the people you know as equals, and like, do you think you would view them if they has authority/power over you, eg, maybe somebody at work gets promoted, you might see them in a different way, how do you think this would manifest itself?
perhaps you know there is a side you dont like about someone, but because of the nature of your relations with them, this side is never revealed to you, though you have seen it displayed to others.
what about how people you know treat, say, people in shops? is there a time when you think you wouldnt like this person if you had a different relationship to them?
and what about you? maybe people who like you would view you less favourably in an altered power dynamic situation?
― gareth (gareth), Friday, 29 August 2003 10:43 (twenty-two years ago)
As usual, I shall offer anecdotes in place of answering the question. Somebody got promoted over me once and turned into a total fuckstick immediately (any question met by "This is NOT a discussion. Now get on with it, thanx, the mgmt" etc) Of course, 'this means war' so it was open rebellion after that. Looking back tho, situ was a bit more complicated of course. From what I heard from other employees the guy's main function was to be delegated all the dirty work by HIS cowardly and venal superiors, and was subjected to royal shit by same if any of US didn't carry out these orders, the passing on of which was what his job mainly consisted of, along with the endless hours of unpaid work and sidebar as 'walking billboard for CORPORATE MISSION!!' that is the newly-promoted middle-manager's lot. (All of this came from other sources, I long since had ceased speaking to this person except in the passive-aggressive disgruntled-underling manner) Also complicating this was this guy had responsibilities (debt, family etc) and I didn't give a fuck about the job, and when I don't give a fuck about a job it's beyond my imagining that anybody *would*. So I guess in retrospect he was sort of hoping I would 'understand' the position he was in and cooperate, and maybe felt as 'betrayed' by me as I did by him, for actually trying to get me to do any work. 'Power' always looks better from the outside maybe.
As for last question - after thinking long (well, as long as it took to write this) and hard about it, I've concluded that if ppl stopped liking me cuz I had power over them, I really wouldn't give a shit. Like, it wouldn't bother me in the least. Strictly guessing tho, because I have no idea what that would be like.
― dave q, Friday, 29 August 2003 11:59 (twenty-two years ago)
As for 'ppl' who work in shops, that's an interesting one for me, culture-clash dept. See, where I come from, if somebody works in a shop their job is to kiss ppl's asses all day in abject submission. As a frequent customer of shops, that is the behaviour I have been conditioned to expect while shopping, and I am still frequently driven to rage by the less-than-total acquiescence afforded me by staff over here. Many times in the course of light-hearted banter acquaintances have told me 'hilarious' stories about how they've kept their customers waiting for hours, told them to fuck off etc. and I reflexively react towards them as if they've just confessed to being a paedo or Nazi or something, which is why they all think I'm a humourless twat, as well as a hypocrite (I 'worked' at MVE for a time), but being thoroughly indoctrinated in consumerist Eden is hard to shake.
― dave q, Friday, 29 August 2003 13:12 (twenty-two years ago)