I have an idea for a new book. I want to record the opinions that America's working people have about the American workplace.
I know this has been done before, but the data was gathered by or for companies, or by academics, or by anybody but me.
I don't want to just spout dry facts and figures. I want to know what America's "hoi polloi" have to say about the places where they spend about half of their waking hours.
For example, I want to know how the workers really feel about their bosses.
It often seems to me that when workers become managers they think the wisdom of the ages immediately falls upon them, and that they automatically become better than everyone else.
They lecture the staff on the importance of team work, but act as if they think that doesn't include them. They take whatever steps necessary to distance themselves from the rest of the staff. They get an office with a door, they "forget" to pass on key information, they block communication with people outside the team.
A man went into a pet shop to buy a parrot. The shop owner pointed to three identical looking parrots on a perch and said, "That parrot on the left costs 500 dollars".
"That's a little steep. Why does it cost so much?" asked the man.
The shop owner replied, "Well, he knows how to use a computer."
Intrigued, the man pointed to the second parrot and asked "How much is that one and what does it do?"
"That one costs 1,000 dollars because it can do everything the other parrot can do plus it knows how to use the UNIX operating system."
"And the third parrot?" the customer queried.
" $2,000."
"$2,000!" the startled man exclaimed, "What does it do?"
The shop owner shrugged his shoulders and said, "To be honest, I've never seen him do a damn thing, but the other two call him boss!"
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