If anyone on this planet asks me (again) why I am afraid to get into an airplane, I will refer them to an article that appeared on Yahoo.com this morning: “Study: Disgruntled Workers Likely Saboteurs”. [1]
According to this piece, The Department of Homeland Security (yes they’ve finally come out with something useful) has discovered that grumpy, out-of-sorts, bad mood, carrying-a-chip-on-their-shoulders, disgruntled employees sabotage their work. Are we talking here major Passive-Aggressive wackos or what?
This ought to scare you to death!
I have worked on “The Management” as well as “The Managed” side of all sorts of jobs. I have seen this psycho-wacko behavior on more than one occasion.
Once I was working on “The Managed” side of a company that made all manner of surgical supplies. One such item they made was a heart catheter. It was rated with a natural 4 percent failure rateand I think I know why. I saw, many times, employees who were “miffed” (that’s a family rated word for “p*ssed off”) at the boss so they sabotaged the heart catheter. CAN YOU FATHOM THAT?
The Homeland Defense Yahoo.com article was related to the computer industry:
“A review of the sabotage cases revealed an array of techniques for hurting a company through its electronic resources. Attacks included deleting mission-critical software and data, posting pornography on a company’s Web site and taking down an entire network. Almost all the employees took numerous steps to conceal their identities, with some even posing as coworkers.” [2]
This is, of course, terrible. It costs the computer industry zillions of dollars and these nutcases who cannot handle not getting a promotion (could it be because they are nuts?) or some scolding should be fired and prosecuted.
However, we are not talking life-threatening issues here! We are not talking about a heart catheter that is being threaded through your circulatory system like a rat in a maze that someone in a bad mood has purposely put together wrongly! Nor are we talking about an airplane.
I have long suspected, feared, tremblingly thought, and cowardly believed, that plane crashes could be attributed to this very thing. But, have you noticed that no one, and I mean not a single plane crash investigator, comes out with a report which says,
“Melvin Q. Mechanic was arrested today for not tightening that last bolt that should have held together the engines which fell off flight 000 outbound from Miami. Disgruntled Employee Syndrome is the suspected cause of Mel’s actions.”
I can think of many ways that someone could sabotage a plane and not hurt people.
They could rig the coffee machine so it doesn’t work. That would really make the passengers a happy lot. They could fix the toilets so they don’t flush (like they do in buses) and stink the cabin out at 33,000 feet. Think about itno one can open a window! Many sneaky and dastardly things could be done to satisfy the most venomous of bad mood employees without hurting anyone.
However, what about the mechanic? What is he going to do? He doesn’t have access to the coffee machines and toilets. He cannot get into a bad mood and get all p*ssy with his boss and decide NOT to tighten that engine bolt with the crucial last crank of the wrench! He just can’t. Yet, if computer employees, according to The Homeland Defense, can turn into saboteurs, the likes which have not been seen since WW II, then why can’t airline mechanics?
And why are The Homeland Defense gomers investigating computers and NOT the airline mechanics! God, I hate bureaucracies.
Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, that is why I will not get on a plane unless my wife goes with me to hold my hand, to keep telling me to keep my eyes closed, and to remind me to take my Valium.
[1] “Study: Disgruntled Workers Likely Saboteurs”; Elizabeth Millard, newsfactor.com;
[2] Ibid
Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He is a columnist with Cricketsoda.com and the Magic City Morning Star. He is also listed with Ezinearticles.com. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico. His new book Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country can be seen at
