Book review from the Whole Earth Review magazine. E-mail to (wer@well.sf.ca.us) for more info about the magazine. Sabotage in the American Workplace (Anecdotes of Dissatisfaction, Mischief and Revenge) Martin Sprouse, Editor. 1992; 175 pp. $12 postpaid from Pressure Drop Press, P. O. Box 460754, San Francisco, CA 94146; 415/821-4592 Sabotage in the American Workplace In this collection of confessionals, editor Martin Sprouse reveals some surprising and disturbing truths about the American work ethic and our common perception of it. Anonymous stories of sabotage and revenge mostly exacted by abused, bored, underpaid, and sometimes endan-gered workers make the quote from George Bush in the frontispiece a real eyebrow-raiser: The American worker is the most productive in the world. Thats what George would like us (and the world) to believe; but this survey of store clerks, roofers, bankers, mail carriers, mes-sengers, accountants, and other blue- and white-collar workers belies that ideal. Some stories are merely entertaining (jamming machinery to create a relaxing stretch of downtime seems to be a popular prank), while others are fairly shocking (a waitress serves spoiled food to ruin her employers business). Motivation ranges from altruism to simple revenge to explorations in power plays. Instead of looking at sabotage as a problem in the workplace, the book examines the action as a defensive move against the empty and unrewarding jobs most Amer-icans are forced to take usually in an environment devoid of creativity, honesty and just reward. The workplace generally is the problem; of course, its also the solution. -Lorry Fleming Excerpts from the book: ----- Mailroom Clerk [Heritage Foundation] I got the job right after high school. I had never heard of the organization, and just found the job through the newspaper. When I was working there, I would occasionally glance at what they were putting out; the more I read, the more I thought about it and realized they were doing fucked-up things, like defending business practices in South Africa and U.S. investments there. They have a big fundraising deal, and when they sent out fundraising requests, people would mail in checks. Sometimes they'd be huge amounts, and sometimes they were piddling. Checks came in from individuals as well as companies. So I'd randomly take an envelop, open it, see how much it was for, and throw it in the shredder. I started doing it more and more. I could tell if it was a check by holding it to the light. If so, I'd toss it, dump it or shred it. ----- ----- Technical Writer Dexter I'm a generalist, a person with diverse interests which multiply daily. Left alone and well-financed, I would produce voluminous amounts of creative stuff in a variety of media. But alas, society doesnt cater to such capricious and irresponsible thinkers. So I circumvent societys shortcomings, and still pay the bills, by doing my techno-artistic projects at work, on company time. In the last four years, I have written a novella, a workbook for a major publishing companys science textbook, two travel narratives, and countless smaller things. I have explored computer music, art, and animation at work and have even written a computer game. I have spent at least a couple thousand hours of company time on my projects, and at a pretty good salary. ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ E-mail wer@well.sf.ca.us for more info about this document. This document was provided by the Whole Earth Review magazine. Whole Earth Review (WER) is published 4 times each year by the Point Foundation, a non-profit US corporation. Trial subscriptions to WER are available for US $20 per year for individuals. $35 per year for institutions; single copies $7. Add $8 per year for Canadian and $6 for foreign surface mail; add $12 per year for airmail anywhere. Most articles in Whole Earth Review are available on-line via Dialog, Mead & BRS. Whole Earth Review is indexed by "Access: The supplementary Index to Periodicals", Alternative Press Index, Magazine Index, Consumers Index, HumantitiesIndex, Book Review Index, Academic Index, and General Periodical Index. For copyright or other information please contact: Whole Earth Review 27 Gate Five Road Sausalito, CA,94965 USA Voice Phone: (415) 332-1716 Fax: (415) 332-3110 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- .