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Office survival guide sees humor in job misery
A broker reacts while trading at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai October 8, 2008.
Credit: Reuters/Arko Datta
NEW YORK |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sometime during the recession, work -- or the lack of it -- became funny.
From oversleeping and missing a job interview to being fired for no reason, job woes are now a great source of humor, say Gregory Bergman and Jodi Miller, authors of "WTF? Work: How to Survive 101 of the Office's Worst F*#!-ing Situations," a new book that offers tongue-in-cheek job advice.
Workers forced to switch jobs due to the recession gain an outsider's perspective and may find humor in office politics or water-cooler dramas they may not have noticed before, said Miller, a stand-up comedian in Los Angeles, as is Bergman.
"People are in need of a good laugh, and they enjoy listening to stuff that has to do with jobs and lack of jobs," she said. "Misery loves company."
"Now when I make a statement about being poor or I don't have a job, people identify with it and they like it," she said. "Before, when I'd say I don't have a job, they'd say 'loser.'"
The U.S. unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in March, about double what it was two and a half years ago.
"People are a little more vocal about not having a job. They're less embarrassed," Bergman added.
Their book addresses workplace scenarios, from dumbing down a resume to get a menial job to what do if the receptionist hates you for no good reason. Or maybe you've crashed the company car, or you've landed a construction worker job but you don't know how to cat-call.
"We like to mix real advice with ridiculous stuff that actually make you laugh out loud," Bergman said.
If you're job hunting and realize you had sex with the job interviewer and never called her back, tell her you liked her so much you were afraid of getting hurt, they say.
Other suggestions:
* If the boss keeps calling you by the wrong name, change your name to match the one he is using, they say.
* If you don't know how to use the office copier, destroy it.
* If everyone passes their work on to you, do it poorly.
* If someone keeps taking your stapler, booby-trap it with explosives or glue it to the desk.
"WTF? Work" was published this month by Adams Media, a division of F+W Media Inc of Cincinnati, Ohio.
(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Paul Simao)
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It’s unfortunate that there are so many people that are now able to relate to the current economic woes. On the other hand, the latest numbers showed that the US economy grew by 3.8% in the last quarter which shows some promise – though the jobs numbers will be the last indicator of the recovery (unfortunately for those looking for jobs).
Alas, economics is largely about a word that has very little meaning in contemporary speaking – that word is ‘patience’. People do not realize that things like the stimulus package of 2009 do not cause instantaneous results – those who say otherwise likely believe in Puff the Magic Dragon (and other Fantastic things as well). It is called ‘magical thinking’ and has nothing to do with reality.
It is also interesting that, over the past several weeks, the stock market has been experiencing a ‘robust recovery’ – with the DOW going over 11,000 several times. How many times did the ‘right’ comment about how well this ‘recovery’ had to do with Obama’s plans and leadership? It’s very easy to attack Obama when you don’t like his platform, but when things are working, when he is being successful it is more difficult to criticize – so they resort to bitching about his AMERICAN birth certificate and new bogus immigration laws. That’s what the opposition has been reduced to – complete irrelevancy.
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