Around the World - Brief Article

Training & Development, May, 2001 by Haidee E. Allerton

Mountie Python

Bail jumpers, beware! Bail bondsman Gary Cooper (yes, named by his mom for the legendary leading man) totes his six-foot python Pete along when he goes after people who don't show up for trial. Cooper just keeps Pete in a pillow case and threatens to "bring out my viper" if the bad guys don't go quietly. That's about all it takes. Says Cooper, "I've seen mean drug dealers from Miami melt at the thought."

Off duty, Pete sleeps in an acquarium in Cooper's office, nestled under a black motorcycle helmet.

Nekkid News

Naked.news, a Toronto-based Internet news service, announced recently it was auditioning nude newscasters--men and women. The auditions themselves will not involve nudity, just the wearing of a swimsuit.

"NakedNews will truly be the news program with nothing to hide," said its media director.

Presently the site features four female newscasters and, in less than a year's existence, has gotten almost 6 million hits.

Work Out

The head of Norway's Labor Party decreed that the country's employers should let workers go to the gym during work hours without docking their pay. "Some firms are already doing this, and it has resulted in big improvements to the work environment," declared Thorbjoern Jagland, who's also foreign minister.

P.S. In Norway, any parent who stays at home with a child age one to three receives $345 a month.

True Tales From the Workplace

* A group of women in a burning office tower in Hong Kong refused to evacuate until their nails were finished. Three manicurists at Fingertrix were applying acrylic nails to two customers when the fire broke out on the roof of the building. The five stayed until the job was done, leaving only after the fire was put out, No one was injured.

* Reuters

* Managers at a Swedish telecom wanted a teambuilding activity for their international sales conference last year, so they chose hostage taking.

And they didn't tell the unwitting participants, who were on a corporate bus headed for the meeting when two men with masks and weapons boarded and staged a hijacking. The exercise was supposed to test the employees' cool under stress. But we'll just never know: A passerby called the cops on her cell phone. "We should have given notice to the police," admitted a company spokesperson.

In another instance in England in 1998, seven people burned their feet while walking across hot coals as part of their company's sales training.

* Fortune

One analyst speculates that companies that want to take their employees on a fun excursion, such as camping, call such outings teambuilding because training is 100 percent deductible.

Rage at the Machine

British researchers have uncovered an ugly new phenomenon: technology rage. Half of the working population experiencing PC trouble has at one time or another taken out their frustration on co-workers by screaming and even throwing things at them. A quarter of those studied experience this rage weekly or daily.

Haidee Allerton believes turnabout is fair play, so she filled out the Contributors Questionnaire: "My philosophy bumper sticker would read: Laugh in the face of absurdity; I realized I was a grownup the first time I did my taxes; the most interesting object in my office is me." Claim to fame? "That remains to be seen."

* Smart Business

McWorking World

You may have already seen this on the Internet, but it's worth repeating. This is reportedly an actual job application submitted to a fast-food restaurant:

Name: Greg B.

Desired position: Reclining. Ha, ha. But seriously, whatever's available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here.

Desired salary: $185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz-style severance package. If that's not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.

Education: Yes

Last position held: target for middle-management hostility

Last salary: less than I'm worth

Most notable achievement in current job: my incredible collection of stolen pens and Post-it notes

Reason for leaving: It was lousy.

Hours available to work: any

Preferred hours: 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday

Do you have any special skills? Yes, but they're better suited to a more intimate environment.

May we contact your current employer? If I had one, would I be here?

Do you have any physical conditions that would prohibit you from lifting 50 pounds? Of what?

Do you have a car? I think a more appropriate question is, Do you have a car that actually runs?

Have you received any special awards or recognition? I may already be a winner of the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.

Do you smoke? Only when set on fire.

What would you like to be doing in five years? Living in Bimini with a wealthy supermodel...actually, I'd like to be doing that now.

Sign here: Scorpio with Libra rising.