at times.)

With privacy at work always a concern it is hard to complain about your boss. Sure, you can gab with your co-workers at lunch or after-hours, maybe sneak in a few jokes by the water-cooler, or you can even lock yourself in a soundproof room and scream and pound the floor till you pass out. We need to vent because sometimes our bosses aren't too great. Sometimes they are great, but they still give us work to do.

Have you ever had to openly complain about your boss by going to Human Resources? What if you want to complain about Human Resources? What if you are self-employed and you hate your boss? That would be a problem.

Well, my boss(es) have given me work so (ironically?) I can't complain about them anymore right now. Let me know how you vent about the higher-ups. And if you don't, let me know how in the world that happened. Or maybe not - hearing about how great your job is might make me cry.