[HN Gopher] CEO Celebrates Worker Who Sold Family Dog After He D...
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       CEO Celebrates Worker Who Sold Family Dog After He Demanded Return
       to Office
        
       Author : SirLJ
       Score  : 50 points
       Date   : 2023-04-21 18:43 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.vice.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.vice.com)
        
       | thewildginger wrote:
       | "you've mistaken my kindness for weakness"
       | 
       | Wow people outside the military say this unironically? The
       | military has some shit bags who really do think this way (taking
       | advantage of people giving them a second chance), and while
       | people say it and I never liked hearing it, to think a CEO has
       | the nerve to say that like some paranoid despot is pretty out of
       | touch.
       | 
       | This dude sounds like he started listening to some other, much
       | more successful, much more insane CEO's podcast during the
       | pandemic and lost his mind in turn. That article read like the
       | Facebook post of a terminally online friend who's having a mental
       | break
        
         | lostlogin wrote:
         | It reminds me of the day phone/night phone thing.
         | 
         | https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/dave-...
        
       | wilg wrote:
       | I think it's interesting that the headline doesn't even bother to
       | mention the company because nobody has heard of it.
        
       | antondd wrote:
       | What likely happened: the CEO got tired of coming to an empty
       | office and not having underlings scurry around as his excellence
       | powerwalks through the stunning estate of Clearlink Inc.
       | 
       | The whole thing reads like a script for an unreleased episode of
       | The Office.
        
         | antondd wrote:
         | Ta-da (ChatGPT to the rescue)
         | 
         | INT. DUNDER MIFFLIN OFFICE - DAY
         | 
         | The camera pans across the familiar office setting. The
         | employees are all at their desks, working or pretending to
         | work.
         | 
         | ANGLE ON: MICHAEL SCOTT (Steve Carell) walking through the
         | office, excitedly waving a piece of paper.
         | 
         | MICHAEL (announcing) Attention, everybody! We have a virtual
         | town hall meeting with our CEO James Clarke in five minutes. I
         | expect you all to be on your best behavior.
         | 
         | INT. DUNDER MIFFLIN CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
         | 
         | The employees gather in the conference room, sitting around the
         | table with a large screen on the wall. On the screen is CEO
         | JAMES CLARKE.
         | 
         | JAMES CLARKE All I'm asking is for everyone to come into the
         | office and give their blood, sweat, and tears. Now, I want to
         | highlight one employee who sold their family dog as a result of
         | my decision.
         | 
         | ANGLE ON: DWIGHT SCHRUTE, sitting proudly.
         | 
         | DWIGHT That would be me. I am the ultimate company man. I will
         | do whatever it takes to serve Dunder Mifflin.
         | 
         | JAMES CLARKE Well, Dwight, that's a great example of the
         | sacrifices being made. It breaks my heart, but it's for the
         | greater good.
         | 
         | ANGLE ON: JIM HALPERT, raising his hand.
         | 
         | JIM Excuse me, Mr. Clarke, but how does selling a dog help the
         | company?
         | 
         | JAMES CLARKE (skeptical) Jim, it's about showing dedication to
         | the company, like I showed when I went to Oxford and Harvard.
         | 
         | MICHAEL (whispering to the camera) I went to a community
         | college.
         | 
         | JAMES CLARKE Now, let's talk about working mothers. I believe
         | only the rarest of full-time caregivers can also be productive
         | and full-time employees at the same time.
         | 
         | ANGLE ON: PAM BEESLY, looking offended.
         | 
         | PAM Uh, excuse me? I manage just fine, thank you very much.
         | 
         | JAMES CLARKE (sighs) Well, I suppose the data will support that
         | in time. Now, I've heard some of you have been comparing me to
         | a convicted Wall Street felon. That's rather unkind, don't you
         | think?
         | 
         | MICHAEL (awkwardly) Uh, I don't think anyone here would ever
         | say that, Mr. Clarke.
         | 
         | JAMES CLARKE (firm) You've mistaken my kindness for weakness.
         | No more. Let's get back to work and make Dunder Mifflin great
         | again!
         | 
         | The screen goes black. The employees leave the conference room,
         | grumbling and confused.
         | 
         | INT. DUNDER MIFFLIN OFFICE - DAY
         | 
         | Michael stands in the middle of the office, trying to rally the
         | troops.
         | 
         | MICHAEL Okay, people! We've got our marching orders. Let's show
         | them what we're made of! Blood, sweat, and tears!
         | 
         | DWIGHT (taking it too seriously) Blood oath! Anyone got a
         | knife?
         | 
         | JIM (sarcastic) Sure, Dwight, let me just grab my sacrificial
         | dagger.
         | 
         | The camera pans out as the employees return to their desks,
         | Michael still trying to inspire them.
         | 
         | FADE OUT.
        
       | loa_in_ wrote:
       | If anyone is confused as to how it might happen, family members
       | who used to care for the dog might have been forced to give up
       | the dog, so if not in care of the worker it's only option is to
       | be sold or given up got adoption. A big thing since in my opinion
       | animals are family members no less.
        
       | mikestew wrote:
       | Wow, the lawsuits almost file themselves. "Ms. Jones was
       | discriminated against because she was the primary caregiver to
       | two children. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'd like to play
       | you a video of a recent town hall speech..."
       | 
       | From the quotes in TFA, I could easily believe that Mr. Clarke
       | had had a little too much to drink with lunch.
        
       | cratermoon wrote:
       | "Clearlink, like many others, has struggled to adapt to a
       | teetering economy and recently undergone a round of layoffs. To
       | jumpstart the firm, Clarke sent a company-wide email on April 3
       | saying that people who live within 50 miles of the company's new
       | headquarters in Draper, Utah, would be required to come into the
       | office four days a week, with limited exceptions, starting April
       | 17. The decision, he wrote, was made to improve the company's
       | performance amid a "challenging" environment."
       | 
       | That's a lot of words to say, "the beatings will continue until
       | morale improves"
        
         | lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote:
         | > within 50 miles of the company's new headquarters in Draper,
         | Utah
         | 
         | For context, this encompasses the entirety of the Salt Lake
         | Valley, most of Utah Valley, and most of Davis County (north of
         | Salt Lake City). I don't know where I would find hard numbers
         | but this sounds to me like the majority of the population of
         | Utah.
        
           | meowtimemania wrote:
           | Driving from Provo or salt lake would be a ~30 min commute
           | plus or minus 10 min. Ogden would probably be 50+ minutes
        
           | cratermoon wrote:
           | Ogden is about 50 miles away, depending on where you measure
           | from. Provo is half that distance. The only concentrated
           | population centers not within 50 miles of Draper are the
           | Logan area and the St. George area in the far SW corner of
           | Utah.
           | 
           | If companies start mandating in-person work based on distance
           | from the office, that's a pretty good incentive for people to
           | move _away_. If I lived 40 miles form the office and faced an
           | ugly commute, moving 11 miles becomes a real option to weigh
           | against other factors.
        
             | JohnFen wrote:
             | > moving 11 miles becomes a real option to weigh against
             | other factors.
             | 
             | Hopefully just to tide you over while you find another job
             | so you can jettison this dirtbag company.
        
           | Arrath wrote:
           | Further, it sounds like that 50 miles as the crow flies could
           | be quite a bit more than 50 miles of travel.
        
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       (page generated 2023-04-21 23:02 UTC)