Quote:
Originally Posted by Ammi
...yeah I do see that there was a relationship within work which made her feel as though she could prank him in such a way...I understand that TS...but whatever the relationship/friendship etc was...it doesn’t change the fact that she’s essentially his employer so their not ‘equal status’ people, you know...as in using the comparison you did with regard to your friends and uni days...?...The was ‘equality’ there and with that it’s much easier to ‘make boundaries’..do you see...this is something quite different because no matter what the relationship, she had a position of power over him...I guess much like Rosanne’s Employers did over her...so there was backlash or repercussions ...that’s the power employers have...and in ‘freaking the heck out of him’ as she said, that was Demi’s power...it was quite poor judgement I feel in this particular thing, so much should have been considered in any potential ‘backlash’...potential outcome etc...
...  ...your last bit...well, that’s what we do though, that’s what we all do....hmmm,....’that’s technically sexual abuse’, ‘harassment’, ‘bullying/targeting’ etc...we must all be quite sinister people I reckon... ... |
I'd agree if I thought all power relationships worked the same. That's not necessarily true that if someone is in a position over someone else, that it could lead to a hostile workplace... for example, an employer willing to come down to the level of your peers for example, to be "one of the group", that may very well instill a strong sense of comrade-ry (and taking one for the team), for example... like say that employer has to also defend silly remarks or actions made by those same employees in order to make long shifts or relatively difficult work tolerable... then relaxing some of those boundaries have huge benefits... also it builds character, as they can relate on a personal level and humor helps with this tremendously... they may better be able to explain that to upper mgmt their quirks of their teammates... and would probably have an easier time correcting their behavior when they need to re-explain or correct on lines crossed. Actually, if done right, corrections are much easier when you "get" where each person is coming from... rather than strict and professional, 24/7.
Or the field or organization setup may not be your typical. For example, employees for a radio show or a group of comedians who frequently employ humor as part of their daily write-ups... who need to be "on point" when the moment arrives to deliver on those more uniquely expressive charismatic traits... if the boss were too stiff, then they may be too uncomfortable with going outside the box... kind of like if Bill Gates ran a comedy club... it would be very awkward.
Another situation, if that job was a hospital ward. Sometimes pranks help to break up the seriousness of those atmospheres... especially if it's triage. Of course, those people are heavily trained in sensitivity training... so they would better know the lines not to push... in my husband's job, which at times is similar to triage at times (similar, not really one in the same)... there's a lot of dark humor that comes with that work. But it's part of the job... other times, they're expected to be on the straight and narrow, and with all the trauma in those environments and the situations they are exposed to, little gestures or breaks in the seriousness of that environment are a real Godsend... especially if it's an inside joke, one that only your peers would know and get... might be the reason why some people can go further with their jokes as they understand that boundary in a mutual way... and so on.
I don't like black humor and I can see where that might freak someone out... but I totally get it when you're confronted with life & death situations on a daily basis... it's part of the job.
Anyway, we need a Freedom to laugh and not take ourselves so seriously amendment to the constitution... society needs more humor, not less.