[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

Yeah, I was also thinking about someone who works in a different department than mine and is closely associated with our union. He is experiencing problems that will probably lead to him being sacked or made redundant (his words) because he is used to the more full-on approach to not taking any shit that the unions have in France, where he is from. Basically his managers are subtly making his life difficult enough at work for him to feel stressed out all the time.

i think in the anglosaxon model the workers are expected to be a lot more compliant than in france. strikes in america are considered a shame and a disgrace while in france they are a national sport. and didn't thatcher make her reputation by breaking a coalminer's strike? what's perfectly normal in one culture is a "disorder" in another. i tend to be "too loud" or rambunctious for certain types of people here in 'merica. don't know if you know the type, but they speak very softly and take turns to speak as if there was an invisible microphone, and they never get angry in public-- i like it when everyone talks at the same time and moves their hands for expression.

anyway, i hope your friend gets to go back to france-- the food is better, the people are nicer... but yes, his "difference" could be psychologized as a "condition". however there's a catch 22 to this-- if his issue could be categorized as a "psychological disorder", your friend could claim a "disability" & fuck the bosses back. sticking it to the boss is so so very sweet.