Oh yeah!! I really dig the part where he takes out the guy who takes the last cup of coffee! Seriously funny video, like Office Space, but with a little bit of the ultra-violence...



The quote from the video that caught my attention was when the CEO says, "The office environment is a violent world." Here's the question-which is worse? The real violence in this video, or the harassment, verbal abuse, and ego-sucking emotional violence many of us put up with in the office everyday? Is it better to get a bloody nose, or a wounded soul? Is it better to get sacked by a linebacker, or sacked from your job for no reason with no recourse?

I know some of you are saying, "AC-you're nuts! Getting laid off or fired, or your boss giving chewing your ass is not the same as violence! Its part of the adult world. It's part of business. Money cannot be made if we are nice to everyone and let people who aren't productive sponge off companies!"

Hey, you're right. I agree that the workplace is not always be a pleasant place. That does not mean it has to be evil either. I have watched people get fired, be reprimanded, and degraded in ways that are not necessary, not even humane. Not just at my call center, I've seen it in warehouses, restaurants and all kinds of workplaces.

Tell me this, if abuses that occur in the workplaces aren't a form of violence, why are there instances of violent responses in workplaces? Sure, there are nuts everywhere-that's a given, but why do so many people respond to workplace abuse with violence? This is not a weak point. Normal people can be taken to a place where they are capable of doing things they would not normally do. Violence comes when people feel they have been humiliated, oppressed, or backed into a corner without any visible way out.

I remember talking to another worker at the call center last summer. She was fired with no notice. She had no idea it was coming. No notice, no warning, just a phone call from a clerk telling her to clean out her desk and not come back. It doesn't matter if the company had a good reason to fire her or not. She deserved better. She deserved a face to face meeting. She deserved to be treated like a human being, not like some outdated piece of machinery. She had a little boy at home. What was that evening like? Trying to explain why Mommy does not have a job anymore, and not having a reason why.

Violence takes many forms, at least the exaggerated violence in this video is honest and doesn't hide behind memo's and cowardly phone calls. You can respect Terry. He's violent, and brutal, with no excuses, unlike some call center management I know...

Thanks for reading,

AC